Over the past year we’ve noticed experimentation in Starbucks’ marketing, a reflection of an identity crisis in the industry as “mass-market powerhouses” McDonald’s and Dunkin’ Donuts use the recession to rise from below. On the opposite front gourmet coffee startups are beginning to present the premium quality Starbucks once used as its primary selling point.

Chef Eric Ripert says that the food industry had sabotaged what we eat and that we need to understand how our diets impact both ourselves and the planet.

PSFK got in touch with Liz Muller who is Director of Global Concept Design and interviewed her on the phone about the 15th Avenue E concept store they had rolled out in Seattle, the reasons behind it and the company’s plans for the future.

Senosiain Arquitectos architecture firm have designed a shell-shaped residential home, based on the shape of the Nautilus’ shell.  The Mexico-based abode currently houses a couple and two small children.
The house was constructed using Ferrocement, a composite material containing with cement, sand, water and wire or mesh.  Other than being economical , the technique has many benefits, including; hardy, fire-proof, earthquake-safe, anti-rust and maintenance-free.
DVICE explains:
The open concept inside the house is dominated by smooth surfaces, spiral stairs and natural plantings that makes the inhabitants feel like they’re living inside a snail who swallowed the entire contents of somebody’s back yard. While [...]

Les Gourmandises de Lolita Lempicka, a France-based food purveyor, takes tea time to a new, ultra-lux extreme. Their website, with over-the-top adorable animations and mouth watering food photography, is worth a visit (even if it’s not enough to convince you to part with 30 € for a box of tea).

The newest mainstream company to put on its green thumb is Payless, which has just brought organic shoe line zoe&zac to shelves. Following its string of extremely successful designer collaborations over the past few years, hopefully this will be one more step toward mainstreaming ethically sound consumerism.
[via Racked via Fashion Herald]

Between 1997 and 2002, the USDA drafted and implemented a National Organic Standard, an act that unified the disparate state by state regulations and unified certification under one umbrella. This move, while benefiting the consumer, by providing a universal labeling system for recognizing a product as organic, also opened the door for giant food manufacturers like Kraft, ConAgra and General Mills to enter this segment of the marketplace.
Phil Howard, an Assistant Professor at the Department of Community, Agriculture, Recreation and Resource Studies at Michigan State University, posited that this change would lead to greater consolidation in the organic food sector. [...]

The Guardian recently sat down with Rob Bondurant VP of Marketing at Patagonia and asked him to discuss their sustainable model and how they will continue to innovate for the future. Beyond simply furthering the reach of their own brand, we found Patagonia’s desire to provide leadership in the areas of ethical business practices to be particularly noteworthy.
During 2008, the company started the Organic Exchange with the sole purpose of training other companies to source and manufacture organic goods. In an effort to provide their customers with greater access to information and promote transparency, they created the Footprint Chronicles, a study [...]

After reading Fuchsia Dunlop’s New Yorker article on Dragon Well Manor (龙井草堂), we took the opportunity during the Chinese New Year holiday to experience the restaurant ourselves. Located in Hangzhou, Dragon Well Manor is run by Dai Jianjun, whose goal is to create a Chinese culinary experience founded on the use of fresh, locally sourced ingredients. The first thing to strike you at Dragon Well Manor is the beautiful setting of the restaurant, situated in the famous green tea hills of Hangzhou. When the weather is warm, patrons are encouraged to walk the grounds, drink tea [...]

How green is your food these days? Seen in Chelsea Market, NYC