Green Memo: Interview - Coca-Cola CEO John Brock Says Sustainability is No Longer 'Niche'

In an interview published in Knowledge@Warton, an online publication of the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School of Business, Coca-Cola Enterprises CEO John Brock talks about his push to "green" the giant beverage bottler, marketer and distributor.

Environmental sustainability is "absolutely key" to the strategy of Coca-Cola Enterprises. "It's center of play. It's not niche anymore," Brock tells the interviewers.

Coca-Cola Enterprises is the world's largest marketer, producer and distributor of Coca-Cola products. It has operations in 46 U.S. states and Canada, and is the exclusive Coca-Cola bottler for all of Belgium, France, the United Kingdom, Luxembourg, Monaco and the Netherlands. It's sales represent 18 percent of The Coca-Cola Company's worldwide volume. Coca-Cola Enterprises isn't to be confused with Coca-Cola Company, which is a separate corporate entity.

In June of this year, Natural~Specialty Foods Memo reported on and wrote about one of Coca-Cola Enterprises' new"green" efforts, this one in the transportation sector. In this piece [Green Transportation Memo: Coca-Cola Enterprises, Inc. to Go Green; Plans to Add 142 Hybrid Electric Delivery Trucks to its North American Fleet] we wrote about Coke Enterprises' plans to buy 142 hybrid- electric delivery trucks, the start of what the company said would be an eventual conversion of its entire diesel fuel-powered North American delivery truck fleet to 100% hybrid-electric.

In the Wharton interview, CEO Brock says Coca-Cola Enterprises has now purchased all 142 of those hybrid-electric delivery trucks -- and plans on buying more.

The hybrid-electric trucks, custom built for the company, use 35% less fuel and produce about 35% less emissions than conventional diesel fuel-only powered delivery trucks do. They also cost the company about 45% more than the conventional trucks, according to Brock.

Brock appears to be big on the hybrid-electric delivery trucks though, as you can read in the Wharton interview, despite the significantly higher upfront cost.

Part of his glee has to do with the fact -- despite the per-gallon cost of diesel fuel having decreased considerably over the last couple months (it will go back up) -- that with the high price of diesel fuel being pretty much a constant, he knows the hybrid-electric trucks will pay for themselves over time. [The reduced carbon emissions also will come in handy in the event the U.S. Congress passes carbon cap-and-trade legislation in 2009, which is something a majority of Democrats, President-elect Barack Obama, and some Republicans support.]

In the Wharton interview, CEO Brock also addresses a number of other environmental issues, including recycling and what the beverage giant is doing in that regard, since it is one of the biggest users of plastic packaging in the world.

In the interview piece, the chief executive of Coca-Cola Enterprises also discusses corn -- and its soaring cost -- which is used to make Fructose corn syrup, the current sweetener of choice in the bottler's carbonated beverage brands, including its flagship Coke. He also touches on the "green" issues of packaging reusability, climate change, energy conservation and other related sustainability issues.

You can read the Wharton interview with Coca-Cola Enterprises CEO John Brock here.

Green Memo: 'His Royal Greenness' Britain's Prince Charles Reveals His Prized 38-Year Old Austin Martin Now Runs on Fuel Made From Wine and Cheese

Britain's Prince Charles, who in addition to conducting his regular duties as the male head of the Royal Family also is the founder of the fast-growing United Kingdom-based Duchy Originals premium, organic foods company, revealed yesterday he has converted his prized 1970 Austin Martin DB5 motor car (pictured above) to run on biofuel, produced from surplus white wine and cheese.

The Austin Martin was a 21rst birthday present to the UK's leading environmentalist from the Queen Mum.

The fuel for Prince Charles 38-year old Austin Martin DB5 comes from Greenfuels in Gloucestershire, and is made from surplus white wine from a vineyard in Wiltshire, and whey obtained from local cheesemakers.

Some time ago the Prince was telling friends he desired to run his pristine Austin Martin DB5 on biofuel, but said he wondered if doing so was possible since the car is 38 years old.

Austin Martin, the producers of the car, heard "His Royal Greenness" wanted to be able to run the car on biofuels, so they contacted Greenfuels for help. The alternative fuel company hatched a scheme in which it obtained 8,000 litres of surplus UK-produced white wine from a vineyard in Wiltshire, which they purchased for only ~1-p (British pound) per-litre.

Greenfuels then ran the surplus white wine through their distillery. By boiling off the wine's 11% alcohol content, the green fuel firm said it ended up with hundreds of gallons of 99.8% pure ethanol. They then topped the near 100% pure ethanol off with fermented whey, a by-product of cheese making, which they obtained from local cheesemakers.

Once the wine and cheese-based fuel was produced, auto company Austin Martin says it merely gave the carburetors on the Prince's Austin Martin DB5 a special tune up, which allowed more fuel to get into the engine, and "His Royal Greenness" was good to go in his wine and cheese biofuel-powered car. The biofuel is a mix of 85% ethanol and 15% petrol.

By converting his prized Austin Martin, which the Prince says he only drives on special occasions, to biofuels, the Prince, organic gentleman farmer, and organic foods industry pioneer, continues to burnish his green credentials as not only the UK's top environmentalist, but most likely the greenest royal in the world.

Prince Charles operates his Duchy Originals premium organic food company, 100% of the profits of which he gives to various charities, on the Duchy of Cornwell Estate. The estate's business includes organic farming, the premium, organic foods company and a "green" garden tools business (which is part of Duchy Originals.)

The company is doing very well indeed. The profits from the Duchy of Cornwell Estate, the majority which comes from the Duchy Originals premium organic food company product sales, increased by 7% in the last fiscal year, to ~16.3 million-p (British pounds).

Duchy Originals continues to grow, both in distribution and by the regular addition of new products, including one of the latest new lines, ready-to-eat gourmet sandwiches made using all organic ingredients. The Prince recently hired a new CEO, who comes from the UK-based food and beverage giant Cadbury PLC, who plans to eliminate some of the less popular of the now 300 items in the Duchy Originals line and grow the company by focusing on top performers, newer niche products, and increased international distribution.

Numerous Duchy Originals food and grocery products are gaining increased distribution in upscale supermarkets, specialty stores and natural foods markets in the U.S., as well as throughout Europe, India and elsewhere in the world.

The Prince uses all UK-produced organic ingredients in the Duchy Original brand food products, which range from packaged biscuits, snacks, fresh breads and organic fresh milk, to fresh meats, condiments, preserves, fresh soups, deserts and more. Click here for a complete list of the Duchy Originals products, including the body care and garden tools lines.

The Prince, who is a major advocate of sustainable and organic farming in the UK and globally, also is a major supporters of Britain's farmers, along with being a chief spokesperson for buying locally-produced foods in the nation.

Since the surplus wine and whey used to make the biofuel are both produced in the UK, as well as the fuel being distilled locally, "His Royal Greenness" not only is upping his already solid green credentials by converting the Austin Martin, which was once British Secret Service Agent James Bond's (Agent 007), car of choice, to run on the biofuel, the Prince also is further burnishing his "local" credentials at the same time. It's hard to get much "greener" than that.

Retail Memo: Wal-Mart CEO Lee Scott to Conference Attendees: 'We Are Not Green'

Wal-Mart CEO Lee Scott, who has spent a great deal of his executive time the last few years touting the Bentonville, Arkansas-based mega-retailer's environmental initiatives, policies and commitments, told a group of people this morning at the ECO:nomics conference in Goleta, California that "We (Wal-Mart) are not green."

Scott, in response to a question by a conference participant, who asked the Wal-Mart chief how he could reconcile why the international retailer's carbon emissions were continuing to grow despite his stated commitment to reduce the chain's carbon footprint, declared flatly: "Wal-Mart is trying (to reduce it's carbon footprint), but we also need to grow at the same time." Scott further added: "I haven't a clue," when asked when he thought Wal-Mart would meet his goal of having zero waste and 100% renewable energy-powered stores and other operations over time.

Scott didn't elaborate on or further define what he means when he says "We (Wal-Mart) are not green. But we accept him at his word that the retailer is not a "green" retailer, despite the fact that much of its policy initiatives and environmental activity over the past few years seemed to indicate that was the message the world's largest company and retailer was attempting to convey to the investing, selling and consuming world.

But, to Scott's credit in terms of consistency, we've heard him make similar statements at more than one conference in the last two years. We have never heard Scott claim Wal-Mart is "green." Rather, we have heard him say it's his goal to be a better company from an environmental perspective. But, again, the green retailing implication has always been there in the company's initiatives and public relations activities--so Scott's words and Wal-Mart's corporate green policy and messaging are somewhat in conflict in our analysis.

At this morning's conference, Scott did say he believes Wal-Mart is making great strides to be a "greener" company and retailer. (Maybe that's why he says Wal-Mart isn't green? Rather, maybe he believes it's a work in progress? That is more honest. It's also safer of course. Perhaps all of the company's PR materials should carry CEO Scott's "We are not green" statement as a disclaimer from now on?)

Scott talked about the company's green packaging vendor initiative designed to reduce the amounts of plastic and cardboard in the products Wal-Mart buys from its thousands of suppliers. The retailer has introduced an environmental packaging scorecard in which its vendors will have to eventually reduce the amount of plastics and cardboard in the products they sell to Wal-Mart by at least 25%. Scott also said the retailer is looking particularly hard at ways to reduce the amount of plastic that goes into producing a bottle of bottled water.

Towards the end of Scott's talk he gave a clearer idea as to what he meant by his "We (Wal-Mart) are not green" statement. He told the conference attendees the primary motivation behind all of the retailer's environmental initiatives "isn't just to please environmentalists, but more to save money."

"It really is about how you take cost out, which is waste. The (cost) savings by taking out wasted material helps keep prices low for Wal-Mart customers, many who live paycheck to paycheck," Scott added.

He said contrary to what some people might think, the current economic downturn in the United States is actually serving as an incentive which is prodding Wal-Mart to accelerate its waste reduction program and similar environmental initiatives designed to cut waste and thus take costs out of the system.

Some conference participants and journalists were surprised by Scott's candid statement that We are not green," along with his flatly-stated premise that the bottom line is the bottom line.

We aren't surprised however. We have suggested all along in piece after piece here at Natural~Specialty Foods Memo that Scott's, and thus Wal-Mart's, bottom line in terms of its green retailing initiatives and policies has been just that: the company's bottom line. That's what public companies in a free-market economy do; they try to maximize profit and attempt to keep all of their stakeholders as happy as they can.

We have further argued we would much rather have Wal-Mart aggressively pursuing positive environmental initiatives as part of its corporate bottom line than not. Further, we argue the retailer has a major responsibility to do so as the world's (and United States') largest corporation and retailer. And, if you do a search on the blog, you will see we have been extremely critical of Wal-Mart at times.

We've also been positive in the main about the retailer's environmental initiatives, although we have called for (and continue to do so) Wal-Mart to lead more, which they started doing last year. We've also suggested strongly there is no going back in terms of green issues for the retailer.

We believe it's imperative though that Wal-Mart better figure out a way to reduce its carbon footprint as it continues to grow. CEO Scott knows very well achieving both goals are not mutually exclusive, despite eluding a bit to such a false dichotomy in one of his answers this morning at the environment and economics conference.

So, Lee Scott's "We are not green" and corporate bottom line primacy statements neither surprise us nor do they make us think the retailer is merely engaging in greenwashing. We do strongly suggest though that a failure to keep walking the green walk after having come this far--and rather relying on public relations to carry the day from here on out--will likely result in a serious backlash against Wal-Mart from many of its stakeholders.

Not only would that be sad from an environmental perspective--it also would have a negative impact on the mega-retailer's corporate bottom line. Being green is now a line item on every corporate CEO's P&L statement, which is something Lee Scott knows. Right Mr. Scott?

Green Retailing Memo: United Kingdom's Sainsbury's Plans to Power Store With New, High-Tech Wind Turbines

The United Kingdom's second-largest grocery chain, Sainsbury's, plans to erect three high-tech wind turbines in the parking lot of its proposed supermarket in the town of Westhoughton, which is located in Greater Manchester, England, if it can get approval from the local planning authorities.

The wind turbines would stand about 30 -to- 45 feet tall. Sainsbury's plan is to locate them in the parking lot of the proposed Westhaughton supermarket. [The artist's rendering at the top of the page shows one of the turbines at the front, far right, next to the orange and blue sign.]

The site for the proposed, partially wind-powered new Sainsbury's supermarket, is on the grounds of the Westhoughton Cricket Club. The 70 year old Cricket Club would be demolished by Sainsbury's to built its new, high-tech wind-powered supermarket. The Cricket Club plans to move to a new home not far away, as it says it needs a more modern facility.

The modernistic-looking wind turbines Sainsbury's hopes to be able to install in the proposed stores' parking lot are called 'QR5" turbines, and made by a company called Quiet Revolution Limited. They are a new generation of wind turbine, designed to be faster, quieter and to cause far less vibrations than a traditional model.

According to Quiet Revolution Limited, each turbine costs 25,000 euros and provides 10% of the energy for a 600 square meter commercial building. The new-age turbines also save a considerable amount of carbon dioxide emissions annually since they are a renewable energy source.

Sainsbury's hopes the three stainless steel wine turbines can provide the proposed supermarket with as much as 30% of its total energy needs. Since the wind energy is renewable, not only will the store have a dramatically-reduced carbon footprint and conserve fossil fuel-based energy, but it should also provide the retailer with a substantial reduction in its monthly energy bill for the Westhoughton supermarket.

Westhoughton was once a major coal mining town. In fact, the community has the distinction of once hosting one of the worse coal mining disasters in the UK. In December, 1920, 344 men and boys lost their lives in a cave-in at the Pretoria Pit coal mine. British historians say it was the third-worse coal mine disaster in the UK's history.

Having a new supermarket powered in part by renewable wind power in the town would not only show respect for the community's energy producing history and heritage, it also would demonstrate progress. The partially wind turbine-powered supermarket could stand as an example of the slow but sure progression the world is making from dirty fossil fuels to cleaner alternatives, like wind, solar, biomass and other forms of renewable energy.

We urge the town of Westhoughton to approve the new-age wind turbines despite the complaints of some in the community regarding their aesthetics. We believe they actually are aesthetically pleasing to look at. The sleek turbines even make a statement, like all good art should.

That statement: 'progress through renewable energy globally.' The turbine's design--minimalist and sleek, reaching towards the sky--symbolizes progress. The constant turning of the three turbines' blades by the wind demonstrates daily the power of mother nature to supply energy. And, the turbines' location in the parking lot, which will be filled with fossil fuel-powered automobiles, is a constant reminder to all that it's time to find alternatives to oil.

Green Memo: Greed in the Name of Green

Editor's Note: Green or environmental consumerism is one of the fastest-growing trends globally. It includes buying natural, organic, sustainable and locally-grown foods, for example.

Green consumers also are looking to shop at retailer's who conserve energy, offer "green" products for sale in their stores, and decrease their own carbon footprints as a business entity.

In terms of the products they buy, green consumers want goods that are 100% recyclable and made from recycled materials. Green shoppers also want energy efficient products, less packaging and other eco-friendly product attributes in the foods, grocery products, hard goods and other products they purchase.

Of course, green or environmental consumerism isn't without its challenges, conflicts and even contradictions. This also is true for grocery product manufacturers, marketers and retailers who are increasingly producing, marketing and selling "green" or sustainable products.

Like Kermit The Frog says: "It isn't easy being green."

Washington Post staff writer Monica Hesse has an article in today's addition of the publication in which she analyzes and discusses a number of aspects of green consumerism and the challenges and conflicts it poses. As our readers know, we don't often run pieces by others. However, we read Ms. Hesse's story early this morning and wanted to bring it to you, as we think it offers some interesting insights.

The article begins below. Then, to read the rest of it, just click on the link provided.

Greed In the Name Of Green
To Worshipers of Consumption: Spending Won't Save the Earth

By: Monica Hesse
Washington Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, March 5, 2008

Congregation of the church of the Holy Organic, let us buy.

Let us buy Anna Sova Luxury Organics Turkish towels, 900 grams per square meter, $58 apiece. Let us buy the eco-friendly 600-thread-count bed sheets, milled in Switzerland with U.S. cotton, $570 for queen-size.

Let us purge our closets of those sinful synthetics, purify ourselves in the flame of the soy candle at the altar of the immaculate Earth Weave rug, and let us buy, buy, buy until we are whipped into a beatific froth of free-range fulfillment.

And let us never consider the other organic option -- not buying -- because the new green consumer wants to consume, to be more celadon than emerald, in the right color family but muted, without all the hand-me-down baby clothes and out-of-date carpet.

There was a time, and it was pre-Al Gore, when buying organic meant eggs and tomatoes, Whole Foods and farmer's markets. But in the past two years, the word has seeped out of the supermarket and into the home store, into the vacation industry, into the Wal-Mart. Almost three-quarters of the U.S. population buys organic products at least occasionally; between 2005 and 2006 the sale of organic non-food items increased 26 percent, from $744 million to $938 million, according to the Organic Trade Association.

Green is the new black, carbon is the new kryptonite, blah blah blah. The privileged eco-friendly American realized long ago that SUVs were Death Stars; now we see that our gas-only Lexus is one, too. Best replace it with a 2008 LS 600 hybrid for $104,000 (it actually gets fewer miles per gallon than some traditional makes, but, see, it is a hybrid). Accessorize the interior with an organic Sherpa car seat cover for only $119.99.

Consuming until you're squeaky green. It feels so good. It looks so good. It feels so good to look so good, which is why conspicuousness is key.

These countertops are pressed paper. Have I shown you my recycled platinum engagement ring?

In the past two weeks, our inbox has runneth over with giddily organic products: There's the 100 percent Organic Solana Swaddle Wrap, designed to replace baby blankets we did not even know were evil. There's the Valentine's pitch, "Forget Red -- The color of love this season is Green!" It is advertising a water filter. There are the all-natural wasabi-covered goji berries, $30 for a snack six-pack, representing "a rare feat for wasabi."

There is the rebirth of Organic Style magazine, now only online but still as fashionable as ever, with a shopping section devoted to organic jewelry, organic pet bedding, organic garden decor, which apparently means more than "flowers" and "dirt."

Read the rest of Ms. Hesse's Washington Post piece 'Greed in the Name of Green,' here.

Editor's Addendum: Additionally, the Washington Post featured Leslie Garrette, the author of the popular book "The Virtuous Consumer" which is about the growing "green" or environmental consumer movement, in an online chat this afternoon.

Ms. Garrett discussed the challenges and conflicts people, businesses and organizations can face in trying to buy green, as well as in saving the environment. The Washington Post has a transcript of the online chat this afternoon here. The discussion offers some interesting consumer insight about green consumerism and related issues. We suggest you read Ms. Hesse's article first, then read the transcript from this afternoon's online chat over at the Washington Post.

The story by Ms. Hesse and the online discussion with Leslie Garrett are good consumer intelligence pieces for anybody in the food and grocery industry, as well as in business in general. They also should be of interest to all of us as citizens of our respective countries as well.

Note: The graphic at top is by Roger Chouinard.

Green Memo: Express Your Vote With a Reusable Tote (Bag)

Candidate positions on green or environmental issues are a big part of the current Presidential race in the U.S., as Democrat and Republican candidates fight it out amongst themselves in the current state primary process to win their respective political party's nomination for the November, 2008 general election.

Now, a company called Freddy & Ma's has introduced its version of how voters can combine green issues and politics in this election year. The company has introduced a line of reusable "vote totes," so shoppers can support their favorite candidate one bag of groceries at a time.

Each "eco-friendly" reusable shopping tote bag is emblazoned with the name of a candidate for President in 2008. The colorful, retro-style graphic on the bag features the name of each Presidential candidate, or party, for all to see. There's even one for Independents so they don't feel left out.

Forget bumper stickers--cars are energy hogs and polluters anyway--reusable shopping bags not only are the green alternative to paper or plastic, but using one of the "vote totes" allows a consumer (and voter) to shill for his or her favorite candidate in an "eco-friendly" way.

Freddy & Ma's "vote tote" bags are made out of organic cotton, and the cotton growers use Fairtrade practices, according to the company. Additionally, they say no toxic chemicals are used in the production of the cotton, nor in the reusable shopping bag's construction.

The reusable tote bags, designed by Sarah Renert, not only should make a green statement at the supermarket or other retail store when used by shoppers, they should stimulate some political discussion as well. The bags sell for $25, and are available on the company's website here.

For those who don't want to buy one because they feel the bags will be obsolete after the November, 2008 Presidential election, we say, worry not. The organic cotton shopping bags should make great collector's items as political campaign memorabilia. They also would be a good green alternative to storing traditional political memorabilia like bumper stickers, political buttons and the like. Beats using paper or plastic, and they will last longer.

We expect once the candidates--at least those who believe there really are environmental issues to solve in the U.S.--see their namesake reusable "vote tote" bags, they might just want to use one themselves when they go grocery shopping.

After all, all those rubber chicken dinners a Presidential candidate has to eat at fundraising events aren't real healthy for he or she. Rather, they just might want to take their namesake "vote tote" cotton bag and fill it full of some fresh fruits and vegetables at a local supermarket in whichever town they happen to be campaigning in at the moment. At many supermarkets, they can even get a five or ten cent discount for using the reusable shopping bag, instead of excepting paper or plastic.

Marketing Memo: New Coke CEO to Soon Find Out What's 'Tappening'

We call it an anti-product marketing, marketing campaign. It's creators are calling it a "Tappening." What is it?

It's a welcoming gift of sorts being designed by two marketing executives for incoming Coca Cola CEO Muhtar Kent. But it's not likely the type of welcoming gift he was looking forward to receiving.

Mike DiMasso, creative director at the marketing consultancy DiMasso Goldstein, and Eric Yaverbaum, president of public relations agency Erico communications, are planning to deliver 1 million used water bottles stuffed with messages to new CEO Kent in July, when he takes over the reigns of the huge, international beverage company, according to a story written by Natalie Zmuda in today's Advertising Age.

DiMasso and Yaverbaum's gift to Coke CEO Kent is part of a campaign they call "Tappening." The campaign's goal is to encourage consumers to drink tap water instead of bottled water, along with persuading consumers to buy reusable water bottles with messages on them like "Think Global." "Drink Local."

"We are bringing our marketing experience to bear, and therefore, people are viewing us differently," DiMasso told Ms. Zmud. "This is a public-education initiative dressed up as a brand to change the context in which Coke does business."

Coca Cola Co. is the biggest bottler and marketer of bottled water in the world.

The two marketing execs told Ad Age they chose Coke because it's the biggest bottled water marketer. "They're (other major bottled water marketers like Pepsi and Nestle) all worthy targets but Coke is the biggest, and one thing you learn is to start big," DiMasso says.

DiMasso told Advertising Age that Coke already knows about the plan to deliver the 1 million empty plastic water bottles with the messages inside to Kent in July. In fact, he said Coke has told him they will gladly recycle the plastic bottles upon delivery. The campaign has thus far collected 10,000 empty plastic water bottles towards their goal of 1 million.

The overall "Tappening" tap water campaign is designed to build brand awareness among consumers for tap water. The campaign wants consumers to stop buying bottled water, and instead drink tap water and buy and use reusable water bottles for away from home drinking.

(Read more about the campaign at the Tappening website here.) (You also can read more about the anti-bottled water, pro-tap water movement here.)

The "Tappening" campaign was launched in November, 2007. Among its activities is the selling of reusable water bottles emblazoned with sayings like "What's Tappening" and "Think Global." "Buy Local." Since November, nearly 40,000 of the logo bottles have been sold via the website.

Their are other anti-bottled water--or pro-tap water, depending on your position--initiatives going on the the U.S., along with the "Tappening" campaign. (Do a search at the top of the blog using the key words "bottled water" and "bottled water backlash," and you can read some stories we've done on the issue.)

The pro tap water, anti-bottled water coalition is a diverse one. It includes numerous city governments in the U.S., consumers, community organizations, environmental groups and businesses that produce and market reusable water bottles and tap water filtration systems.

It's a good thing Coke's new CEO Kent will have a nice big corner office at the company's corporate headquarters. It takes lots of space to hold 1 million empty plastic water bottles. We also wonder if he just won't be able to resist at least reading one or two of the messages in the bottles? After all, you don't generally get to become CEO of a multi-billion dollar company without being the curious sort.

Read the full Advertising Age story here.

Food & Society Memo: Michael Pollan on the Pleasures of Eating: Part Duex

Yesterday, we published the first chapter of writer ("The Ominvor's Dilemma") and University of California at Berkeley Journalism professor Michael Pollan's new book, "In Defense of Food: An Eaters Manifesto," which was excerpted in the UK-based Guardian newspaper.

In today's issue of the Guardian, the second part of Pollan's introductory chapters is published in an essay written by Pollan.

In the essay, "How to get back to real food," Pollan says we need to rediscover the simple rules of healthy eating. To that end, Pollan offers his recipe for reclaiming control over what he calls "our disastrous diets."

Pollan's new book is on sale beginning this week. We wanted to give our readers a sneak preview, as we believe the book will be much discussed among food industry professionals, nutritionists, farmers, consumer advocates, environmental groups, consumers and others interested in what we eat and how we grow and market our food.

Read the essay/excerpt from Michael Pollan's book, "In Defense of Food: An Eaters Manifesto" here.

More on Pollan:

Read more about Pollan's new book, what he cooks and eats at home, where he shops, and other food and nutrition issues in this profile, "What Would Michael Pollan Eat?" by Carol Ness in the San Francisco Chronicle. Hint: He's not anti-meat, nor is he a "food fanatic."

Resources:

>You can read a review (December 30, 2007) of Pollan's new book, "In Defense of Food: An Eaters Manifesto," here.

>You can also read a review, from 2006, of his best selling book, "An Omnivores Dilemma: A Natural History of Four Meals," here.

Product Innovation Memo: The Lifesaver Water Bottle

British inventor Michael Pritchard just might have invented one of the most important, and lifesaving, products in recent history.

Prichard has turned a common looking plastic bottle into a device he says can instantly clean even the dirtiest water, making it safe to drink.

Michael Prichard hold his invention, the Lifesaver water bottle, up for all to see.

Prichard told writer Richard Maino of the London Press Service he got the idea for the Lifesaver water bottle after watching TV coverage of the Indian Ocean tsunami in 2004. The tsunami killed at least 230,000 people and displaced millions. Further, many of the survivors of the tsunami had no water in the aftermath of the killer storm, which left many of them dehydrated, leading to more deaths and numerous illnesses.

In his London Press Service story, Maino describes how the Lifesaver Bottle (pictured below) works, Prichard's goals for the simple-looking water bottle, and the potential it has to save lives in both underdeveloped countries where clean water is at a minimum, and for use in the aftermath of disasters like the tsunami.

Disaster relief workers rely on having bottled and canned water shipped into areas hit by serious disasters like the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami, and even those in first world countries like Hurricane Katrina in the U.S. The problem is the distribution of the bottled and canned water can take days--and it's near-impossible to distribute it to all those affected by a major disaster on the scale of the tsunami for example due to the wide geographical path of the storm.

One the other hand, equipping people with a device like the Lifesaver water bottle in the immediate aftermath of such a disaster (or even giving them to people to have on hand in the event of such a disaster) can save lives that otherwise would be lost.

Such a device also would be far less expensive than buying bottled water. The environmental impact also would be considerably lower: Not only would gallons upon gallons of fuel be saved do to not having to truck in all the bottled water, but there would be no need to dispose of the empty plastic bottles in landfills. This is an especially serious waste issue in developing countries which generally don't recycle plastics.

If Prichard's invention works--which seems to be the case--it could be one of the most simple and basic, yet important life saving products in recent history.

Read the entire London Press Service article on the Lifesaver water bottle here.

Read more about the Lifesaver water bottle at the company's website here.

Food & Society Memo: Michael Pollan on the Pleasures of Eating

Writer Michael Pollan, author of the best selling book "The Omnivor's Dilemma," has a new book coming out this week.

The book, "In Defense of Food: An Eaters Manifesto" suggests there once was a time when knowing what to eat was easy. It not only was encoded in our genes so to speak, it also was culturally based, and a decision unfettered by so many middle men.

Over the past 40 years however, Pollan says the food industry and nutritionists have interfered with out diet. Among the results of that interference, Pollan argues, is confusion--and an epidemic of food-related diseases.

The book won't be published until January 31. However, Pollan published the first two chapters from his book in tomorrow's (Monday, January 7) issue of the United Kingdom-based Guardian newspaper.

Pollan's central point in the excerpt from the first chapters of his new book (which are published in the Guardian in essay form) is that it's time to forget about the science and marketing--and rediscover the pleasures of eating.

Like his book "The Omnivor's Dilemma," Pollan's new book is likely to get lots of attention and stimulate much discussion among consumers, nutritionists, farmers, the food industry and others interested in what we eat and how we grow and market food. We give you a preview here before the book comes out on January 31.

Read Pollan's essay from the Guardian here.