Earth Day is the perfect opportunity to reflect upon your food footprint- something many of us never even consider. A person’s food footprint is all the emissions that result from the production, transportation and the storage of the food supplied to meet their consumption needs. Aside from the obvious choices to eat locally and what’s in season, here are a few more ideas to get you shopping and cooking in the right direction!
1. Recycle Your Leftovers~ Think salads, pizza, stews and frittatas to re-use food you have already prepared.
2. Use Everything~ Don’t throw away those potato skins or carrot peels- in many cases, you are losing some of the nutrition.
3. Eat Sustainable Fish~ Be sure to check with your butcher or the labels when buying seafood.
4. Use a Slow Cooker~ These convenient time-savers also save on energy consumption.
5. Don’t Use Brown Bags For Your Lunch~ This creates unnecessary waste and expense compared to a tote.
6.) Use Cloth Grocery Bags~ This should be a no-brainer by now. Simply keep a stash in your trunk and you will always be prepared.
7.) Use Double Duty Dishes~ Serve the food you just cooked in the pot you cooked it in- no need to waste water on extra serving platters.
8.) Make It From Scratch~ Besides knowing what exactly is in your food, you also eliminate all that wasteful packaging that processed foods come in.
9.) Eat Less Beef~ The cattle industry has a deep impact on out environment and studies have shown that too much red meat can lead to a number of health risks.
