Good for you

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‘Tis the season for green beans!  Or so says the June issue of Bon Appetit.  Alma Albert of Bon Appetit writes that green or string beans (they are one in the same) are a good source of vitamins A, C, and K along with potassium and iron.

Albert has these tips for how to buy green beans at the market:

• go for beans that have “full, even color”
• “beans should snap when broken in half; the insides should be crisp and juicy”
• avoid bulging beans which usually mean pods are too mature to be crisp and tender

Another interesting tidbit: green beans come in all colors (green, yellow, purple) but for the most part they all taste the same.  So mix it up!

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Melting ice caps, slumping economy, H1N1 … the world is a scary place these days but not every tight spot comes with a doomsday.

Case in point: water in Illinois.

Josh Ellis is a Community Development Associate at the Metropolitan Planning Council who specializes in - you guessed it - H2O.

Josh talked to us about the need for state-wide water supply plan and a water metering system in Chicago.

State-wide water supply plan:

Chicago water meters: