Chapter One Organics, The Green Eaters
Photo credit: Chapter One Organics
An assortment of fun and funky baby and toddler clothing and accessories abounds at Chapter One Organics, a line that champions 100 percent organic cotton fabrics, low-impact dyes, and socially responsible manufacturing here in the United States.
Chapter One Organics works with a manufacturer that has training programs in place to help women who have "significant barriers to employment." Its current teaching site: A women's minimum security prison in the Midwest, where individuals can pick up new skills and earn fair wages. "The idea being once the women are released," says Jennifer Murphy, the company's founder and owner, "they will have a 'green' job opportunity."
Certainly, responses from the women, post-training, have been positive and heartwarming. According to Chapter One Organic's Web site, typical feedback includes:
"This is the biggest paycheck I have ever received."
"I want to break the cycle of poverty for my children."
"I want my children to be the generation without burger and fries."
The Green Eaters
Murphy has also written a children's picture book—printed using solar and wind power on a minimum of 30 percent recycled paper—that tells the tale of five farm animals who dream of escaping their "cold and grey" and "dirty" lives at Dreary Day factory farm. To their immense joy, their farmer ships them off to The Green Eaters Farm, an organic farm with "lots of green charm," where they can roam free to their hearts' content and eat as much fresh grass as they can stomach:
The cows were grazing and eating fresh grass,Gertie mooed, "Everything here is super first class!"
Bailey looked around confused and dazed, Then baaed, "Yeah no more grain,all I will do here is graze!"
It's certainly a different kind of kid's book that goes beyond "cows go moo moo," and "chickens go cluck cluck," although animal lovers and sensitive souls may find the fact we never learn about the animals' final fate—do some of them eventually wind up on the dinner table?—mildly disturbing. Still, it's a great, if rudimentary, introduction to the concept of animal welfare on factory farms, which parents can use to jump-start a conversation about where our food comes from. The Green Eaters is available online at Amazon.com and Chapter One Organics' Web store, as well as at various retail locations, for $12.99. Thanks to a partnership with Eco-Libris, a tree will be planted for every book sold. ::Chapter One Organics and ::The Green EatersMore eco-friendly baby stuffMy Little Pakora: South Asian Organic Baby GarbSage Baby Connects Parents to Healthy ProductsGreen BabiesHemp Baby Towel and Scrubby SetAmenity Baby Organic BeddingNui Organics, for BabyStokke Tripp Trapp Chair Grows With Your BabyHandmade Adaptable Baby FurnitureZee Babies Will Love ThemMake Your Own Baby ShoesBest of NY Gift Fair: The Baby BunchMore eco-friendly children's booksGeorge Saves the World: New Green Books for KidsChildren's Book "Planet Earth Gets Well"Knut: A Great Book for Kids10 Things I Can Do to Help My World a Great Book for KidsBook Review: How We Know What We Know About Our Changing ClimateNew Biodiesel Book for KidsDaniel and His Electric Car, Children's Storybook from the DoEBook Review: Taking the EcoSeekers Pledge To Explore A Land Of Curiosities
