A recent New York Times Sunday Style section article reports on the increasingly prevalent cultural trend of cross-dressing amongst teenagers. While this isn't new in major metropolitan cities hugging the coasts, the article cited examples of the tensions that have arisen between students and school districts in what are...

In many ways, Barack Obama is my hero. He's a brilliant leader who is doing amazing things to reform health care, the economy and education. He and his wife Michelle sparked much excitement when they installed an organic garden at the White House. His Secretary of Agriculture, Tom Vilsack, quickly...

My friends, Andrea and Aryeh, were planning their daughter Shachar's Bat Mitzvah this past summer and wanted the event to be guided by their strong commitment to social and environmental justice. We, sadly, live in an era when Bar and Bat Mitzvahs have become night-clubs at shuls with too many...

The anti-BPA movement, of which I'm a proud member, has received much deserved fanfare in the past week after Sigg, the metal water bottle company, disclosed that its pre-August 2008 bottles were lined with BPA, a known endocrine disruptor. As I've written about before, I, like thousands of other...

Food, Inc., the widely celebrated documentary that continues to expand nationwide as quickly as GMO seeds infect organic crops, is topping the box office in documentary sales. It is more than just a great documentary, though. It is helping to reshape our agricultural and eating landscape nationwide. The thoughtful analysis...

There's a little town in Japan called Taiji which used to seem like an unremarkable place with Buddhist temples, a whale museum, fisherman and a verdant national park nestled around a small cove. It used to have a big secret too. Through the award-winning documentary, the Cove, the bloody secret...

I've always hated plastic water bottles and dutifully slug a reusable bottle with me everywhere. However, a few years ago, I decided to nix my supposedly environmentally-friendly Nalgene bottles because I found out they were made with a dangerous chemical, polycarbonate, which leached into my water. I ditched the dull...

There's a seemingly-quaint fishing town nestled into a mountainous coastal spot on Japan's eastern coast that is going to become an international hotspot. The innocuous-seeming village houses a national park, whale museum, Buddhist temples and lots of fisherman. Below the surface of this quiet place is a dirty secret that...

Don't worry, this isn't a promotion for the latest skin treatment or time-share deal. It's less complicated but involves something that happens 52 times a year: Mondays. What do Mondays mean to you? Do you jump out of bed, excited to start a new work week? Or, are you a...

What is more emblematic of this country's deep rooted commitment to rebelling against the status quo than the impending July 4th holiday? It's a holiday which celebrates the collective commitment to individual liberties, freedom and democracy. As part of our individualistic spirit, how often do you seem to hear lately...

It's hard to see Food, Inc. and not be inspired. Okay, so most people might not be selling their house and quitting their office job to become full time farmers, but the movie certainly inspires people to change something in their lives. There's a lot of super simple but...

I know crap isn't a polite word but how else do you describe the stuff that is marketed and sold to kids as food? I'm not just referring to what they see in the supermarkets and on TV but also in school. You would expect schools to offer kids the...

Do you eat food? If so, then the new documentary, Food, Inc. is for you. This film is for anyone who eats food, cares about our food system, our health and the environment. Whether you're a vegan, carnivore, locavore, vegetarian or omnivore, you have a stake in our industrial...

Although I usually write about environmental, food, and political issues, I have the wonderful opportunity to delve into a more emotional, complicated topic today: family. My cousin, Alden Ehrenreich happens to be a young, brilliant actor who stars as Bennie in Francis Ford Coppola's latest gem, Tetro.

Many of us spent countless summer hours frolicking at the sandy shores of our local beach. Perhaps you have memories of loading into your family car, weighted down with beach chairs, umbrellas and rafts stacked high to the sky for countless hours of relaxation, sand-castle building and exploration at the...

Every summer, millions of Americans enjoy scrumptious picnics and backyard BBQs with lots of California fresh fruits and veggies. At the same time, under the blistering California sun, hundreds of thousands of farm workers toil daily under brutal conditions to plant, tend and harvest this produce for us.

One...

Summer's here, and there's nothing more relaxing than lounging on a hot night with a cool, refreshing beverage. Or, how about nourishing your child on those sultry summer days with a fresh drink from a sippy cup or baby bottle. But, what if I told you that those drinks are...

Can a radical social agenda really take root in Los Angeles? Living in this city, I sometimes think that the stereotypes (and complaints) about the city might be accurate. On the down side, it's a sprawling, overheated metropolis of concrete rivers billowing out to the far reaches of the region's...

The poignant film The Soloist offers a genuine, intimate perspective on the life of a homeless man living with schizophrenia in Los Angeles. Following the lives and relationship between two vastly different Angelenos, Nathaniel Anthony Ayers (Jamie Foxx) and Steve Lopez (Robert Downey, Jr.), the film gives viewers insight into...