SUSTAINABILITY: One Bite at a Time, Part III

Where to Shop? (when cooking/eating sustainably)

Farmers Markets

Farmers markets are the best place to find fresh, local, seasonal, and oftentimes organically grown produce and other food stuffs (ie honey, and cheese, and bread and even meat). By buying from local vendors you are supporting your local farmers and strengthening the community while eating/buying your way to a more sustainable lifestyle, reducing fossil fuels associated with packaging and transporting and cooling non local produce. Furthermore when you but organic you are reducing the negative impact harmful synthetic chemical, pesticides, and fertilizer used in non-organic farming have on the environment, polluting local waterways and diminishing soil health. More than all this, farmers markets can be a fun weekend outing. Find your local farmers market (and perhaps bike there!) and spend the day perusing the stalls of fresh produce and local food vendors. Spending the day at the farmers market really makes you enjoy every aspect of your food, not only did you enjoy cooking it and eating it, but you enjoyed the process of buying it.

So here’s a link to the LA times listing of LA area farmers markets, I’ve only been to the Santa Monica farmers market but I intend on going to as many as I can while I live in LA! Check it out:

http://www.latimes.com/features/food/la-fo-farmersmarketlist,1,5715921.htmlstory

Whole Foods

Beware that not everything at Whole Foods is the sustainable choice, getting a bundle of organic asparagus grown in Argentina is not entirely sustainable. Just because an item has an organic label doesn’t mean that it is free of environmental costs. Thus I would caution when shopping at organic friendly stores like Whole Foods, still be a smart shopper, make sure you know where your food is coming from and remember the tenants of sustainable cooking and eating: local, seasonal, organic, minimal packaging and processing.

Check out Whole Foods guide to all things organic here: http://www.wholefoodsmarket.com/values/organic.php

Your Backyard!

There’s no less sustainable way of cooking and eating than using produce from your own garden. By cultivating your own fruits and veggies your food is guaranteed fresh, as local as you can get, seasonal and free of pesticides and chemical fertilizers. Home grown vegetable emphasize quality over quantity, and you can truly enjoy your food. You can’t imagine how thrilling it is when you harvest your garden and enjoy all your hard work in a delicious garden fresh meal! Compost your food scraps and green and brown waste and apply it to your plants to fertilize your garden without the use of harmful synthetic chemicals.

I don’t have the greenest thumb in the world, thus I’m leaving the gardening advice to the experts. Check out these helpful and informative websites on starting your own garden:

http://journeytoforever.org/garden_sqft.html

http://kitchengardeners.org/

http://www.helpfulgardener.com/vegetable/2003/vegetable.html

Tips on navigating your traditional supermarket:

To make the best choices when meandering around supermarket with your empty cart ready to be filled, I’ve assembled some basic tips here from my extensive grocery store experience. Always keep in mind the tenants of sustainable eating described in the previous chapter/post: fresh, local, organic, in season, less processing/less packaging the better, minimal meat/animal products and you’re ready to tackle the sustainable living proving grounds that is the supermarket.

- Navigate the outside edges of the store first. The outside edge is where all the good stuff is anyways: Think about it, the produce section, bread, etc, meat and dairy sections are always around the edges of the store. This technique minimizes the purchase of highly processed and packaged food that you always find in the middle aisles of the store- this would be your pop tarts your fun size chip bags, your soda, your frozen pizzas, etc.

-Take your time in the produce aisle and fill up your cart with delicious fruits and veggies. Look at labels- where are the fruits and veggies from? Chile? Argentina? Try and stick to local California produce, this way you are also buying fresh and most likely seasonal, while reducing the transportation impact on the environment.

-Be a smart shopper, read labels and ingredient lists. If you’re shopping in the organic aisle do your homework and be informed on what the organic label actually entails and buy accordingly.