Top 10 “Cool Food” Tips for the Holidays:
1. Order free-range, organic poultry from a local farm. Not only could you meet your bird before it winds up on your plate (if you want) but you’ll be ensuring it wasn’t fed hormones or synthetic feed grown with pesticides and fertilizers. Keeping it local will also cut down on your food miles and help foster a relationship with local farmers. (check out the Eat Well Guide)
2. Buy local produce from a farmers market. Seasonal favorites this time of the year will vary by region but most of us can expect to see squashes, potatoes and other root crops, greens, cranberries, pomegranates, persimmons, and nutmeg for eggnog.
3. Look for organic products, especially for those items that may not available locally. Some family recipes may call for ingredients that aren’t grown en masse by factory farms. Luckily, even conventional grocery stores are stocking hundreds of organic products these days so you can find pesticide-free food just about anywhere.
4. Go on, try the Tofu…or not. The U.N. notes that animal production is responsible for almost 20% of all global greenhouse gas emissions. Choosing vegetarian foods can cut your FoodPrint significantly. But, having a vegetarian meal doesn’t necessarily mean you have to go for the processed soy. Try butternut squash lasagna or a wild rice and beans dish instead.
5. Raise a glass to organic and local beverages. Research published in the upcoming edition of the journal Agriculture, Ecosystems and the Environment shows that organic wines have almost half the carbon footprint of conventional wines. Visit some vineyards in your area or ask your local distributor if they stock local or organic wine and beer. On New Year’s Eve, forgo the Champagne for locally-produced sparkling white wine.
6. Boycott throw-aways. A house full of people during the holiday season may have you considering throw-away plates, utensils and napkins. Resist the urge! All of that waste will wind up in a landfill where it will produce methane, a greenhouse gas. Save energy and water on the dishes by loading a dishwasher completely full, using environmentally-friendly dish soap and running the dishwasher during non-peak electricity times.
7. Cater to your sweet tooth and the earth with traditional deserts. Forget the out-of-the-box additive-laden desserts and stick to the real seasonal favorites—pecan and pumpkin pie. With pumpkins grown throughout the United States and pecans available locally (in southern regions especially), these two fall desserts are traditional for a reason. Try making your own with fresh local ingredients and buying some organic ice cream or whipped cream to top it off.
8. Perk up your guests by serving organic and fair trade coffee, tea and cocoa when the food coma sets in. While coffee is not widely grown in the U.S. (with the exception of Hawaii), purchasing organic and fair-trade beverages ensures that your drinks were made without synthetic fertilizers and pesticides and that the workers were paid a fair wage for their efforts.
9. For Chanukah latkes, go with organic potatoes. If you’re making these traditional fried potato pancakes, start with organic spuds for a taste of Chanukah with no pesticides.
10. Pack it up right. A green holiday can go downhill fast if you pack all of your leftovers into plastic baggies and aluminum foil. Instead, place your leftovers in Tupperware or other reusable and washable containers. Whenever possible, keep them right in the dish or pot you cooked them in and put a lid on it. You’ll keep waste out of the landfills and cut down on your own cost of packaging.
