The Weekly Pick–Simran Sethi

This week’s pick is journalist, activist, vlogger, and television producer Simran Sethi (pronounced sim-run say-tee), who joins up with our own Eat Well Guided Tour of America tomorrow in Kansas City, Missouri. Sethi will hop on the bus after lunching at Blue Bird Bistro with the group and other regional foodies, including folks from the Kansas City Food Circle, “an all-volunteer, grassroots organization created to promote the development of a permanently sustainable local food system by building trusting relationships between farmers, eaters, chefs, and grocers,” and whose website also serves as a resource for finding local foods (not unlike our own Eat Well Guide). From there, Simran and the tour will head into Lawrence, Kansas, where Simran and Diane will speak at the “Go Organic!” film series that evening. Sethi will also serve as a celebrity judge at Saturday’s Iron Chef-style Pie Contest at Minneapolis’s Mill City Farmers’ Market, before heading out to the State Fair.

We couldn’t be happier that Sethi, who writes and co-hosts Sundance Channel’s “The Green” and serves as the Lacy C. Haynes Professional Chair at the University of Kansas School of Journalism & Mass Communication, could take time out from her busy schedule to take a ride with us. Read on for more information on this “rising green star” (I’d say she’s risen) and her brilliant career thus far.

Simran Sethi is an award-winning sustainability journalist and the Lacy C. Haynes Professional Chair at the University of Kansas School of Journalism & Mass Communication. She is the co-host/writer of The Green environmental programming from Sundance Channel and commentator/story consultant for the Sundance original series Big Ideas for a Small Planet. “We can’t separate ourselves from our natural environment or from the legacy that is the result of our actions,” Sethi says. “I hope to highlight the interconnections between how we live today and the changes required to ensure a healthier, safer, and more equitable future.”

Sethi creates video and audio podcasts for TreeHugger.com, the largest environmental site on the Internet. Under her management, TreeHuggerTV was awarded the 2006 Vloggie for Best Green Vlog. She co-anchors TreeHugger audio podcasts, and was the host/ writer of TreeHugger’s weekly segments on Air America Radio’s Eco-Talk.

Lauded in Vanity Fair’s green issue as the environmental “messenger” (April 2007), Sethi hosted a forum on global warming with Al Gore for MSN.com and created audio podcasts for Al Gore’s non-profit The Alliance for Climate Protection. She has been identified as a Variety magazine Woman of Impact (August 2007), and named one of the top Eco-Heroes of 2007 by the UK’s Independent (July 2007).

Sethi has contributed environmental segments to the Oprah Winfrey Show and been featured on the Ellen DeGeneres Show and Martha Stewart Show. She is the “eco-expert” on the syndicated green home makeover show The EcoZone Project and the host of Voom HD Network’s social and environmental series Keep It Green on Equator HD.

Sethi is the contributing author of Ethical Markets: Growing the Green Economy. The book is a companion guide to Ethical Markets, the first national PBS series to report on corporate social responsibility and sustainable business practices for which Sethi was host and writer. “The rise of corporate malfeasance, increased geo-political positioning of an ‘us versus them’ mentality, and the imminent threat of climate change demonstrate that a new way of engaging in and with the world is needed.”

Sethi started her television career while attending Smith College. Before graduating cum laude with a BA in Sociology and Women’s Studies, she was offered the job of associate producer for MTV News, and joined the company following graduate studies in Urbino, Italy. After a prolific career in the United States–including production on the award-winning documentaries Hate Rock, Sex in the 90’s, and Help Not Wanted, Sethi was asked to produce and anchor the news for MTV Asia in Singapore. She traveled and worked throughout Asia, where the stories that resonated most deeply were the remarkable tales of everyday people: “Everyone has an important story to tell. I’ve been in the fortunate position to hear them, learn from them, and share them with the world.”

During her tenure at MTV News, Sethi was lauded by her peers and the press for her commitment to issues ranging from environmentalism to political activism to drug abuse. She developed Voice for Choice the first All-India Lok Sabha election coverage targeted at young voters. She also underwent an HIV test on-camera, distributed condoms in red-light districts to promote safer sex practices, and addressed experts on the AIDS pandemic as a guest of the International Conference on AIDS in Asia and the Pacific in Chiang Mai, Thailand. Sethi’s commitment to news for young people continued in her role as senior news correspondent and managing editor of MTV News India in Bombay where she played an instrumental role in developing the channel’s news programming on both television and radio. She later expanded the scope of her work through her own production company SHE TV, consulting for the BBC.

Sethi has completed an MBA in sustainable management from the Presidio School of Management–integrating social and environmental values with practical business knowledge. She fuses this insight with her extensive experience in television reportage and passion for social and economic justice. She has lectured on corporate social responsibility and sustainability in media at the Business Alliance for Local Living Economies, Cornell University’s Johnson School of Business, M.I.T., the University of Kansas, Smith College, NYU’s Stern School of Business and Journalism School, Beth Haverim Temple, and the democratic think tank Demos.

Sethi is a former member of the Community Advisory Board for WNYC, the largest National Public Radio affiliate in the country, and a former Board member of the Independent Media Project. In addition to media advocacy, Sethi is a strong proponent of food justice. She has developed a nutrition curriculum she hopes to implement within her Lawrence, KS community and acted as a spokesperson for Sustainable Table’s Eat Well Tour. She occasionally blogs about sustainability on PBS.org, TreeHugger.com, and Deepak Chopra’s meta-blog Intent.