Feed Me

Day 4 of No Impact Week: FOOD

YES my favorite. If you have read any of this blog you know my thoughts on food. I live by farmers market and the bulk bins. (Ok and bananas…I know they are imported…ok and I love trying new food even if it does come in a package…so I TRY to live off the farmers market and the bulk bin.) If you don’t want to do the heavy reading here (I encourage you to read it it’s pretty concise and well-written), I abbreviated the 10 ways to eat more ethically from the article for you:

1. Cut down on that meat.
Americans consume 185 pounds of beef, pork, and poultry per capita each year. Be like our founding father Thomas Jeffereson and eat meat “as a condiment to the vegetables which constitute my principle diet.”

2. Buy Organic
No chemicals = Healthy Earth and healthy you. As for the price you’ll find green grocery shopping (and living!) will save you money on other purchases which will make up for the organic price tag. Just think how much tofu costs compared to steak. Beware of organic products that are imported/transported from far away lands- the organic label does not make up for the gas consumption.

3. Support Local Farmers
Farmers Market and CSA make the world go round. Remember food comes from the GROUND not the supermarket and not cans and packages. LocalHarvest has a searchable online database of CSA farms.

4. Cut Back On Process, Packaged Foods
Food packaging accounts for 30 million tons of waste annually. Bad for you, bad for the environment, bad for your wallet.

5. Go Greener
Veggies are not boring. There are thousands of different types of vegetables in the world, find some new recipes and experiment. When in doubt I look up recipes at Eating Well.

6. Very Fishy
Consult the Monterey Bay Aquarium’s Seafood Guide and the Sierra Club’s "Mercury Survival Guide".

7. Shop in Style
No paper. No Plastic. Reusable cloth bag please.

8. Make Your Own
Stop buying pre-made brownie mixes and microwave dinners. Again bad for you, bad for the environment, bad for your wallet. Cooking can be fun (when you accept that nothing ever turns out the way you want and you will always have to substitute something) and food from scratch always tastes better. Make your own pre-made brownie/dessert mixes and store them in glass jars- much cuter and great presents!

9. Develop a Green Thumb
Plant a garden; you’ll cut down on your lawn mowing time. Like me and you live in an apartment? Bountiful Container by McGee & Stuckey is on my must read list right now.

10. Recycle and Compost
You already know all about this.

Have fun cooking! Want to see how well you did? Check your Carbon "Foodprint" after dinner.
(I just calculated my breakfast of steel cut oats, banana, and nuts on top and I was still in the "good" zone for carbon foot print even though I had imported fruit- hooray!)

How often do you cook from scratch?