Green Group discussion

Cool Cuisine Taking The Bite Out of Global Warning

The Global Warming Diet is a smorgasbord of scientific fact and culinary art where the reader learns new ways to look at the climate crisis.


Food and the Environment is the theme of the "Green's" group Summer Book Club.

Laura Stec wrote: " One of the most effects you can have on the environnement begins on your dinner plate.
- How about a Cool Cuisine?
- What is the Global Warming Diet?"

These are essential subjects that we'll discuss during our Summer Book Club.

My wife and I started to eat more and more veg food at home. After all, just to feed a cow, people plant many acres of land, use fertilizers, etc etc. So let's cook soja.

Wait.

Brazil is among the biggest producers of soja. The crops are expanding in many states, such as Mato Grosso. In the Amazon region, forests are cut in order to plant soja, or directly to grow cattle.

So in a way, eating soja - which is considered cleaner - isn't exactly what you could expect. After all, it is destroying the planet as much as beef.

Now, my opinion is that, no matter what you eat, the important question is "how was it produced?"

"No matter what we eat". Well said, Gregoire! French nutritionnists recommends to diversify our dinner plate.
Brazil is among the biggest producers of soja. Is it a GMO's soja production?
I eat some food with soja, but only soja without GMO.

http://green.wikia.com/wiki/GMO

"How was it produced"? I totally agree with you. This question is essential.

I must also agree with Gregoire that it is the how that is important not so much the what. Although I am very passionate about protecting the environment I do still eat meat as based on our biology we do need it for a number of essential vitamins, minerals and fats that we struggle to get elsewhere however I will only by the local free range organic meat products from my local farmer's market where I can find out exactly how it was fed and treated, where it was slaughtered and the general conditions of the farm (many of which are mixed farms so have lower environmental impacts than those that are one or the other).

Although this surprises many people I speak to, it must be remembered that even veggie diets can be damaging to the environment when intesive farming practises are used and when the produce has to be imported from half way around the world.

My personal belief is that we should eat locally produced seasonal food be it meat, fish or veg that has been sustainably produced/caught and where the whole process from field/river/sea to plate can be followed step by step.

Sam wrote: "Although this surprises many people I speak to, it must be remembered that even veggie diets can be damaging to the environment when intesive farming practises are used and when the produce has to be imported from half way around the world."

Great point, Sam. Are we all convince about this fact?

Sam wrote: " My personal belief is that we should eat locally produced seasonal food be it meat, fish or veg that has been sustainably produced/caught and where the whole process from field/river/sea to plate can be followed step by step."

I agree with you, Sam. But, how this whole process from field/river/sea to plate is guarantee ? What do you think about Food's tracability?

I think it can depend how you look at the impact of food production, whether you look at everything from start to finish or just one part of it. When you take into account the impact of food miles for a lot of fruit and veg it makes their production a lot more damaging than people think (a good example if the kiwi fruit which actually uses more fuel by weight to get it here than the fruit itself weighs). It can be viewed that fruit and veg from half way around the world, intensively farmed can be as damaging as locally produced organic animal products. It just a case of getting a balance, in my opinion.

Secondly I think the process of food production can be guaranteed by the smaller independant farms where you can speak to the farmer him/herself at farmer's markets or farm shops. I've tried asking the same questions in supermarkets and have not gotten the same kind of answers, usually I'm met with blank stares and 'I'm afraid I don't know' as answers. Not particularly helpful I must say but if more people started asking I think it could make a difference and make the process a lot more open.

Furthermore, eating fish from local rivers forces you to protect them (the rivers, i mean).

That's a great point Gregoire and one that can be applied to all food sources. I think if people were more connected with where food comes from it would encourage them to look after these areas and the general environment much more.

Living in Hawaii the issue of eating locally produced food has been getting more, deserved press lately. Hawaii imports around 90% of its food yet is capable, due to near year-round growing season and much fertile land, of sustaining a LOT more. My wife and I have added several raised beds to our gardening efforts this year and are considering chickens next. As a result, we have saved on our food bill, feel like we're doing a smidge more to help the situation, and have delicious veggies from right outside our door. A buzz word around these parts is Edible Landscaping, I guess thats two words.

Marc wrote: "Living in Hawaii the issue of eating locally produced food has been getting more, deserved press lately. Hawaii imports around 90% of its food yet is capable, due to near year-round growing season ..."

Marc that sounds fantastic, wish we had the weather here for growing most of the year round. Unfortunately my flat doesn't have a garden attached just a paved backyard but my grandparents own a small farm holding and have recently got four chickens and they are fantstic. They're currently laying about 4-6 eggs a day and they taste so much better than those from the supermarket. And they don't take much looking after as long as they've got the space and shelter they need.

A good book on chickens and the rearing of if you need one is The Complete Encyclopedia Of Chickens Everything You Need to Know About Caring for, Housing, Breeding, and Feeding Chickens Plus an Extensive Description of More Than One Hundred Different

Permaculture is really great too: PERMACULTURE A Designers' Manual

Thanks for the book tips, I will look into them, chickens loom ever closer.

A quick comment about Cool Cuisine, I got my local waterstones to order this and having looked at it I was quite disappointed as I flicked through the pages. It wasn't what I expected at all, I was hoping for lots of tips and ideas on how to reduce the impact of your diet on climate change but instead it read more like a climate change manual with some foody bits thrown in here and there. I think the idea is a good one but I think Stec got a bit side tracked by all the background and didn't give enough practical tips and ideas on how to replace certain foods to reduce the climate change impact of your diet.