Sustainability Made Simple: Food tips for sustainable living – Hollywood Star News

Sustainability Made Simple: Food tips for sustainable living – Hollywood Star News

By Amy Hall and Kate Gaertner
For the Hollywood Star News

Food is sustenance for our bodies. Protein is a necessary part of our diet. On average, women and men need to consume 60 to 74 grams of protein per day. Many people don’t realize they can get all of their dietary protein from sources other than animals, like beans, quinoa and plants. What we eat, how much we consume and from where our food is sourced are mighty meaningful decisions. Building sustainability into our food choices supports land and freshwater preservation, social equity, food security and carbon reduction. Why not try to eat sustainably? The byproduct could be more meaningful relationships, greater curiosity in the kitchen, a lighter body and a cleaner digestive system.

Three Sustainable Food Tips

1. Support Local: Community Supported Agriculture, or CSA, is a way to connect with your local farming community. You can support a farm’s livelihood and agricultural productivity, source hyper-local, seasonal, organic fruits, meat and vegetables and start cooking with the crazy-looking vegetables that you often see in your grocer, but pass by again and again because, well, who knows how to cook them? Now, you will and they’ll be outrageously fresh and delicious. Most CSAs come with recipe suggestions for home cooks.

The Side Yard Farm and Kitchen in the Cully neighborhood is an urban farm that provides local restaurants and the community with organic produce, education and CSA subscriptions. If you sign up for their Creative Growers CSA, you can pick up your weekly box at Grand Central Bakery on 44th and Fremont. Bonus: Grand Central Bakery gives you a coupon for a free loaf of bread with it.

2. Eat less meat and dairy: You can reduce your carbon footprint and avoid processed foods by simply using less meat in your meals, swapping dairy for non-dairy and making “Meatless Mondays” part of your meal planning. Plant-rich diets reduce carbon emissions and also tend to be healthier, leading to lower rates of chronic disease. This demand-side solution packs a climate-mitigation punch as it reduces deforestation, fertilizer use, land pollution, methane emissions from burping cows and the intensive use of water required by large-scale factory farms. Looking for some ideas to get started? Take a look at Amy’s shopping list and menu ideas to make it simple. If you’re still craving the taste of meat, try buying alternative protein products. There are new veggie burgers and sausages flooding the market. These alternative protein products are sophisticated in flavor and span the spectrum of meal choices for breakfast, lunch or dinner. Food Fight! Grocery in Gateway has a plethora of plant-based foods, in fact everything in their store is vegan. Expand your taste buds and try new foods like mushroom jerky or soy curls.

3. Tackle food waste: Food waste is one of our largest carbon emitters, accounting for roughly eight percent of global emissions. When food is thrown in our trash bins, trapped inside plastic packaging or a trash bag, it decomposes and produces methane gas inside non-biodegradable materials, exacerbating rather than mitigating emissions into the atmosphere. Compost your food so that organic waste goes back to the earth to become a fertilizer for new soils. Properly store food stuff and don’t overbuy. Get creative with your leftovers. Embrace “ugly fruit and veg.” Be safe, but understand how expiration dates are guidelines and not firm throw-away dates. Oregon Food Bank in North Portland is committed to reducing food waste. They partner with grocery stores, restaurants and businesses to reduce food waste and hunger. Their website shows places individuals can receive free surplus food as well.

What sustainable food choices do you make in your life that you’d like to share with your neighbors? You may post yours by visiting www.facebook.com/kate.gaertner or tweeting @kategaertner.

Rose City Park Climate Communication Expert Amy Hall and Sustainability Consultant Kate Gaertner provide this monthly column with ideas that neighbors can implement to live more sustainable lives and combat climate change. Hall works at TripleWin Advisory, a corporate sustainability company founded by Gaertner. Gaertner has a book coming out soon on personal sustainability titled ‘Planting a Seed.’ You can check out her catalog of recipes at www.cookwithwhatyouhave.com.

Published at Tue, 23 Mar 2021 23:28:06 +0000