I want to eat, eat, eat, apples or bananas?

Pick your Produce Wisely

It is fairly obvious by now that eating lower down on the food chain will save energy and fossil fuels, thus reducing your overall carbon footprint. A mass movement to vegetarianism would do wonders for the prevention of further global warming. But in today’s world of industrial agriculture, are all veggies equal in terms of their impacts on the planet? Of course not! Even a diet consisting solely of produce will produce a significant environmental impact because of the pesticides, fertilizers, and water that went into growing these foods. Each crop differs in the amounts of these inputs it demands. So now that you have increased the proportion of plants in your diet, it is time to consider which plants to eat and which to avoid.

In terms of fertilizer consumption, bananas are the worst villain, followed by beets and citrus fruits. Growing bananas requires 427 pounds of NPK fertilizer per acre compared to just 35 pounds per acre for beans and other nitrogen-fixing legumes. Legumes have a symbiotic relationship with bacteria in their roots that allows them to absorb N2 from the air and convert it into nitrate that they can use to make proteins. Thus, beans do not require much extra nitrogen to be added in the form of inorganic fertilizers. In fact, they actually fertilize the soil themselves!

As for pesticides, raspberries are responsibly for the greatest volume of chemicals (10.2 pounds per acre), followed by carrots and strawberries. Avocados and citrus need significantly less pesticides, but still fall near the middle in the rankings. The absolute best crops to eat if you want to decrease your pesticide use include beans, grains, spinach, and broccoli. These data are based on the volume of pesticides used per acre in growing the crops, but has nothing to do with the amount of pesticide residue left on the produce when it reaches your mouth. According to studies done to determine the amounts of pesticides remaining on fruits and vegetables, the “dirty dozen”, as they are popularly called, include peaches, apples, sweet bell peppers, celery, and strawberries. These are foods that would be best to buy organic if you are worried about the possible negative effects of pesticide consumption on your personal health.

Next time you go shopping for your favorite produce, think about what it is that your food consumes before you decide what food you want to consume. Every seemingly insignificant little choice you make affects not only you but the people and environment all around you. So what will you have in your morning cereal today? Strawberries, peaches, or bananas? So many choices, so many consequences.

Sara

One Fish, Two Fish...

Saving the oceans from disaster, one fish at a time

Every day we hear more about the perils of global warming, and how rising ocean levels will wipe out coastal populations and decimate coral reefs. Yet, for as long as humans have been pumping greenhouse gases into the atmosphere, we have also been destroying or oceans in an even more obvious yet equally disruptive manner. Over the past few centuries, new technology and soaring population levels have both contributed to massive overharvesting of the world’s seafood. Currently scientists estimate that humans are responsible for removing 90% of all large fish. This has dramatically upset the delicately balanced food webs in marine ecosystems, and the consequences for all ocean life, as well as the humans that depend upon them, could be disastrous.

Besides the sheer number of fish being taken from the oceans each year, many fishing practices degrade the environment and harm non-target marine organisms. Practices such as bottom trawling, which involves dragging a fishing net across the ocean floor, dramatically disrupt benthic habitats, and may remove up to one quarter of all deep sea life in a single run. Also, since fishers have no way to magically attract only the fish species that are in highest demand, many additional fish species and even marine mammals are often caught in fishing nets. These non-target species are usually thrown back in the ocean, but they are usually injured or killed by the experience.

As three quarters of the world’s fisheries are either overexploited or have already collapsed, people have been turning more and more to aquaculture, or fish farming. These farms cause many of the same environmental and health problems as cattle feedlots, and for many of the same reasons. Concentrating so many animals in a relatively small volume leads to infections from pathogens, such as sea lice, and pollution to nearby waters. The spread of pathogens from fish farms have been shown to dramatically reduce the populations of wild fish living nearby, and water pollution from feces and antibiotics can affect all kinds of marine organisms as well as humans.

Now that you are probably exhausted after hearing all these sad facts about the poor state of our oceans, here is some good news: human populations worldwide are working to implement more sustainable methods of harvesting fish. Many fish farms are being certified for their sustainable and environmentally friendly practices and new rules are being enforced to prevent overfishing. The most powerful force behind these changes is you, the consumer. By buying only seafood that has been sustainably caught or raised, you can help save our ocean ecosystems from disaster. The Monterey Bay Aquarium’s Seafood Watch has published guides explaining which seafood species are good to buy, and which should be avoided. They also have lists of chefs and restaurants that have pledged to only purchase sustainable seafood. Go to http://www.montereybayaquarium.org/cr/cr_seafoodwatch/sfw_recommendations.aspx to download your own handy pocket guide and become a savvy seafood shopper today!

Sara

Delight in your Dairy

Cinnamon Honey Yogurt

Make an individualized yogurt flavor suited to your exact flavor and sweetness preferences. Feel free to play with the recipe and use whatever ingredients you have on hand: honey, maple syrup, agave nectar, etc.

Ingredients:
4 cups (2 lbs) plain nonfat yogurt
2-3 tablespoons honey (or more if you so desire)
1 teaspoon cinnamon

Directions:
1. Mix the honey and cinnamon into the yogurt. I do this directly in the original container, so no bowls are needed.
2. Taste your concoction and add more honey or cinnamon if needed. Enjoy!

Hints:
• Mix in some chopped nuts, granola, Cheerios, graham cracker crumbs, or whatever else you can think of, along with chopped fruits and berries for a comforting breakfast parfait.
• Another suggestion for sweetening plain yogurt is to add your favorite fruits preserves or jams. That way, you can control the sweetness and avoid yogurts full of refined sugars and corn syrup.
• For another twist, try adding a couple teaspoons of unsweetened cocoa powder instead of the cinnamon. Chocolate yogurt is one of my personal all-time comfort foods.

Hooray for the Grass-Fed Revolution!

From Happy Animals to Healthy People

Except for the strictly vegan minority, most of us consume animal products on a daily basis. Whether you go for meat, milk, eggs, butter, or an occasional frozen yogurt, by eating these foods you are undeniably linking your own well being to that of domesticated animals such as cows and chickens. I would also be willing to bet that at some point in your life you heard about the inhumane treatment of animals in feedlots and felt guilty for eating that omelet or yogurt parfait for breakfast. In the past, that was all you could do: feel guilty. You had to choose between eating your favorite foods and doing your part to prevent brutal animal treatment. With the recent increase in publicity concerning food safety, nutrition, and environmental health, however, you no longer have to make that choice. You can now eat eggs, milk, and even meat with the knowledge that the animals that produced these foods lived a happy and relatively pain-free life.

My solution is simply to do some research before you purchase animal products. Make sure you buy meat, milk, and eggs from cows and chickens that have been allowed to wander through open pastures instead of being locked up in dark feedlots and fed an unnatural diet of corn, soy, meat, and antibiotics. Cows are particularly susceptible to health problems as a result of a grain-based diet. They are ruminants designed to eat grass, and so large amounts of corn and soy lead to serious gastrointestinal difficulties. To solve this problem, feedlot operators simply stuff the cattle with antibiotics and other drugs and slaughter them at a young age.

Buying grass-fed and pastured animal products will not only help the animals, it is beneficial to your health as well. Innumerable studies have shown that meat, milk, and eggs from pastured animals are higher in omega 3 fatty acids, vitamins E and C, beta-carotene, and conjugated linoleic acid (CLA), a natural cancer-fighting compound. Grain fed animal products, in contrast, have higher concentrations of saturated fat as well as total fat. Happy, healthy animals lead to happy, healthy people.

On a final note, farms that raise pastured animals are more likely to follow sustainable practices and thus produce far less pollution and waste than feedlots, or CAFOs (concentrated animal feeding operations). CAFOs are notorious for pumping out tons of animal waste contaminated with antibiotics and other synthetic chemicals, leading to water pollution and environmental degradation for hundreds of miles. Do some research into sustainable cattle, pig, and chicken farms, and you will find that many rotate their animals through different fields, promoting a symbiotic relationship where the grass feeds the animals while the animals fertilize the grass. Many farms are extremely low-waste and reduce fossil fuel pollution by not consuming the hundreds of tons of corn and soy needed for a grain-fed diet.

A good source for information on grass-fed animal products is www.eatwild.com. At this site you will find statistics on the nutritional benefits of grass-fed meat, milk, and eggs, as well as rules for sustainable farming, and lists of farmers' markets, grocery stores, and restaurants near you that sell pastured animal products. So if you don’t have what it takes to go completely vegan (I could never give up honey myself), then at least take a step to protect the animals, your health, and our environment by consuming only pastured animal products.

~Sara

Gluten-Free Goodness

Gluten-Free Peanut Butter Cake

This is a delicious way to satisfy your sweet tooth even if you cannot eat gluten or dairy products.

Ingredients:
1 cup corn meal
1 cup brown sugar
½ teaspoons baking soda
2 eggs
1 cup peanut butter
¼ cup canola oil
1 tablespoon vanilla
½ cup chocolate chips (optional)

Directions:
1. Preheat the oven to 350°F.
2. Mix together the corn meal, brown sugar, and baking soda.
3. In a separate bowl, beat the eggs, and mix in the peanut butter, canola oil, and vanilla.
4. Pour the dry ingredients into the peanut butter mixture and mix well.
5. Stir in the chocolate chips if desired.
6. Pour the batter into a greased or parchment paper lined cake pan. A 9x13” pan works well but a slightly smaller pan or two 8” round pans would be fine as well.
7. Bake the cake for 25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

Hints:
• If you use unsalted peanut butter, you may want to add ¼ teaspoon of salt to the dry ingredients before mixing in the peanut butter.
• Using crunchy peanut butter adds tiny peanut pieces to the cake, which I quite enjoy. If you don’t want the nut pieces, however, go for creamy peanut butter.
• If you or someone you are serving this to have celiac disease or some other gluten intolerance, make sure you use gluten-free vanilla and wash out all cooking utensils to avoid wheat contamination.
• If you wish to frost the cake, I would recommend making either a peanut butter or a chocolate cream cheese frosting. For peanut butter, just mix cream cheese, peanut butter, and powdered sugar until smooth and creamy. For chocolate you could melt chocolate chips and then mix in the cream cheese and powdered sugar. Alternatively, you could use cocoa powder instead. For any of these methods, using electric beaters is the best way to avoid cream cheese clumps and get a smooth and creamy result.

Cooking to Save the World

Make it Yourself

If you’re reading this newest post now, you have probably already perused our plethora of tasty recipes, and maybe even tried out a few for yourself. Our main goal with these recipes is to help people understand how easy, fun, inexpensive, and delicious cooking homemade meals really is. In particular, we have directed many of our posts directly at college students living in dorms, just as we are. Even in our small dorm room, we have been able to prepare scrumptious muffins, puddings, hummus, smoothies, cookies, and much more. Our main message is: you can do it too!

There are many more reasons to home cook than simply having fun, staying healthy, and eating delicious food. As much as you and I benefit from cooking our own food, the environment around us benefits even more. By simply blending your own hummus, you avoid buying several small plastic containers that most likely cannot be recycled and will end up in a landfill. You benefit by saving at least $10 and being able to adjust the recipe to your personal taste preferences. The environment benefits from your decreased consumption of plastics that require large quantities of fossil fuels to produce, and end up polluting the environment through carbon emissions and nonbiodegradable plastic.

The same story could be told of preparing homemade pudding, as we frequently do in our microwave, instead of buying prepackaged pudding snack packs. Puddings usually come in individual ½ cup servings in plastic containers bound together by cardboard, contributing both to plastic and paper consumption. Or imagine how many fruit parfaits and smoothies you see around campus, each one consuming a large plastic cup. Instead, you could make your own granola (I make granola practically every day just to keep the smell of warm cinnamon in my room) and mix up your own parfait with yogurt and fresh berries. The same thing goes for the smoothies, which are simple to prepare in either a blender or food processor and great for using up over ripe fruit.

The moral of the story is that cooking for yourself instead of buying prepackaged, highly processed foods will make you healthier and happier, keep your food bill low, and most importantly, reduce your carbon footprint and protect the environment. So get out there, start experimenting, and make it YOURSELF!

Honey, and Peanuts, and Oats! Oh My!!!

Cinnamon Honey Granola

Looking for the perfect snack to munch on during those excruciatingly long lectures? Well, here it is: homemade granola that can be prepared in your room in about as much time as it takes to walk to the nearest vending machine and back. This recipe is healthy, satisfying and very flexible. Make sure to experiment with it and adapt it to your personal dietary restrictions and desires.

Ingredients:
2 cups rolled oats
3 tablespoons honey
1 tablespoon peanut butter or almond butter
2 teaspoons cinnamon
¼ cups raisins, cranberries, or currants (optional)
¼ cup chopped walnuts, almonds, or peanuts (optional)

Directions:
1. Mix the oats, honey, peanut butter, honey, and nuts together in a large bowl.
2. Spread the granola onto a large microwave-safe plate.
3. Microwave on high for 2 minutes, stir the mixture slightly, and then microwave for another 1 minute.
4. Stir in the dried fruits if desired.
5. Let the granola cool before storing it in an airtight container.

Hints:
• Play around with the spices! Add ginger, cloves, nutmeg, cardamom, or anything you happen to crave.
• Use whatever dried fruits and nuts you have on hand. My favorites are walnuts, almonds, dried cranberries, and dried apricots. I also like to add chocolate chunks and coconut flakes.
• Don’t hesitate to double or triple the recipe. It stores well and goes fast!