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!