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How to cook sustainably
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Bok choy is just one vegetable in season right now
Do you eat sustainably?
If you do, that's a wonderful thing that you're doing for your health and for the health of the environment. If you don't, but want to, here are some tips for starting on the journey towards sustainable cooking.
Go to a neighborhood farmers market. Don't go with the intention of doing all of your shopping there. Sure, that is a great goal eventually, but as a first step, just go with your family. Walk around. Look at all of the delicious food. Most fruit and vegetable vendors will let you sample. Try a taste. Pick your favorite item (fruit, or vegetable, or bread, or cheese) and buy it. Even one item is a great way to start.
Start learning what is in season. Do you know what grows in Washngton in July? Did you know that bananas do not grow in Puget Sound at any time of year? For a great resource that will tell you what fruits and vegetables grow in our area, check out Seasonal Cornucopia. You can enter your favorite fruit or vegetable and find out when it is in season. Start by eliminating one or two out-of-season vegetables from your weekly shopping trip. Replace them with in-season vegetables.
Plant something. This is a great tip for parents of young children (or really any child living at home). Plant a fruit or a vegetable plant with your kids. Show them where a tomato, bean, pea, strawberry, or raspberry comes from. Good starter plants are sugar snap peas, strawberries, cherry tomatoes (easier to grown than thair full size brothers and sisters), or zucchini. If you're limited to a pot on your patio, go for the strawberry or the cherry tomato. Not only does this help you eat local, it will help teach your children how good fresh produce can be. Explain to them that when a food is fresh, it often tastes a lot better.
Read labels. When you shop at the supermarket, look carefully at the signs for your fruits and vegetables. Many supermarkets are labeling the state and country of origin for their produce now. If you have a choice between a banana from Chile and a strawberry from Washington, pick the strawberry. If you have a choice between a Washington strawberry and a California strawberry, choose the Washington berry.
Hopefully these tips will get you on your way to eating sustainably. Take a couple of small steps towards eating locally and sustainably and let us know how you did in the comments!
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