Archive for the ‘Environment’ Category

Making the Most of Your Food

Thursday, October 13th, 2011

Food waste? I’m guilty.

The other night we had shrimp for dinner, and as I was cleaning up I saw there were three tiny shrimp left. I hesitated: Do I waste a whole container on putting those shrimp back in the fridge? Nah – I’ll just toss them. And then as I looked at them in the garbage can, I was swept with a wave of guilt. What a waste of those little creatures’ lives. Not to mention all of the energy that it took to process and package them and get them all the way to my house.

But something tells me that’s only the tip of the iceberg (the tail of the shrimp?) of waste in our house. What about those uneaten bagel stumps, those rotten pears, that mozzarella cheese that turned green in the back of the fridge?

It turns out it’s not just me. Check out these killer facts on food waste, via Indiana Public Media:

  • Wasted food costs America more that $100 billion each year
  • More than 40% of all food produced in America is not eaten
  • Food scraps make up 17% of what we send to landfills
  • The typical American throws out more than a 1/2 pound of food each day
  • Restaurants in the US throw out more than 6,000 tons of food each day
  • While food decomposes in a landfill, it releases methane, a greenhouse gas 21 times more lethal than carbon dioxide
  • The average American family of four wastes about $600 a year on food that just goes to waste

And SlashFood reports that researchers at the University of Texas–Austin calculate the cost of our annual food waste to be roughly equivalent to 360 million barrels of oil. That’s about 2 percent of the energy that the country uses each year, which doesn’t sound too bad, until you consider that it’s enough to power the entire U.S. for a week.

OK, so probably all of us can do better. But even if you don’t want to spend all of your time boiling down your carrot greens and lemon rinds, there’s still plenty you can do to reduce waste in your household. Here’s what you can do, with three different levels of commitment:

Practically no commitment

Plan menus: It’s a simple as a weekly plan. Map out what you’re going to eat, and then shop for it.

Buy smart: Grocery stores would love if you would buy more than you need, but you shouldn’t fall in that trap. So don’t buy those five pounds of grapes on super-sale unless you’re either having a party, planning to freeze them, or have a household full of big-time grape eaters.

Use leftovers: Made too much? Serve it again, or serve it in another form (shred the roast beef and make it into tacos, for example). And if you have leftovers from a restaurant meal, by all means bring them home and eat them too. If you need some suggestions for how to cook them up, check out our favorite Kitchen Sink Foods.

Refrigerate wisely: Put perishable items (meats, cheeses, milk, etc.) back in the refrigerator as soon as you’ve finished with them. If you let them sit out they won’t last as long.

Freeze wisely: If you’re not going to use a perishable food soon, put it in the freezer until you’re ready to use it. Put dates on your items and keep a constant rotation, so you won’t have to throw away that frost-covered bagel 18 months from now.

Don’t live or die by the expiration date: The expiration date, in many cases, is a recommendation more than a rule. If a food still smells and tastes good even though the expiration date has come and gone, it’s probably still OK.

More commitment

Compost: We’ve already said plenty about the benefits of composting. In short, it’s a great way to reduce your family’s trash footprint, help the environment, and improve your garden.

Cook with remainders: See this great list from Planet Green on foods you should take a second look at. This means saving your veggie scraps to make broth; saving seafood shells to make seafood stock, or even melting down leftover cheeses to make a cheese dip.

Donate excess food: The EPA has some good information on where to send your extra food if you have large quantities that you can’t use.

Even greater commitment

Volunteer and/or contribute: You can start with two of our favorite groups, Feeding America or Share Our Strength, for information on how to get involved. Also Jonathan Bloom (author of American Wasteland) has a good list of food recovery organizations, found on the lower right side of his Wasted Food blog.

No matter what your level of commitment, here’s something else you can do: Set a family goal to reduce the amount of food waste by at least 10 percent in the next month. Let us know how it goes.

Posted Under: Environment | Tags: , ,
This post was written by jollytomato on October 13th, 2011

Amazing Mushrooms

Monday, May 16th, 2011

When we first saw these grow-your-own mushroom kits from Back to the Roots at Camp Blogaway, our initial reaction was, “No way.” You can’t grow mushrooms out of a box with coffee grounds. Er…can you?

The answer is, apparently, yes you can. Ten days after we got our mushroom box started, we had an enormous spread of beautiful pearl oyster mushrooms. Not only was it fun for the kids (each day it was the first thing they wanted to look at when they got up in the morning) it also gave us plenty of quick gratification (the mushrooms seemed to grow by the hour, unlike most plants that take days or weeks to grow).

Back to the Roots was founded in 2009 by Alejandro Velez and Nikhil Arora as a 100% sustainable urban mushroom farm. Now their kits sell at more than 250 Whole Foods stores, and this year they are set to collect, divert and reuse 1 million lbs of coffee grounds from Peet’s Coffee & Tea.

But the real question is…how do the mushrooms taste? We’re happy to report that they are delicious: mild and flavorful, with just the right amount of chewiness (and no coffee aftertaste whatsoever).

We knew that we needed a special recipe to honor our beautiful mushrooms, and we first considered pairing them with heavier grains like barley. But given how delicate these mushrooms were, we decided that they needed to go with something a little lighter like couscous. When we settled on making mushroom couscous, the most logical name came to mind right away -  Moos-cous – and now the kids ask for it by name.

Moos-cous (Mushroom Couscous)

1 T. olive oil

1 medium white onion, finely chopped

1 cup chopped pearl oyster mushrooms

1 cup uncooked couscous

1 1/2 cups chicken stock or low-sodium chicken broth

2 green onions, chopped

In a medium saucepan, heat the olive oil over medium heat, then add the onions. Saute the onions, turning frequently, until translucent (about 3 or 4 minutes). Add the mushrooms, continuing to turn them frequently, to cook for another 4 minutes. In a separate pot, heat the chicken stock until boiling. Add the couscous, stir, cover, and remove from heat. Let the couscous stand for 5 minutes, then take off the lid and fluff the couscous. Toss in the onions and mushrooms. Top with green onion pieces and serve. Serves 4.

The best thing about these boxes, as far as the kids are concerned, is that now that we’ve gotten the first harvest, we can grow more out of the other side of the box.

Like what you see? You can order your own mushroom kit directly from Back to the Roots. Use this special discount code for a 10 percent discount on the kit: Mushrooms4me10 . Happy growing!

Posted Under: Environment, Just For Fun, Nutrition | Tags: , ,
This post was written by jollytomato on May 16th, 2011

Friday Food News “Wrap”

Friday, August 13th, 2010

We’ve been out of the loop this week because we spent a few days unplugged in Amish farm country. After hearing and reading about so many dairy mega-businesses, it’s a treat to see some simple, old-style family farms with cows grazing happily in the pastures. Those cows sure make some good milk, not to mention the best ice cream we’ve ever had. Stop by the Strasburg Creamery sometime if you don’t believe us.

Anyhow, we’ve got an eclectic assortment of news from this week:

Low-Fat Milk: Mississippi public schools are shifting from 2 percent to 1 percent milk for their lunch offerings. This seemingly slight change will result in a whopping 71,841,000 fewer grams of fat consumed by public school children, according to the Clarion-Ledger.

Allergies Misdiagnosed?: A BBC story reports that in Great Britain, doubts are being raised about the sharp rise in food allergies among children. One health watchdog group is now suggesting that up to one in five self-diagnosed cases are inaccurate.

“Prescription Produce”: The New York Times reports that doctors at three health centers in Massachusetts have begun advising patients to eat “prescription produce” from local farmers’ markets, in an effort to fight obesity in children of low-income families. They are giving coupons amounting to $1 a day for each member of a patient’s family to promote healthy meals.

Pesticide Risk Underestimated?: A new study shows how seasonality plays a large role in kids exposure to toxic pesticides, as reported by Grist. Kids may experience seasonal spikes in exposure levels (in apple season, they eat a lot of apples and thus higher levels of organophosphates, for example) which means that the residue levels considered safe may need to be rethought.

Garden Grants: Obama Foodorama shares the news that the Food and Nutrition Service is inviting public and non-profit organizations to submit applications for a grant competition to create community gardens in high-poverty schools. Applications will be accepted through October 8.

100 Ways to Use A Tomato: Got tomatoes? Endless Simmer has come up with a list of 100 ways to use up that summer favorite, the tomato. It’s one of our favorite graphic illustrations of the summer. Can you possibly stare at those pictures without your mouth watering?

Posted Under: Childhood Obesity, Environment, Government Regulations, Nutrition | Tags: , , , , , , ,
This post was written by jollytomato on August 13th, 2010
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