I believe that we should all be doing our part to help the environment. This can include many simple things like turning off your car when idling for long periods of time or turning down your thermostat. In the Globe and Mail, Vikram Vij discusses how chefs can also be more conscientious in the kitchen. I think these tips also translate to the home cook. Here is how you can help in your own kitchen:
- don't buy what you won't use; having rotting food in your fridge is a waste
- put scraps (other than meats and fats) into a composter
- use food from sustainable, local farms as much as possible
- try to use each part of the food you buy (e.g. eat the chicken breast but use the bones for stock)
- don't buy overfished seafood and fish (e.g. Chilean SeaBass, Cod, Orange Roughy)
- the less processed the food, the more likely it is to have a smaller carbon footprint
- buy organic, but try to make it as local as possible
I'm sure these suggestions are just the tip of the iceberg. Please comment and add more ideas.
1 comment:
Another tip about carbon footprint...
The farther a food has to travel, the more energy/fuel is spent to ship it to the store for your consumption.
I check the package for provenance of a product and buy fresh where possible. For example, most canned mushrooms are "Product of China", so I buy fresh mushrooms (local, if possible) when I can. I try to buy fruit in season, and check to see if they are grown locally.
Don't be fooled by labels on generic brands that say "processed for" a local company. It usually means that the local company sold them a license to produce the item, NOT that it came from a local source.
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