We're good tippers: D.C. diners tip 19.3 percent on average. That's slightly higher than the national average (19.2 percent) and also higher than both New York and San Francisco, though Boston, Philadelphia and New Orleans all tip a tad more.

Our appetites (and wallets) are "greener" than in most places: 63 percent of diners surveyed in the D.C. area are willing to "pay more" for foods that are locally sourced, organic or sustainably raised, according to the survey. That's higher than the national average (57 percent) and even higher than New York (49 percent). Naturally, West Coasters, particularly the folks in Portland (a whopping 76 percent), are even more eco-conscious about their eating habits.

Dinner would cost more in Miami: The average price of a meal in the District is $35.99, but limit the scope to D.C.'s Top 20 Zagat-rated restaurants and that average jumps to $84.31. Of course that's higher than the national average in both categories, but still less than Frisco, the Big Apple, Vegas, Tokyo, London, and Miami.

Photo by Scott Sanchez

Tim Carman's predecessor at the Washington Post has moved on to greener pastures — quite literally — absconding to the hills of West Virginia to take a close look at how some Americans eat. Jane Black's first op-ed since leaving the Post, co-written with husband Brent Cunningham, lays out their mission in the rural state.

The piece echoes a sentiment I've thought many times before while navigating farmers markets to piece together a meal: This stuff can be seriously expensive! What about free range, organic, and local for everyone? Black and Cunningham address the cost issue:

...finding affordable, fresh and even local food there has not been as hard as we expected. We have found plenty of organic produce at the supermarket. We've bought local eggs, buffalo meat and un-homogenized milk in glass bottles.

So far, we've prepared nearly all our meals at home and are averaging about $100 a week on groceries. That breaks down to $2.38 per meal, per person, though it doesn't include the gas and time it took to run down leads on food sources.

The story goes on to discuss local and organic food as the new front of the culture wars and has set off a feedback thread of more than 100 comments.

I, too, have spent $100 at local farmers markets and Whole Foods to prepare my weekly meals (damn heritage turkeys), and the supplies didn't last through the entire week. While I realize that prices in our area are significantly higher, I think Americans need a more in-depth analysis of how to eat sustainably without breaking the bank. Maybe such an analysis will be forthcoming from the couple?

If Black and Cunningham can successfully demonstrate that supporting local, sustainable, and organic eating can be as good for our bank accounts as it is for our souls (and the environment), they could stand at the forefront of this movement to revamp our destructive industrial food production system.

Last month the Bureau of Labor Statistics released its final definition of green jobs. In March, BLS invited interested parties to submit comments about their initial definition and on their process of collecting data in this emerging economy, which has the potential to impact restaurants that serve organic food.

BLS specifically solicited comments about:

Whether the preparation and sale of organic food by restaurants and food service industries should be included as green services. The proposed BLS definition includes services classified in Accommodation and Food Services industries such as restaurants, caterers, and cafeterias.

In full disclosure, for my job at a non-profit I wrote comments on behalf of my organization, but not in regards to this section on organic food inclusion.

Although I clearly have opinions.

When I read the BLS request for comments I was excited about its recognition of the food industry: its practices, its array of workers, its contribution to health and humanity. As a Michael Pollan scholar I am familiar with the intricacies of the chameleon organic label and its peculiar ties to not-so-eco-friendly transportation and packing. (I'm looking at you bag of organic spinach shipped from California to D.C. and you, Stephen Budiansky.)

After reviewing comments, BLS decided that while practices, services and products related to organic agriculture would be considered a green job, preparing or selling organic food would not. One comment suggested that including this type of job would encourage organic farming. BLS wrote this in response:

BLS responds that it does not have an advocacy position on organic farming...Preparing or selling organic food has no apparent benefit to the environment compared to preparing or selling other food.

Data needs to be kept neutral and agenda-free at BLS. And BLS is right, organic food can be wrapped in Styrofoam just like its fertilized cousin. But isn't the government neglecting restaurants and stores that purposely sell organic food from its count? Shouldn't they be recognized as participants in the green economy?

Richard Caperton, energy policy analyst at the Center for American Progress, sees the current BLS definition of green jobs as limited. "There needs to be recognition that these jobs are playing an important role in the green economy. If no one was preparing these organic foods than no one would be growing them. It would be a more accurate and complete representation of the green economy if these jobs were included."

Caperton admits that Restaurant Nora is probably not making its decision to be an organic restaurant because of its potential inclusion in the BLS data collection. But by neglecting to "track organic foods through the economy," Caperton acknowledges that BLS fails to show the true picture of jobs in sustainability.

When the economy is slow and sustainability is looked at as an answer, the food industry should be rewarded and recognized as a player in providing jobs and responsibly grown food.

Federal Register / Vol. 75,  No.182 : Notice of comments received and final definition of green jobs.

Wednesday, as dedicated newspaper readers know (all six of you who don't rely on blogs for news), is the day that papers around the country publish their Food sections. Today's edition of Food Blog Roundup plucks both blog and print items for your gastronomic amusement.

• Bitten knows that every seed is sacred.

• Washington Post looks at how local restaurant groups are bucking the bad economy.
• Between Meals gingerly pokes at the old notion that young customers get dissed at fine-dining restaurants.
• The Stew gives Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz plenty of space to brag about how the java giant's new instant coffee, VIA Ready Brew, tastes like it's freshly brewed. How 'bout trying it yourself, Stew-ie?
•  The New York Times explains why organic foods are not always safe foods.
• Boston Herald provides some tips to pinot lovers who still want to tipple during troubled times.

Image by Flickr user rudolf_schuba

Thank God for Ed Levine over at Serious Eats. He's not afraid to speak his mind about food, the problems of his ongoing diet, or the issues that Barack Obama (aka, Mr. Hope and Change) can actually address during his coming administration. Sustainability, organics, and other food issues won't be among them, he believes. Writes Levine:

Many serious eaters have high hopes for the Obama administration when it comes to food matters. They think he will champion Michael Pollan–like causes, such as local, organic, and sustainable food, along with a farm bill that Pollan and company will approve of. With his inauguration a week away it's time to ask the following essential food question: Are those hopes realistic or misplaced?

I think the evidence shows these hopes to be misplaced. Or at the very least we should recognize that food issues are not very high on Barack Obama's priority list.

You can read the evidence that Levine has against Obama right here.

Image by Flickr user jurvetson.

She told me that he had crossed a line with her kids on a recent visitation, and she was going to have her lawyer work on getting his joint custody rights revoked. She felt her case was ironclad, he had "obviously acted wrongly" and "anyone would agree with her."

"What did he do?" I had to ask, bracing myself for some juicy gossip. Surely this would involve sex and drugs, his babe girlfriend naked, or strippers at the very least.

And then she told me her ex's transgressions. He had packed a non-organic lunch for her sons. Seriously. She went on to describe the brown bags loaded with Cheetos, Go-gurt, and a sandwich that was made with white bread.

Once Bennett recovered from her slack-jawed shock, she let the off-the-beaten trail mix mom have it with both barrels—from the safety of her computer screen where she typed up this rant for The Daily Beast. Bennett has a point, several in fact, even if she didn't have nads, so to speak, to confront the crunchy, lunatic mom in person. Here is Bennett's main gripe:

I just want to let the food Nazi moms in on what happens when your kids come to a house where junk food inhabits the pantry. They have no decision-making skills or sense of moderation when faced with the forbidden fruit roll-up. Like deprived animals, they are determined to consume the lifetime allotment of sugar they have been denied; all before pickup. I have seen one such child eat Swiss Miss Cocoa with a spoon directly out of the family-size container, only to move on to conquer a box of frosted strawberry Pop-Tarts. When faced with not one but three brands of chips, they become apoplectic and run from the kitchen clutching bags of Cool Ranch Doritos and French onion-flavored Sun Chips, later to be found in a corner curled up in the fetal position surrounded by wrappers, unable to state their name.

Bennett's no mere empty-nester pundit either. She has experience—and then some. She's the mother of six kids.