Contact: Ritu Sangwan, ritu.sangwan@cooksf.com

Ph: 415-513-5328

Cook! SF Joins Sustainable Seafood Movement through San Francisco Seafood Watch® Alliance Restaurant Partnership

(SAN FRANCISCO, Calif.) - October 31, 2009 - Cook! SF (http://www.cooksf.com/) has been named an official partner of the San Francisco Seafood Watch® Alliance, created by Aquarium of the Bay, the California Academy of Sciences and the San Francisco Zoo, to provide regional support for the Monterey Bay Aquarium's Seafood Watch program. With its commitment to using only whole, real and fresh ingredients Cook! SF makes healthy eating easy.

"We are proud to join the San Francisco Seafood Watch Alliance and to promote sustainable seafood choices and protect ocean habitats," said Nona Lim, Cook! SF founder. "Cook! SF meal kits feature healthy ingredients that are organic and sustainable. Joining the San Francisco Seafood Watch Alliance is a great way to work with other eco-friendly businesses to create a better future for our oceans."

Cook! SF offers up to 20 different meals each month, many of which are gluten-free, dairy-free and vegetarian and qualify as low glycemic index foods. The best part is Cook! SF meals always taste delicious, never diatetic. Ultra gourmet dining and a healthy gut go hand-in-hand with Cook! SF. Many people don't realize that health symptoms that bother them on a daily basis are actually related to food. Gluten - the protein found in wheat and other grains - can cause digestive and skin problems. And studies show a chronic dairy allergy affects up to 80% of the population. The good news is it is possible to heal symptoms with Cook! SF's real healthy meals.

"We are delighted to welcome Cook! SF into the San Francisco Seafood Watch Alliance," said Carrie Chen, Director of Education & Conservation at Aquarium of the Bay. "We applaud Cook! SF for promoting sustainable seafood offerings to its customers.  

Cook! SF was recently voted the Bay Area's "Best-Kept Secret" by San Francisco Magazine readers who raved about Cook! SF's real simple, real healthy meal kits. Cook! SF's sustainable seafood entrees include:

• Wild Alaskan salmon with wasabi green onion mayonnaise and sautéed green beans with caramelized onions (gluten-free & dairy-free)
• Grilled Californian line-caught halibut with lemon caper dressing and baby pea shoots sauté with organic carrot and ginger soup (gluten-free & dairy-free)
• Fresh grilled local sand dabs with home-made avocado salsa and brown rice pilaf (dairy-free)

Cook! SF has pledged to not serve items from the Monterey Bay Aquarium's Seafood Watch  "avoid list." Cook SF's fish supplier is Ports Seafood-the same supplier to the Bay Area's finest restaurants, such as Boulevard and Chez Panisse. For example, the Half Moon Bay fisherman who catches the sand dabs for Cook! SF sustains only about 10 pounds of bycatch a year. That's ocean-friendly fishing! 

Cook! SF and Seafood WATCH are committed to the following sustainability principles:

• Ensure a bounty of seafood for this and future generations
• Support environmentally responsible fishing and fish farming
• Increase the demand for ocean friendly seafood
• Give species that are in peril a break so that they may recover

About Cook! SF

Cook! SF creates real simple, real delicious meal kits to help people achieve real lasting health. Clients follow three simple steps: 1) select their meals for the week, 2) receive their weekly box of easy-to-make-food, and 3) cook their meal in just 20 minutes! Cook! SF uses whole, real, fresh, and mostly organic ingredients prepped just-in-time to be cooked in your kitchen. It's like being an organic gourmet chef without...well...actually being an organic chef. Cook! SF believes food is medicine and offers gluten-free, dairy-free, vegan and vegetarian meals to help people heal their digestive system. The Cook! SF Cleanse follows the nutrition protocol of Dr. Mark Hyman, author of Ultrametabolism. Cook! SF uses only eco-friendly, recyclable packaging. For more information, please contact Ritu Sangwan at ritu.sangwan@cook-sf.com.

About San Francisco Seafood Watch® Alliance

San Francisco Seafood Watch Alliance aims to raise local consumer, restaurateur and seafood industry awareness of the importance of acquiring seafood from sustainable sources. Working together, Alliance members Aquarium of the Bay, California Academy of Sciences, and San Francisco Zoo provide regional support for the Seafood Watch program created by Monterey Bay Aquarium.

About the Monterey Bay Aquarium's Seafood Watch® program

Launched in 1999, the Monterey Bay Aquarium's Seafood Watch® program is a key component of the Aquarium's Sustainable Seafood Initiative. The Initiative works to transform the seafood market in ways that support ocean-friendly fishing and fish-farming operations. Seafood Watch® provides science-based seafood recommendations through its website and pocket guides, and works with over 180 partners nationwide to educate consumers and businesses about this important issue. Contact: www.montereybayaquarium.org, www.seafoodwatch.org

Click here to read the article.

Click here to visit Outerland Cafe's website.

Here is a small excerpt from Sunset Magazine:

Dine at the year's must-try dinner spot. Beachcombers have always had a reason to venture west. Now food lovers are making the pilgrimage too,​ to try the fish stew, braised pork shoulder, garlic soup, and other wintry comforts at Outerlands. Add to that beer served in mason jars and an always-changing lineup of desserts, such as flourless chocolate cake and seasonal fruit tarts, and this eight-table restaurant paneled with driftwood is excuse enough to make the trek. $; closed Sun night; 4001 Judah St.; 415/661-6140.

To learn all about the competition and watch the news clip, click here.

To check out the photos of the event and learn the details, click here.

Click here to see the article.

 Holiday Gift Fair

Thursday, December 3, 2009 from 3pm to 7pm 

550 Montgomery Street @ Clay Street

First Bank (Top Floor)

All the details are below.  And you can download and print the invitation as a pdf by clicking HERE.

If you have questions, please contact Emily Gasner at 415-477-8415.

Click here to read the press release.

Featured Below: Steve McClure (Executive Vice President, Wells Fargo & Chairman & CEDLI Board of Directors), Emily Gasner (Executive Director, Working Solutions), Selma Taylor (Executive Director, CARAT)

Click here to read the article.

To read the article, please click here.

Click here to read more.

Click here to read the article.

Please click here to read the article.

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2009/05/08/ED1117GHAF.DTL&type=printable

www.to-goware.com

To Go Ware makes green and sustainable products such as bamboo utensil sets in carrying cases made out of recycled plastic bags and recycled plastic bottles.

http://sanfrancisco.bizjournals.com/sanfrancisco/stories/2009/03/30/daily74.html?s=smc:3

The loan fund will officially launch on April 15, 2009.

If you are interested in learning more about the City RLF, please contact us and we will send you the information once it becomes available on April 15th.

Please click below to read a copy of the Press Release.

You are invited to attend!

For more details and to register, please visit http://www.vedc.org/newsroom/eventreg.php?eid=695 or download the pdf below. 

What: Access to Captial Business Expo

When: Saturday, May 23, 2009, 8am to 2:30pm

Where: Hyatt Regency, 5 Embarcadero Center, SF, CA  94111

Cost: $10 

To read more, please visit AIA SF's website at http://www.aiasf.org/Programs/Awards_Program/Design_Awards/207.htm

You are invited to attend!

Where: Bayview Web Spot -- 4744 Third Street @ Oakdale (in SF)

Website: sfwebspot.com

When: Saturday, March 28, 2009, 10am to 7pm

For more details, please download the invite PDF below.

Check out Outerlands!

The restaurant offers art and music, along with unique, local, organic food and drink.

http://www.outerlandssf.blogspot.com/

http://www.yelp.com/biz/outerlands-san-francisco

Hours: Tues-Sat, 11am-3pm, 6pm-10pm (Closed Mondays)

Sunday Brunch: 10am-2:30pm

Location: 4001 Judah Street @ 45th Avenue, San Francisco, CA

Contact: (415) 661-6140, outerlandssf@gmail.com

When: Thursday, May 28th, 2009, 8am to 6pm
Where: Stanford University, Palo Alto, CA
For more details:  http://www.microfinancecalifornia.org/

Up to Two Million Entrepreneurs in California can't access the small amounts of capital they need to get their business off the ground.  What are U.S. microfinance organizations doing to meet this demand?

Join us for the first state-wide conference on microfinance to:
Learn the nuts and bolts of domestic microfinance
Visit Bay Area microfinance borrowers through small group tours
Understand the impact and future of microfinance in California
Contemplate your role in the field of microfinance through small group dinners with practitioners, leaders, and investors
 

Emily Gasner, Working Solutions Program Director, is a panelist for the following session:

How Microfinance Works in the US: Products, Services, and Risk Management
http://www.microfinancecalifornia.org/conference-info/sessions.php

Explore the nuts and bolts of microfinance in the U.S. including discussion of the loan application process, technical assistance, portfolio risk, interest rates and payment terms. Learn the key differences between international and domestic microfinance. How is the current economic climate affecting potential borrows and how are microfinance lenders responding to these trends?

Speakers
Evelyn Huang, Program Director, Opportunity Fund
Robert Lopez, Director of Lending, ACCION San Diego
Emily Gasner, Program Director, TMC Development Working Solutions

We were thrilled to launch our new website last week. 

The website design was generously donated by Trinity Applied Internet, Inc. www.trinity-ai.com/. 

Thank you Trinity Applied Internet!

We invite you to explore the new website and give us feedback at info@tmcworkingsolutions.org.

We hope to see you soon at a future event!

http://tmcworkingsolutions.org/latestnews/app-calendar/

Emily is a dedicated advocate for financial services, particularly for microenterprises and small businesses with limited or no access to traditional financing.  To date, she has connected microenterprises with $485,000 in microloans and small businesses with $1.9 million in financing.  Her clients include such businesses as Kris Nations Jewels, Kika's Treats, To Go Ware, Kick Start SF, and The Curiosity Shoppe.

Emily has provided countless hours of technical assistance to entrepreneurs helping them create business plans and financial projections.  Over one thousand entrepreneurs have been educated about starting a business and how to apply for a loan as a result of her participation in business workshops around the Bay Area.

Emily's passion for economic development is an inspiration.  On behalf of Working Solutions, we wish her continued success with her advocacy for businesses in the community.