Category Archives: Nutrition

Food Waste and Climate Change

When food is wasted, the impact is two-fold: not only has the process contributed to continuing global hunger but it also impacts climate change. Food products that go bad and are thrown out emit greenhouse gases that contribute to global warming. Some products have a larger impact than others, meat is a bigger concern than vegetables. So, what can we do to tackle the issue?

Common sense answer: plan the grocery list so we buy what we need and avoid impulse buying; clean, pack and store leftovers or extras in a way that preserves freshness; consider  making meat products a smaller portion of our meals and opt for better options like beans or whole grains.

This article has interesting links and the numbers to convince us of the need to watch what we waste as much as we watch what we eat.

The Origins of Dinner

I came late to the interesting challenge posed by Real Eats: go completely unprocessed for October. In other words, if I take up the challenge I can only eat foods that I could make in my own kitchen, that are unprocessed. What is compelling here is their analysis of what actually goes into what we eat, can anything be actually categorized as “unprocessed” in today’s food system? Coffee, wine and cheese are allowed while bread (and the processing of) requires a whole post to itself.

And while we are reflecting on where food comes from, consider the case of organic strawberries which can, legally, be grown from “starters” that are developed in a conventional nursery. So, the plant starts life in a conventional way but after a year is treated with organic farming practices in an organic farm. Would you consider this “organic” and pay a premium for it?  Note that, if these seedlings were to be developed in an “organic” way from the start, the process would be more expensive and the premium on the price of fruit also would be higher. There are no remnants of the chemicals used in the starting stages of the plants in the fruits themselves.

White House Lunch Recipe for Kids

White House Chef Chris Comerford offers ideas for packing lunch boxes with good-for-you stuff like vegetables, fruits, hummus as well as meats and cheese.It seems really healthy and hopefully tastes good too! The idea of including a dip with the veggies is great as kids love dips and will get through their veggies better that way.

Seeds of Change

They say every cloud has a silver lining and with this long downturn it seems like the clouds have been here forever. But,even in these difficult times, there is some good news. Rising food and healthcare costs are forcing people to rethink the way they live. Farmer’s markets are thriving and people are trying to grow their own produce. The next step is the revival of (almost) lost skills like canning, pickling and preserving produce. That is how people used to live in the past: enjoy produce when it is fresh and also prepare for the rest of the year. But grocery stores continue to be a source of produce for many and I wonder if this trend will impact what we pay in the store for fruits and vegetables?

Note: the link above is to the New York Times article on the changes in produce growing in rural Kentucky. There is some issue with the link that I am trying to fix at the moment, you could go straight to the new York Times site to read it in full.

How To Cook…

….. like Mark Bittman. He talked about his new book in an interview with NPR. I particularly enjoyed the fact that he was so practical in his approach. Yes, cooking a large batch at one go means we have enough leftover for another meal, which may not seem so exciting tomorrow but at least it is a better alternative than eating out. And I can’t wait to try out all the recipes with whole grains that he talks about. Bring on the Meatless Mondays!

School Lunch Program: some good news

It is nice to read a positive piece on a usually dismal topic: school lunches, specially when it comes from the West Virginia school district that was the subject of Jamie Oliver’s TV program. The school district is now making most of its food instead of simply heating up packaged and frozen foods and the children are loving it.

Children, at home and underfoot during the long summer break, have contributed to a quieter than usual time on this page. Earthquakes and hurricanes also proved to be major distractions. But we are back to the routine now and I will be posting regularly, only occasionally taking off to pack very healthy lunches!

Video: Seeds of progress: How urban farming is changing Detroit’s future | Need to Know

Video: Seeds of progress: How urban farming is changing Detroit’s future | Need to Know.

Gardening the Community: Lessons From Youth Leaders | Simple, Good and Tasty

Gardening the Community: Lessons From Youth Leaders | Simple, Good and Tasty.

Where Have All the Nutrients Gone?

So, a new study shows that today’s fruits and vegetables contain fewer nutrients and are also less flavorful than those that grew a generation ago. Could the market’s emphasis on size and unnaturally perfect appearance have something to do with it?

How to Feed the World

Jason Clay of WWF identifies 8 steps to “freeze the footprint of food” in his article in Nature. While he examines the issue particularly with regard to Africa, these points are relevent in a global context as well. For instance, recent discussion in food and foreign policy areas have focused on the practice of “land grabbing”; Clay points out the need to restore degraded, underperforming or abandoned land instead of looking for fresh land to cultivate.

But what makes the top of the list of options is genetics: it cannot be said often enough, we are facing a huge problem here and time is not on our side. Using a technology which allows us to catalyse the process of selection of existing desirable traits and also prepare to combat climate change by including traits such as drought or disease resistance; should be an integral part of any solution (accompanied, of course, by a robust biosafety framework). Organic methods can yield good results but time is short and the technology for genetic modification is already available.