Green Your Meals

Go beyond the Farmer’s Market

1. The Big O
   When you eat organic, don't just picture the healthy food you are putting in your body, picture the healthy ecosystems which produced that food, the workers who are safer from chemicals, the land, water, and air that is being protected, and the wildlife that is being allowed to thrive. Organic vegetables, fruits, grains, juice, dairy, eggs, and meat (and don't forget the organic wine and beer), are grown and processed in ways that support healthy people and a healthy planet. (While you may not be able to find or afford organic options for everything you need, certain fruits and vegetables have more pesticides than others.) For details on the meaning of organic, see the USDA Organics homepage.
   
   
2. Fair fare
   Fair trade certified food ensures a proper wage and working conditions for those who harvest and handle it. But fair trade is green for the environment as well. TransFair, the only fair trade certifier in the US, has strong environmental standards built into its certification process that protect watersheds and virgin forests, help prevent erosion, promote natural soil fertility and water conservation, and prohibit GMOs and many synthetic chemicals. TransFair claims that their environmental standards are the most stringent in the industry, second only to USDA organic certification.
   
   
3. Go local
   Buying seasonal local food is a boon for the environment for a lot of reasons. Since most food travels many miles to reach your table (1,500 miles, on average), locally sourced food cuts back on the climate-change impacts of transportation. Local food also generally uses less packaging, is fresher and tastier, and comes in more varieties. It also supports small local growers and lets them get more for their produce by not having to spend so much on packing, processing, refrigeration, marketing, and shipping. The best way to track down local food is at farmers markets or through community supported agriculture (CSA), which often offer home delivery.
   
   
4. Don't follow the pack
   Instead of buying foods that come in extensive packaging (most of which is petroleum-based plastics) look for unpackaged or minimally packaged foods, experiment with bringing your own containers and buying in bulk, or pick brands that use bio-based plastic packing. And of course try and recycle or reuse any packaging you end up with.
   
   
5. Compost the leftovers
   Greening your meals isn't just about the food that winds up on the plate—it's the entire process, the whole lifecycle shebang. Composting leftovers will ease the burden on the landfill, give you great soil, and keep your kitchen waste basket from smelling. Apartment dwellers and yardless wonders can do it too! And yes, a composting toilet can be part of the miraculous cycle as well; it’s not as bad as it sounds.
   
   
6. Grow your own
   In the garden, in the greenhouse, in the window box, or something fancier. Even urbanites can get quite a bit of good eats from not much space.
   
   
7. To and from
   Just as buying locally grown food cuts on "miles per calorie," buying from local sellers cuts back on emissions, fuel consumption, and unnecessary traffic.
   
   
8. Just enough
   Put some extra planning into the amount of food you cook will cut back on waste. If it's something that will spoil quickly, try to avoid making more than you or your family can eat. If you’ve got extra, make a friend happy with a home cooked surprise. If it's a bigger affair, give the leftovers to those who made need it more…shut ins, shelters for example.
   
   
9. Raw
   Many people swear by the benefits of eating raw. Whatever the health advantages may be, preparing raw food consumes less energy and because raw food is usually fresh by definition, it is more likely to be locally grown.
   
   
10. Ease up on the meat
    Meat is the most resource-intensive food on the table and eating less of it can be the single most green move a person makes. Producing meat requires huge amounts of water, grain, land, and other inputs including hormones and antibiotics, and leads to pollution of soil, air, and water. A pound of beef requires around 12,000 gallons of water to produce, compared to 60 gallons for a pound of potatoes. If you're a meat eater, for starters, try cutting out a serving of meat each week. Going vegetarian or vegan is a profoundly meaningful environmental choice, and it's done wonders for Chris Martin and Prince.

Want more? Go Hardcore food green.

1. Co-op-eration is key.
   Organize a local food coop or farmers market in your area. This will provide people in the area a convenient and readily available source of local food, plus help support area farmers. Local food coops are very popular on the west coast and most deliver right to your house on a weekly basis…maybe we should start these in Des Moines?
   
   
2. Think like a squirrel
   Purchase extra fruits during the summer and practice drying and canning them. Then they will be available year-round, even when they're not in season.
   
   
3. Cooking with the sun
   Solar ovens really work, even with dim sun. They can cook a huge variety of foods and don’ t require any fuel other than our friendly local stellar nuclear reactor. What’s more, the basic design is so simple, most do-it-yourselfers can make one for very low cast.
   
   
4. The 100-Mile Diet – be a locavore.
   For many, eating local is a novel concept. The 100-mile diet is an idea that challenges people to source food from within a hundred mile radius of where they live. If someone knows of a restaurant in central Iowa that has taken on this challenge, let us know at kris@iowagogreen.com.