Personal Project Update

In honor of the Thanksgiving holiday, I decided to do some research on the carbon footprint of meat versus vegetables, which I got from the Meat Eater’s Guide to Climate Change and Health website.  It is a very fascinating and informative website, so I urge you to look into it in more depth… here is the link.  Also, in honor of the gluttony of Thanksgiving, I decided to make two dishes; one that I made to take to my family’s Thanksgiving dinner, and one that I made on my own.  I’ll detail the recipes for the two dishes later, but first, some info on the Meat Eater’s Guide.

For those of us that aren’t familiar (although I’m fairly confident that most of us in this class are), the Meat Eater’s Guide website gives information about the cradle-to-grave lifespan of our foods, and the carbon footprint that they leave based on GHG (greenhouse gas) emissions from both before and after they leave the farm.  It also talks about the footprint that is caused from food that is produced but never eaten; the health effects of a diet heavy in red meat; ways in which individuals can decrease their carbon footprints; the various antibiotics, hormones, and toxins associated with meat produced from confined livestock operations; and the numerous benefits of eating only grass-fed, pasture-raised, and organic meat and vegetables.  Here are some of the big points to take away from this guide:

·         Lamb, beef, and cheese produce the highest amounts of GHG’s, because they come from ruminant animals that produce methane through their digestive processes (from being fed crap diets containing fishmeal, corn, soybean, and other grains that livestock shouldn’t eat).

·         Most GHG emissions occur during the production process of various meats and vegetables.

·         Most plant protein emission is generated after the crops leave the farm.

·         Wasted food is a MAJOR source of GHG’s; you should buy only what you know you can eat, and reduce the amount of food that is wasted.

·         Waste disposal and transportation emissions account for a larger percentage of GHG’s from plant food than from meat.

·         Taking the “meatless Monday” pledge, while having no significant impact on GHG emissions, can dramatically improve personal health and habits.

·         If everyone in the U.S. went vegetarian, there would only be a moderate effect on overall carbon emissions; this is due to the fact that the U.S. has much larger, industrial contributors to carbon pollution (factories).

·         Antibiotics, hormones, and other toxins in an animal’s system can impact the humans who eat them; hormones have been linked to greater risks of cancer, and also cause higher rates of infection in the animals they are fed to.

·         If everyone in the U.S. ate no meat or cheese just one day a week, it would be the equivalent of not driving 91 billion miles; or like taking 7.6 million cars off the road.

·         “Eating less, greener, and healthier meat is good for your health and the planet”.  http://www.ewg.org/meateatersguide/a-meat-eaters-guide-to-climate-change-health-what-you-eat-matters/

Also, I think Bill has shown us this graphic in class before, but I just really like how it illustrates the impact that choosing different food has on your overall carbon footprint:

This guide has definitely made me re-think America’s obsession with meat-related holidays… imagine if we all WERE actually vegetarians, and our main course was tofurkey instead of turkey on Thanksgiving… a vegetable casserole instead of ham at Christmas… how much of an impact would that have on carbon emissions for just those two times of the year?

Food for thought, definitely!  Speaking of food… the two recipes I made this week were quite different from what I normally would eat, which is why I decided to try them out.  The first one was a potato crust quiche, which is the one I made for Thanksgiving.  The recipe calls for:

·         3 medium potatoes

·         1/3 cup butter, softened

·         2 cups mixed, chopped, cooked vegetables

·         ½ cup shredded cheddar cheese

·         2 eggs

·         1 can (5.3 oz) evaporated milk

·         1/4 tsp salt

·         1/8 tsp pepper

·         1 cup bread cubes or crumbs

You basically boil the potatoes until tender, then mash them together with the softened butter to form the “crust” part of the quiche, as pictured: 

Then, you layer the rest of your cooked veggies and the cheese on top of the potatoes, mix the eggs, milk, salt, and pepper together and pour over the top, add the bread crumbs, and cook for 40-45 minutes in the oven.  My quiche was a bit over-filled with vegetables, so some of the egg/milk mixture spilled on the counter and I wasn’t sure how it would turn out… but it turned out very nicely!  It was pretty tasty, too… just needed a little extra salt at the table, but I left Thanksgiving dinner with an empty casserole dish, so I was proud J.

The next recipe was pretty simple.  I decided I wanted to make my own pasta sauce, and this recipe was for a white sauce (I normally prefer a red, tomato sauce when cooking on my own), so I thought this was worth a try.  So, to make this garlic parsley pesto sauce, you need:

·         1 cup low-fat cottage cheese

·         5 tbsp grated parmesan cheese

·         ½ cup boiling water

·         ½ cup fresh parsley

·         ½ cup fresh basil

·         2 large garlic cloves

·         Salt and pepper to taste

·      3 cups tender cooked pasta

Really simple, you just throw all the ingredients in a blender, then mix it with your pasta.  I was really excited to try this one, and it looked and smelled good…

...but it actually turned out to be a huge FAIL.  I don’t know if I overdosed on the parsley, garlic, basil, or what, but MAN did it have a bite to it!  So much so, that I couldn’t eat it L.  It was just waaaay too… spicy or something.  I dunno.  But I’m glad I tried it!  Making your own pasta sauce is a nice, healthier way to add your favorite tastes to your dinner, and I will definitely be trying it again!

Personal Project Update

One of the goals of my food project was to research the locally-supported, organic, and sustainable foods that the three main grocery store chains in Bloomington supported: Marsh, Kroger, and Bloomingfoods.  I have found out some interesting things!  Starting with Marsh… I was a bit surprised that a grocery chain that originated in Indiana would not have more information regarding the local farms and food products they support (or, if they do, it is not easily accessible).  I will keep looking, but thus far, all I’ve been able to find out regarding support of local farms/sustainable foods, etc., was one webpage that contains a list of “local” farmers throughout Indiana and Ohio, from which Marsh purchases some of its seasonal produce.  Of the farms listed, only one was located in Bloomington. 

Kroger, on the other hand, had a wealth of information regarding its support of local/organic food and products, as well as its support of sustainable food and practices.  I was pleased to find that they source sustainable seafood, and have a sustainable seafood policy link on their website, as well as a sustainability report for the year.  Looking further into both of these, here are some of the major points that I found:

• They are working with the World Wildlife Fund to ensure that their top 20 caught species are sourced from areas that are certified by the Marine Stewardship Council, or are part of the WWF improvement project.  Right now, they are at 56% of their top 20 species sourced from sustainable practices; their goal is to reach 75% by 2015. 
• They have stopped the sourcing of sharks, tuna, skates, rays, and a few other species
• They have instituted an educational campaign for their customers, utilizing countertop stanchions and brochures, as well as providing their sustainability report online, to spread the word about the importance of sustainable practices.
• They offer fair trade products (the selection of which has more than doubled in the past few years), Private Selection and Nature’s Market organic brands, and BPA-free products.
• They require their suppliers to meet the Food Marketing Institute’s animal welfare standards; along this line, more than 10% of their egg sales in 2010 were from cage-free chickens.
• They buy local from 20 dairies across the U.S. to supply their stores; they also have a number of certified organic processing facilities.
• Although their food delivery trucks travel quite a bit (295 million miles in 2010!), they are taking steps to reduce their environmental impact.  They have improved their transportation efficiency (measured by cases shipped per gallons of gas used) by 15.5% from their baseline in 2008; they hope to reach 40% by 2014.  
• They have increased their cube efficiency (number of boxes they can fit into their trucks), increase their miles per gallon, and reduced the number of empty miles they travel (trucks driving without products).

I would never have given Kroger credit for so many environmentally and sustainably conscious practices!  Although they still have a lot to work on, I was excited to see how much initiative they’ve taken in ensuring that their producing and shipping methods make less of an impact on the environment and resources.  

That leaves Bloomingfoods, which, as we all know, is the WORST place to go when looking to support local farmers, seeking foods produced with sustainable practices, and eating organically-grown produce.  All facetiousness aside, it was interesting to learn more about their products, as well as all of the different local programs they support in the community.  They have numerous articles and information about their food, activities in the community, ways for you to adopt more sustainable practices in your own life, and many other topics of interest.  Some of the info I gleaned from their website:

• They promote “Share the Harvest” in cooperation with Mother Hubbard’s Cupboard, and support numerous local farms and nonprofits, including the Local Grower’s Guild.
• They host panel discussions on a variety of topics, including local foods
• Their meat products are hormone and antibiotic free. 
• 30% of their produce is produced locally, and each section of their grocery offers multiple options for organic and fair trade foods/products.

Along these lines, here is a description of the criteria for organic foods and products:

Organic standards prohibit:

Synthetic pesticides, herbicides or fungicides

Antibiotics or added growth hormones

Bio-solids (sewage sludge) and synthetic fertilizers

Genetically modified organisms (GMOs), seeds or ingredients

Animal by-products in animal feed

Organic practices require:

Inspections of all farm fields, processing facilities and production and sales records by agents accredited as USDA Certifiers

Periodic testing of soil and water used in production

Continual monitoring, maintenance and improvement of soil health

Crop rotation, mulching and other practices to prevent soil erosion and enhance soil health

Specific composting methods for both animal and plant waste

Outdoor access for livestock

Pasture for all ruminants

100 percent certified organic feed for organic animals

(bloomingfoods.coop)

Some of these facts I knew, others I did not; having it available on their website was very helpful for me, and is an example of just one of the ways that Bloomingfoods serves its community by providing important information and tools that people can use to make more educated, responsible choices in their lives.  Researching all of this has really opened my eyes to many of the issues surrounding sustainable food, as well as all of the benefits one can receive from changing their diet to incorporate these foods in their lives.  More information to follow, but this was a great base of knowledge to find!

Fishery Management Strategies

Our Roseland reading on community economic development this week really struck a chord with me, especially one of the last lines of the chapter:  “In a commodity-intensive economy, people are compelled to seek full-time employment and an increasing income, but some people are making a shift.  By re-evaluating their needs and wants and realizing that their true demands are for comfort, security, health, and happiness, some people are finding alternative ways to satisfy these demands” (Roseland, pg. 183).  Not to be overly simplistic or maudlin, but for me, this little paragraph is really what life boils down to: the desire and the need, as human beings, to feel secure, happy, and healthy in their lives.  Everything else is just window dressing, as they say. 

Onto my blog topic… as I was reading, I was very impressed with the number of different ways people have found to utilize resources, time, and money to secure better, stable, and sustainable communities.  More specifically, the section on community forestry, fisheries and agriculture exemplifies the impact that a group of committed individuals can have on the direct operation of their economies, environments, and resources.  The short blurb about fishing quotas is something that I have had occasion to research for another class, and also read a book about over the summer.  Not sure if anybody’s read this one: 

It’s a great mix of fishery science, management, and local anecdotes (having to do specifically with Maine lobsters, but the same concepts apply).  The importance of establishing fishing quotas for local fisherman is just one of the themes explored in the book, as the over-fishing of lobsters and other fish can rapidly reduce population, and lead to extinction of species, as well as economic crisis.  Not to mention other problems related to bad fishing practices, like lots of by-catch (other fish and sea animals that die when they get caught in fishing nets),  pollution and dumping from fishing gear and boats, economic waste, and population dynamics shifts in different species of fish. 

More pertinent to this week’s discussion, however, are the different strategies that can be used to ensure proper fishing rights and cooperative fishing initiatives amongst stakeholders in areas that rely heavily on the ocean’s resources.  Roseland mentions the need to “establish community quotas whereby fishing rights are allocated to communities, and distributed in turn to local fishers” (pg. 180).  Related to this, I came across another article that focuses more specifically on management strategies that can be implemented to protect against overharvesting and control the amounts of fish caught in different markets (termed incentive blocking and incentive adjusting measures, respectively).  Some of the strategies mentioned are limited entry and buyback programs, gear and vessel restrictions, total allowable catches, vessel catch limits, and individual effort quotas.  The article goes into detail about each of these, for those who are interested. 

The end goal of programs that initiate these types of strategies is to change the current management systems in place in fisheries from those of economically and environmentally wasteful practices, to those of self-sustaining fish populations and cooperative fishing programs.  Just as in forestry policies, agricultural cooperatives, and countless other efforts and examples of communities working together towards more sustainable natural systems that provide for their needs, the fishing industry illustrates the absolute necessity of having a management system in place to ensure that resources are being allocated appropriately.