Southern Sonoma Country Life subscriber and dear friend, Lori made the most of her extended stay in the beautiful, bucolic Bath countryside surrounds whilst stranded in the volcanic-ash cloaked UK this Spring.
Catching up on her reading and getting acquainted with the local butcher, baker and book seller, Lori's international, home-from-home locavore lifestyle extended to taking in tips from transcontinental trend setters such as the lovely Gwyneth Paltrow.
Back in the Bay Area, Lori has shared the wealth of what's currently in vogue in an increasingly green British lifestyle.
Check out Paltrow's original and engaging web site, Gloop for all kinds of cool suggestions for perking up the kids' packed lunches, looking after healthy hair and my top pick amongst recent posts, the growing trend of Meat Free Mondays both sides of the pond.
Of course you don't have to be a vegetarian to embrace the concept of Meatless Mondays. My Italian in-laws have eaten this way all of their lives. Who needs a chicken dinner the day after a Sunday roast? Southern Europeans have long since practiced the art of balancing, distributing and rotating the weekly food pyramid around a seven day meal plan.
Soup or salad on a Monday. Pasta prima vera, anyone? Beans on toast or scrambled eggs sounds like a tasty, back-to-school day supper to me, though the Italian husband might suggest a simple bean soup.
With consumer demand from the livestock industry at an all-time-high, greenhouse gas emissions (according to the United Nations) from this one sector cause more havoc in the environment than infamously troublesome transportation.
Here in Sonoma County we do tend to rave about our biodynamic and organic livestock farmers and in no way would suggest a meat-free diet for all. But think about the long term benefits of trimming our collective meat consumption by one seventh and the savings in water usage alone in just one region would be significant.
I like what Gwyneth is doing. And if this influential actor, transcontinental mom and rocker-wife really does pack her kids' school lunches herself, all the more power to her!
What's for dinner? Sign up here for Meat Free Monday recipes every week.