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Learn to COOK - The Newman's Own Organics Guide to a Good Life: Simple Measures That Benefit You and the Place You Live
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List Price: $16.95
Our Price: $11.53
Your Save: $ 5.42 ( 32% )
Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours
Manufacturer: Villard
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Average Customer Rating:  
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Binding: Paperback
Dewey Decimal Number: 640
EAN: 9780812967333
ISBN: 081296733X
Label: Villard
Manufacturer: Villard
Number Of Items: 1
Number Of Pages: 256
Publication Date: 2003-03-11
Publisher: Villard
Release Date: 2003-03-11
Studio: Villard
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Editorial Reviews:
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It’s fairly obvious that one can’t be a ‘perfect’ environmentalist. But that’s okay. Perfection isn’t the goal. A good life is. And a good life has as much to do with your intent as with the end result.” —from the Introduction
The Newman’s Own Organics Guide to a Good Life is the essential book for those of us who can’t live in an organic hemp tepee but do care about our quality of life, global warming, clean water, and disappearing resources.
Nell Newman shows you how to do what is within easy reach. Along with realistic, practical advice, she shows how and why living a more environmentally conscious life benefits you and your immediate surroundings. In addition to recycling and reusing, the book covers consumer-related steps such as
• how buying and eating organic food supports small farms (and tastes better, too)
• how you can buy clean power through your regular power company
• which long-distance telephone companies offer competitive pricing and service while returning a portion of their profits to environmental and educational organizations
• where to buy everything—from pots and pans to pet food—so that you can “vote with your dollar” and feel good about your purchases
Packed with profiles of fascinating—and sometimes zany—people and a heavy dose of sanity, this book is organized according to the way you really live, making it easy to identify what areas of change are viable for you. A resource directory of publications, retailers, groups, and associations is included in the back of the book.
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Spotlight customer reviews:
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Customer Rating:
Summary: A New Life
Comment: Well written ,informative, and on target thoughts on what we need to be doing to crawl out of the way things are, in this country, and what we are creating on our precious earth
Customer Rating:
Summary: Newman's definitely practice what they preach!
Comment: I picked up this book because I like the "Newman's Own" product line and was interested in hearing about how the Newman's actually live their lives. It was great to read about all the things they do. You would never think that well known individuals would make such effort in their lives to make a difference.
Customer Rating: 
Summary: Helpful
Comment: This is a great practical book. It's written by Nell Newman (Paul Newman's daughter) and discusses briefly her company Newman's Own. She then spends the majority of the book sharing practical tips that she's found helpful in living a more Earth-friendly life. It was an easy read and felt more like I was listening to my aunt or grandma tell me a story. And it was great because she balanced it out. Not making things so black and white. Realizing that even being environmentally friendly still causes harm to the environment. It's less about being an extremist and more about making informed, practical decisions without being a moralist with it. Which was quite refreshing to hear. It made me want to give their food another try after my disastrous results with their salsa and popcorn.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Less hokey than the cover implies
Comment: I love this book!! I try and read it often to refresh myself on the contents. I was impressed that the book was printed on recycled paper, a percentage of the profits go to charity and its not a "buy my product" book also.
This book prouldy holds a spot in my Green Living Bookcase!
Customer Rating:
Summary: Beyond political agendas and judgmental shame tactics: just simple talk about living well in America.
Comment: There's some rubbish going around that there are two rigidly defined, black-and-white categories of people in the USA: conservative Republicans who don't care about the environment, and Al Gore's superforce of environmental enthusiasts. Or, if you prefer, blissfully ignorant normal people vs. crazy green hippie radicals. As a moderate who likes anybody whose category can't be rhymed with 'glass bowl', I dislike any either/or mindset. It's not the reasonable people who gain media attention, it's the radicals, and they become the stereotype of what we should avoid. In this vein, the absolute worst threat to the environment today is, ironically, the most passionate of environmentalists, whose self-righteous smugness and brimstone rants turn off the average reasonable person, understandably dismissing such vile attitudes. As with religion, environmental consciousness brings the stigma of personal manipulation via shame--for there are, no question, those who try to induce and exploit guilt for a hidden personal gain. The majority recognizes such 'activism' for what it is--at its worst, the pleasure of feeling superior to the 'unenlightened masses', labelled lazy, stupid, ignorant, blind, etc. simply for living in the world as it is. Those radical environmentalists who truly care at heart must see others from an empathic viewpoint, one which doesn't include heavy-handedness or bitter judgment, and thus has a chance of actually convincing others. This is the age of the new environmentalist--common people who come together for a cause that transcends political platforms, because regardless of our personal differences, we all want the same thing: a better life for us all. And you can bet that politicians across the board will need to listen. We are the voters, we have the power here, and we can encourage each other to use it in ways that benefit our country and our families.
What's refreshing about Nell Newman's book is that it is NOT a work of self-righteous extremism. Ms. Newman, while conscientious, passionate, and very 'green', doesn't try to shove rules down the throats of readers, nor does she stand on a soapbox and rant. She takes a nonpolitical, light-handed, self-critical, practical paradigm which communicates her point better than any alternative. In fact, she acknowledges that a lot of environmental suggestions are a tradeoff, and doesn't judge the reader for their personal decisions about what is manageable for them in their everyday life. All she tries to do, in this nicely written book, is offer thoughtful and intelligent research on how we can use the cutting-edge tools of our modern age along with well-tried old-fashioned ways of living, all to make life better. And that's something that pretty much everyone, whatever their politics or age or conscience or personal beliefs, wants to do.
If every American picked just two chapters from this book, and did only about 2 of the minor ideas listed in each, not only their environment but their own personal life would improve. I've tried the Newman's Own organic answer to popular cookies, which even my large chain grocery store carries, and you know what? In my book, besides being healthier, they actually taste BETTER than the commercial brand. The chocolate in the Newman-Os had a stronger flavor; the cream was softer, smoother, more appealing. And the Fig Newmans (har) redefined my idea of the word "Fig" and what it should taste like. It's also nice knowing that the actual profits go to charity rather than an already rich CEO's pockets. Organic may be a bit more expensive--now, while the businesses are small and struggling--but that will change the more we support them, and even in the meantime, the taste and health benefits are unquestionably worth it, at least once in a while. As Nell Newman frankly says in this book, the question is more, do we want to pay up front or down the road? In other words, would we prefer to pay a little more for the health of our pets, our family and ourselves now, or do we want to make it up in hospital and vet bills later?
Part of the reason we don't eat enough vegetables in this country is because we instinctively know they don't taste right. And they don't taste right because they aren't raised right, by small farmers with natural pesticides the way it should be. That's what organic eating is all about. Not being a hippie or a radical, or nut loaf with yeast gravy. Just supporting a better way of life and a better taste. After all, why give your dollar vote to a system that only tries to phase out partially hydrogenated oils after it becomes widely known among the public that they drastically increase the risk of heart disease, and even then uses tricks like '0 grams trans fat' to blind us to the fact that they're still legally allowed to put 0.5 grams into their stragtegically chosen serving size, which still adds up to an increased risk? The oils are listed in the ingredients, but they think we won't look there, relying on consumer trust to camouflage their cheap, unhealthful choices. And though wheat is becoming more popular as a selling point, its benefits can be stripped away without any indication given if you don't know their legal trick--that's the difference between 'wheat flour' and 'whole wheat flour'--whole wheat is what gives you the benefits, and it can be one of the last ingredients while still giving them the go-ahead to blast "NOW WITH WHOLE WHEAT!" all over the front label. Only '100% whole wheat' and 'NO trans fat' really mean healthy food, and those are the brands that deserve to be bought.
Judging from my range of emotions--disturbed at what unnatural pesticides used on produce can actually do to our bodies and our ecosystem, interested at the money-saver tips for energy, then slowly outraged at what I'd been unknowingly feeding my pet in giving her commercial dog food with vegetables and healthy meat printed all over the package--I'd say Nell Newman did a pretty good job of responsibly exposing the truth, with a little humor and charm along the way, and without being paranoid or alarmist. Corporations just think what they're doing is already good enough for the common person and animal--I've got to disagree with them. I think we deserve a better quality of life. And if enough people agree with that notion, we've got a fine basis for change right there.
That's only the food sections I've covered in this recommendation. If you're interested, pick up the book--there's a lot more to be seen and known, and it's your right to know it.
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