Super Eco

Photo credit: Marisa McClellan

Soup. It's easy to prepare, it's an energy-efficient one-pot meal and there are always leftovers. Plus, soups are easy to prepare with little or no meat. According to Mark Bittman, the New York Times Minimalist, eating more vegetarian meals is one way to lessen our impact on the environment. While he's not the only person to suggest this alteration in our cultural eating habits, he's one of the first to try and coin a new word to represent this shift. With his new book, Food Matters, he's trying to start a movement that he's calling lessmeatarian.

I saw Bittman speak last week and I was motivated to make a big pot of black bean soup in an attempt to have Sunday night dinner and lunches for the week that would be meat-free and energy efficient. I created a delicious and easy soup that has been wonderful eating all week long. Best of all, it is endlessly adjustable, so you can take the basic soup and alter it to fit your tastes. My recipe is after the jump.

Photo credit: Marisa McClellan

These days, due to rising costs, concern for the environment and the general ethos of conservation, we're all trying to save energy where we can. There are a number of ways to reduce personal energy use, including riding a bike instead of driving, turning the thermostat down a degree or two and vanquishing those energy vampires (appliances that continue to suck electricitiy, even when not in active use). However, when it comes to meal prep, food storage and general kitchen tasks, energy conservation isn't typically as much of a consideration. According to the U.S. Department of Energy, the kitchen accounts for 15% of energy used in the home, making it a great place to save. Luckily, there are a number of steps you can take to make your kitchen one of the most energy efficient zones in your home. 

On the cook top...

1. Make sure to match up the footprint of your pot with the most appropriately sized burner (this applies more to electric stoves than gas) so that you're not heating more stovetop than you need.
2. On gas stoves, it's important to notice the color of your flame. If it's burning more yellow than blue, your gas is not burning efficiently. Consult the manual or contact the manufacturer for calibration information.
3. Put a lid on your pot or pan in order to bring the contents up to temperature more rapidly, leading to shorter cooking times.
4. Use the right sized pot or pan for the job.
5. When boiling water for tea or coffee, measure out just what you need, plus half a cup to allow for evaporation. Better yet, invest in a countertop kettle, which brings water to a boil faster and uses less energy than a conventional stove.
6. Make sure to clean out the area under the burners frequently, as crumbs and burnt oatmeal absorb heat that could otherwise go into cooking your food. If you use a flat-top or inversion stove, clean it after use to ensure that nothing is getting in the way of the heat being directed into your pots and pans.
7. Give away or dispose of cookware that's warped and replace it with pieces that have a smooth and even bottom. If it's warped the heat won't transfer directly and you'll lose heat to the air.
8. Release your fear of the pressure cooker and embrace it as your new go-to kitchen appliance. The newer models are far safer than the ones our grandmothers used and can cook a pound of beans in 10-12 minutes.
9. Choose recipes that utilize a single pot. Fewer heated burners means that you're using less energy.

In the oven...

1. Clean your oven! All those spills and burnt spots lead to inefficient heating.
2. Don't preheat (unless you have one of those crazy, super-fast preheating models that will turn your food to ash during the warming cycle). Most foods don't require it and you're just burning energy for an empty oven.
3. During the baking/roasting process, keep the door closed! Every time you open it up to peek, you let lots of heat out, forcing your oven to work harder and burn more fuel. Make sure your interior light works and clean the glass in the door, so you can check on your cake without allowing the heated air to escape.

Small appliances...

1. If you're not cooking for a crowd, consider using a toaster oven to make dinner instead of heating up the oven. These countertop ovens don't use as much heat and often cook just as well. If you need a little toaster inspiration, check out celebrity chef Eric Ripert's online cooking show, in which he only uses a toaster oven.
2. When you make soups and stocks, consider using a slow cooker in place of a pot on the stove. They use less energy and you can run them overnight, which is especially good if you have your household on a time of use energy plan.
3. Microwaves can be a good choice for steaming veggies, melting chocolate and reheating leftovers.

Photo credit: Scott McNulty

I grew up in Portland, OR, a town that is known for its devotion to excellent coffee. By the time I was 14, I was a regular at my local Coffee People and when I was 15, my parents bought me a small countertop espresso machine. I am currently well into my 16th year as a coffee addict and have no plans to stop any time soon.

This also means that over the years, I've used hundreds and hundreds of take-out coffee cups over the years, blithely tossing them out after they were drained. As Catherine Lincoln recently noted (inspired by Jonathan Harris's Super Eco post on recycling), most to-go cups, including the ones used by Starbucks, are not recyclable because they're lined with plastic to keep them from leaking. There's a campaign afoot to convince the 'bucks to switch to compostable cups as soon as possible.

My own concern for the amount of waste I was creating kicked in about a year ago and I made a resolution that unless I had a reusable to-go cup with me, I wasn't allowed to buy myself a cup of coffee. It radically changed the way I approached my caffeine habit, leading to confrontations with baristas, as they refused my reusable mug and eventually me into a morning French Presser instead of a cafe regular.

In an effort to keep my coffee green, I've learned to only brew as much coffee as I'm planning to drink that day and to measure the amount of water I add to the kettle for boiling (so as not to expend extra fuel in the boiling more water than I need). I also buy small quantities of shade grown, fair trade beans.

For more information, check out these tips on how to green your coffee from Eco Child's Play.

Photo credit: aagius/Flickr

Did you know that a few cashews can help calm you down in stressful moments? They contain riboflavin, which helps build the immune system and deliver oxygen to your cells. Additionally, our bodies need riboflavin in order to metabolize food into energy. Almonds and hazelnuts are also high in riboflavin.

Common wisdom is to steer clear of nuts if you're trying to maintain a low-fat diet. And while it's true that nuts contain a great deal of fat, they are packed with so many vitamins, useful nutrients and healthy oils, they're actually a really good choice for keeping your body functioning at its best, especially if you follow a vegetarian or vegan diet.

Need a little help sharpening your focus? Sprinkle some sunflower seeds on your salad, or snack on a handful of walnuts to improve your clarity of mind and memory. Sunflower seeds and walnuts contain thiamin, which is an essential vitamin that keeps your nervous system chugging away. It's water-soluble, which means that we don't store it in our bodies, so we need to consume it on a regular basis. Wheat germ, peanuts and pistachios also contain thiamin.

Another seed that you should keep in your regular rotation is the pepita (also known as pumpkin seeds). They contain potassium (keeps your ticker beating in time), magnesium (aids in converting blood sugar into energy) and manganese (helps break down fat and cholesterol).

To make sure that you get the most benefit from nuts, make sure to buy them raw and store them in air tight containers. For best shelf-life, make sure to stash them in the fridge or freezer. If you can't imagine eating raw nuts, roast them in small batches in a toaster oven or in a dry pan.

Photo credit: ginnerobot, flickr

I work in a fairly traditional office. There are lots of people sitting in cubicles, gazing into their computers. There is a huge volume of inter-office voicemail each day. And, when food shows up in the communal kitchen, we all fall on it as if days had passed since our last meal. Diets go out the window in the face of fudge, truffles, and vast tins of flavored popcorn. And let's not even talk about all the packaging that ends up getting tossed in the garbage.

While we can't stop the occasional birthday cake or box of Girl Scout cookies, it is possible to make work place munchies a little better for the planet as well as everyone who eats them.

• Instead of bringing bagels or pretzels into the office as a morning treat for your co-workers, consider bringing in a big bowl of apples, oranges and bananas. Healthy and all the packing is organic and compostable.
• While everyone loves microwave popcorn, the packaging has been found to contain carcinogens, making it an unsafe choice. Instead, pop up a big batch at home in the morning, season it with a little salt and olive oil and bring it to work in a large grocery sack.
• Start a lunch club in the office or organize a potluck (if you want to get creative, pick a theme). You'll eat better and you'll get the opportunity to bond with your co-workers.
• If you get tapped to bring treats for a celebratory meeting, consider baking at home instead of stopping by a local bakery. You can substitute whole wheat pastry flour for all-purpose for added fiber without weighing down your banana bread or apple sauce muffins.

Photo credit: Marisa McClellan

We've all been told that eating local is the way to go and is sometimes even better than eating organic. But how can you sustain a somewhat local diet in the depths of winter, when the farmers markets have closed and the abundance of summer tomatoes, cucumbers and peppers is but a distant memory?

While eating a totally local diet during winter (at least without some major summertime preparation) is a challenge, you can begin to incorporate a few locally grown or produced elements in your diet.

Here's how:

Target a Few Items

It’s February and you’re having trouble finding any local vegetables, outside of a few withered potatoes at your local produce stand. Don’t beat yourself up over the California salad mix you tossed into your cart (we all understand how the appeal of vibrant greens during these frigid, grey days can be irresistible). Instead, focus your energy on the local things you can get.

Here in Pennsylvania, while local winter veggies are scarce, I can still get locally raised beef, pork and poultry. Eggs from happy, regional chickens are available (although admittedly, they can be a little pricier now than they are during their summer peak) and honey from bees in Delaware (no more than an hour’s drive from home) is available all year round.

The key to finding these local edibles is talking to people and thinking outside of the conventional grocery store box. Often, your next-door neighbor will know someone who happens to keep a beehive in their backyard. A quick phone call can yield a quart jar of honey in exchange for a few dollars. Are some of the other parents at your child’s school talking about going in together to buy half a cow? Find out if you can get in on the share.

Photo credit: sarah gilbert

In recent days, news reports of salmonella-tainted peanut butter have been splashed across blogs and websites. The list of recalled items is now over 100 products long and continues to grow daily. Last Friday, we learned that recalls include the Lara, Luna and CLIF bars, snacks and organic treats many people assume are fairly healthy.

It's now being reported that the Georgia plant from which all the recalled peanut butter originated knew that the peanut butter they were shipping was contaminated. In fact, they knowingly shipped bad product 12 times over the last two years. The Peanut Corporation of America frequently tests their products prior to distribution, but they aren't required to share those test results with state or federal regulators.

It seems outrageous that a company would test their products to ensure safety and then not be required to report the findings to a state or federal regulator. This is especially remarkable given the iconic and ubiquitous nature of the product (peanut butter!), although in light of recent news about BPA, U. S. consumer protections appear to be in name only.

According to the Washington Post, the company offered only an emailed statement as a response, stating it had "cooperated fully with FDA from day one during this investigation... " cold comfort given the FDA admits to being so dramatically understaffed that they were only able to inspect 6,000 out of the 65,000 operational food production plants in the U.S. last year. Perhaps it's a wonder nothing worse has happened yet.

Photo credit: ~MVI~, flickr

Just prior to President Obama's inauguration, the White House announced that the current executive chef, Cristeta Comerford (the first female to ever hold that role) would stay in her position. This came as something of a blow to the organic and locavore minded foodies out there, as they were hoping to see someone with a more public "green" track record in the White House kitchen.

Alice Waters, owner of the famed Chez Panisse and a local foods activist, was so deeply disappointed by this announcement that she wrote a public letter offering herself (as well as Gourmet magazine editor Ruth Reichl and chef Danny Meyer) up as a "Kitchen Cabinet," in order to help President and Mrs. Obama select a more appropriate chef.

It appears that Ms. Waters' protestations have been in vain, as according to reports, the White House has been practicing organic and local food sourcing for some time. There has been a vegetable garden on the roof of White House since the Clinton Administration, which provides enough veggies for the First Family's daily meals, and the White House kitchen purchases food from more than 40 local producers. The Secret Service requires that they keep the names of the farms from which they source confidential, in order to maintain Presidential security.

Photo credit: chotda on Flickr

These days, natural sugar substitutes are all the rage. Maple syrup, honey and agave nectar are being used in baking and food preparations, while soda companies have begun to use the refined version of stevia (also known as SweetLeaf) in their soft drinks. There's even a granulated version of stevia called Truvia that is available in packets, much like Equal or Splenda.

However, there's another new (old) player in the sweetener market that is beginning to turn heads and it appears to have a number of positive health benefits. Called yacon (sadly, it has nothing to do with the similarly spelled bacon), it is a perennial tuber that's traditionally grown in the mountains of Peru but can be grown in any temperate climate that doesn't freeze frequently. It's typically described as having a flavor and texture that's a cross between an apple and watermelon. It's particularly popular because it contains inulin, which is an indigestible sweetener. The result is that it lends a sweet flavor but has far fewer calories than comparable amounts of sugar.

While one can buy yacon in its tuber form at some farmers' markets and health food stores, it's most commonly sold in either syrup or tea form. It's believed that the syrup aids in digestion, can help strengthen your immune system and can even help lower blood pressure. Scientists are studying the tuber to determine whether it might be of some assistance in the treatment of diabetes. Yacon products are currently quite expensive, but as demand increases, prices should begin to drop.

Photo credit: Marisa McClellan

Back in the mid-nineties, when organic produce and products were just beginning to enter the mainstream consciousness, my mother and I were both pretty skeptical of the concept. We pooh-poohed the idea that one should pay more for anemic bunches of celery and gnarled apples and announced that conventional foods were more than sufficient for our needs. After all, people had been eating conventionally grown food for decades and if it was good enough for them, it was good enough for us.

However, over the years, we learned that we weren’t eating the same foods that people had been eating for generations. As we discovered more about the unsustainable nature of current farming practices, we began to edge away from our anti-organic stances towards one that was more welcoming to the world of organically grown foods (while still welcoming many conventionally raised products).

For those of you who are still wary of organic products and wonder if it’s worth the time and money to procure organic foods. But first:

What does “organic” mean?