The Audubon: Not Just For The Birds

All my years in Greenwich, I have never been to the local Audubon. I have nothing against birds, and am always keen on the idea of a nice hike, but for whatever reason I had never been there. Until yesterday.

The Audubon hosted a screening of the movie “Fresh.” Similar to the highly publicized “Food, Inc.,” it examines the horrors of industrial farming and offers alternative sustainable farming models that are currently implemented in a much smaller scale around the country. The movie encourages a change in the way we consume food, and “voting” with our dollars by purchasing local and organic foods as they are much safer and healthier to consume.

Following the movie, a panel of local experts answered questions, and it was eye opening to hear from them about all of the local movements going on to encourage a healthier offering of food in our area. The panel was moderated by Analiese Paik, who runs a tremendous website called Fairfield Green Food Guide.Her website does a fantastic job following the local green food movement and keeps readers up to date and where and how they can purchase local and organic food.

The turn out was great, and the Audubon has really taken notice that the public wants an offering of similar events. In the coming months, the Greenwich Audubon will be offering similar events and I encourage you to try and make it out.

Upcoming events include

March 28- 3:30-5PM- A screening of “A Chemical Reaction,” which is a documentary highlighting Canada’s successful fight banning common lawn chemicals.

April 23 – 7-9PM- A screening of “‘Tapped’:A Movie About Bottled Water,” which is a movie about, well, bottled water. The movie examines the bottled water industry and from the sound of it, their findings aren’t pretty.

The event this past weekend also featured an organic wine and cheese reception, which was delicious. I’m not sure if this is regular thing at the Audubon, but it alone was worth the price of admission.

I highly recommend keeping an eye on what the Audubon has to offer. Personally, I now plan to regularly attend their events.