Green Eating

Most people today seem to be in support of the Green movement, or at least are conscience of it. Most try to recycle and such, but do we think of ways to eat green? Today I'll look at some ways for greener eating habits. Following these guidelines will decrease landfills, pesticide use, overfishing and consumption of fossil fuels, improve welfare of worker, encourage humane treatment of livestock, and reduce toxic chemicals at home. I found this list and decided to incorporate the ones I found most useful:

1. Boil once, cook twice: reuse boiling water to poach shrimp
2. Fill your freezer: empty freezers use more energy
3. Make a bison burger: ironically a rise in consumption need has helped the bison population from 1,00 in the late 1800's to 450,000 today.
4. Ask your farmer questions: are your products certified organic? Do you use organic practices? Do you use non-synthetic pesticides?
5. Don't open that door: opening the oven loses 25-50 degrees every time.
6. Buy a side of beef: purchase grass-fed beef straight from the farmer. You'll support local farmers with an interest in taking care of the environment. But it also requires no fossil fuel for transport and regrowth of the grazed grass removes cabon monoxide from the air.
7. Cook more ofter: Avoid packaging and preservatives from processed foods.
8. Roast a whole chicken: less processing and less packaging= less waste. Use the bones to make your own stock.
9. Become a human food processor: less electricity.

10. Eat wild Alaskan salmon-takes care salmon stocks in a truly sustainable way. Also wild is purer and contains more omega-3's.
11. Savor Sardines: give tuna a break, try sardines. They aren't in danger of being overfished and they have lower mercury levels than tuna.
12. Get a scoop: bulk in bin sections (nuts) free of excessive packaging and minimally processed (less manipulated by fossil fuels).
13. Plant heirloom vegetable garden: non-hybrid traditional vegetables that have not been genetically modified.
14. Be your own barista: save on budget and landfill waste. Buy fair-trade organic, use French press coffee maker, and a portable mug.
15. Treasure your trash: recycle take-out containers.
16. Make stock: whatever vegetables you have leftover.
17. Join a CSA: Community Supported Agriculture. Get boxes of fresh fruits, veggies, meat, and eggs from a local farms delivered to your pickup location.

18. Text 30644 and enter FISH, then name the fish you want to buy. Receive a text telling you if the variety is good for you and the world.
19. Veg out: requires less energy and water to grow and produce no greenhouse gases.
20. Turn off the light: when you leave the kitchen!
21. Clean green: cut landfill production by 2/3 by putting vegetable scraps in a composter.
22. Eat grass-fed beef: cows are meant to graze on grass. This solves waste-management problem and improve the fertility of the soil.
23. Eat sustainable shrimp: farm raised shrimp are pumped with artificial feed and antibiotics and raised in ponds that pollute the water.
24. Eat sustainable sushi: seafoodwatch.org
25. Become a locavore: eat only food grown or produced near home. This supports the community and lowers your carbon footprint.
26. Bike to the market.
27. Support local green restaurant: find neighboorhood restaurants, butchers, and markets that serve fresh, sustainable organic food (eatwellguide.org).
28. Go bento: stainless steel lunch box.
29. Use your diswasher: when full and organized it is more water efficient.
30. Bag it: any old bag will do.
31. Take the leftovers

32. Pack your own lunch: reduce consumption of take-out and processed foods.