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Locally, we are happy to announce the recent creation of the Sustainable Food Policy Board. This board will serve as an advisory body to the Austin City Council and Travis County Commissioner’s Court concerning the need to improve the availability of safe, nutritious, locally and sustainably grown food at reasonable prices for all residents, particularly those in need. Tasked with coordinating the relevant activities of city government, as well as non-profit organizations and food and farming businesses, the board is currently accepting online applications for membership through the City Clerk’s office. We will have updates on the board’s activities posted regularly on our website. And Edible Austin will host a public workshop on effective food policy council strategies with Mark Winne on Sunday, December 7, as part of our second annual Eat Local Week. Join us in celebrating local food and raising money for Urban Roots, December 6–13. For more details on Eat Local Week events and ways to participate, click here . Happy holiday season!

We are excited to support a local initiative called Citizen Foodie, spearheaded by Brandi Clark, Austin’s dynamic grassroots-community activist (she is chair of the board for Austin CarShare, sustainability officer for the proposed, socially and environmentally-responsible One Earth Bank and Austin Eco Network founder, to name just a few of her endeavors). The Citizen Foodie program, a re-imagining of the post–World War II victory gardens, is inspired in part by L.A.-based eco-artist Fritz Haeg’s international edible-front-yard project embraced by Austin earlier this year. It is currently being developed in conjunction with an impressive slate of local nonprofit food and gardening organizations and businesses. This initiative aims to exponentially increase the amount of private and public land used for organic and sustainable food cultivation in our area, making nutritious, local food more readily available to all.

And, because this is an election season, and because we as individuals can collectively make a big impact on how our food future plays out, please consider the power of your vote and honor its voice. Vote with your fork!

350 parts per million of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere is the safe upper limit for atmospheric CO² to sustain life as we know it on the planet. It’s the number that could define our future.

When you consider that we’re already at 385 parts per million, according to data presented by scientists at the American Geophysical Union conference in San Francisco last December, now is the time to start paying attention and 350 is the number not to beat. When author (The End of Nature, Deep Economy), educator and grassroots organizer Bill McKibben visited town this March, Austin Green Art founder Randy Jewart hosted a roundtable discussion with Bill and a roomful of Austin’s sustainability crowd. McKibbon, who also founded Step It Up 2007, which organized hundreds of rallies in support of curbs on carbon emissions, explained his latest project—the 350 Campaign (350.org), an international undertaking aimed at further raising awareness about global warming. Bottom line, we all need to do our part or we’re all gonna die, as in global death.

So we’re introducing a new department in our magazine: Edible 350. Read our 350 story by Helen Cordes on embracing the concept of zero waste (page 26) and making art out of trash. Check out the new Eco-resources on our website that source everything from compostable food packaging to environment-friendly household and garden products. Make a small (or large) change in your life and know that it will have a powerful and possibly planet-saving ripple eff ect, especially when you influence others to do the same.