Photo by _e.t. via Flickr Whether you are a carnivore or herbivore, the question these days is about your locavore status. Does the word sound familiar to you? It won the 2007 New Oxford American Dictionary Word of the Year Award. Via VegNews Magazine: If you really want to lighten your carbon footprint, don' just go vegan, go locavore. That means buying food locally to avoid the burning of fossil fuels entailed by long-distance......

It was a great year of new books, re-discovered books, and books we meant to get to last year but didn't. The end of the year is nearly here and before we look forward, we'll take a look back. LAist Editors share their favorite book they read this year: Who: Zach Behrens, Editor What: The Four-Hour Work Week by Tim Ferris Why: Inspiring words on how to improve workflow, automate tasks, and get more......

Three people were injured and dozens evacuated after an apartment fire in Sherman Oaks gutted at least two units at 2 a.m. this morning. It was cold last night, but there are better ways to stay warm people. Australian police arrested a man in Melbourne who threatened to attack The Grove Friday. There is no evidence the man, who has never been to the United States, intended to carry out the attack. Still, days......

Would you pay $85 for truffle mac n' cheese? Or would you rather enjoy the cheaper, classic versions at Larkin's or Lucky Devil's? The Glutton over at the LA Times samples the goods for you. What do we want? Conservation programs, access to healthy food, and promotion of renewable energy! When do we want it? Whenever the Senate gets around to voting on the Farm Bill. There's still time to make your voice heard.......

Zucchini and other squash are abundant right now at farmer's markets and in home gardens (it's one of the easier vegetables to grow). Making big batches of delicious Italian-style zucchini soup is a good way to transform your bounty, and this dish uses flavors that will please even the most zucchini-fatigued palate. This soup can be a main course for two (put some crusty bread and butter on the side), or an appetizer for......

As of last Wednesday, Downtown now has six farmers markets: three on Thursday, two on Wednesday and one on Friday. "It was only back in June that we marveled at the new Bank of America market, but it seems a mere five markets each week wasn't sufficient," writes Eric Richardson at blogdowntown. Find the complete interactive map at Blogdowntown.......

It's starting to feel a little like Fall: an "unseasonably strong and cold storm system" is headed our way. Bundle up! How green was Burning Man this year? Elsa Wenzel from CNet's News.com explains her perspective: "As a first-time Burner, I've finally shaken the playa dust from my shoes and mind to conclude that it was perhaps the most and the least eco-friendly mega-event I've attended." With a name like Inland Empire, you deserve......

For almost a year now, the southern corners of National Boulevard and Overland Boulevard have not had anything on them. Now, in the last week, they're bustling with activity. On the eastern corner, where there was once an Arco, a plywood fence has gone up (now it's festooned with posters) and on the western corner, where the stripped Blockbuster still advertises the video release of The Omen remake last October (saw it, not great)......

... but there's not much Los Angeles in the latest issue of Plenty, a bi-monthly magazine on environmental news and commentary. There's a feature story on the negative environmental impact of surfing and good tips for going to the farmer's market (use it with the new Farmer's Market Google Map), but our dear home is not but a mere mention in a small, but fun brief. With the fact that "urban areas are responsible for......

- Only a few thousand of the 15,000 expected marchers showed up to the Immigration Rights March In Hollywood. - Last night in Mid-City a suspected drunk driver crashed his SUV and was thrown from his car at Washington and Cochran. The SUV then caught fire. - Scoooooooore! U.S. Beats Mexico to Win Soccer's Gold Cup. - A water pipe broke today at LAX causing fire sprinklers to wash down hundreds of travelers at......

Feeling a little lazy. Maybe a little experimental. We ordered in. We refused the nice bike ride to the grocery store. We said no to the nice farmers at the market. We skipped going out for dinner. Instead, we went online and pressed "yes" to delivered organic fruits and veggies. To live in a city with farmer's markets everywhere, it just feels so lazy to do this. But when we opened that box, we......

Unless you are an Olsen twin, chances are you eat. And if you're reading this, chances are even greater that you dig LAist. To top that, we're guessing you probably have opinions about what you like and what you don't like, say maybe in the arena of where you grab some drinks after work with your friends, where you go after seeing a play or movie for late-night noshing, or what of any one......

We work at home. We work on Macs. We don't like Outlook. We are Google kids. We use Gmail. We use Google RSS Reader. We use Google Groups, Google Maps and Google SMS. We also use Google Calendar and here's five of many reasons why: 1. If you're like us, you plan events big or small. And sometimes planning that party on a holiday we forgot existed on that day screws things up. With......

Daily News tells tales of earmarked federal funding to go to the wayside in the Valley due to Democrats going lean on the budget. Of course, it won't be just the Valley. Watch out basin/metropolitan LA. The California Report looks into the future of rest stops along California's highways. Coffee vendors, farmer's markets, solar power, wifi and more. (Download Audio Here) Closer to home, Art Center College of Design's downtown campus's roof is green.......

We had a chance to stop by the farmer's market at Wilshire Boulevard and Mariposa Avenue on Friday morning. The little market bustled with workers from the nearby office towers and people who live in the neighborhood. The first spring produce was already available. We picked up some slim spears of new asparagus. The strawberries smelled nice, too, though we didn't buy any this time. Also, we haven't had great luck buying bread at......

This week's Los Angeles Times Food Section produces an special issue focused on farmer's markets. This year they not only update the masterlist of Farmer's Markets area but also includes a special survey of the smaller, neighborhood markets. Susan LaTempa writes, "But at the smaller markets, that mission — bringing fresh produce to city dwellers while making it possible for small farmers to sell directly to consumers at retail prices — is thriving. As......