Ways to Be Green

Green Cuisine ... More Healthy Food Solutions

Adapted from The Green Kitchen Handbook, by Annie Berthold-Bond and Mothers & Others for a Livable Planet.

Eight Steps to the New Green Diet

Simple Solution:

Step 1: Eating Organically Produced Food
Organic agriculture strives toward being sustainable � sustainable meaning that which can be continued indefinitely, without depletion of resources beyond a rate such that they could be renewed.

Step 2 and 3: Eating Local, Seasonal Food
Eating local, seasonal food saves energy from transporting food from many miles away and needing less refrigeration, and supports local farms.

Step 4: Eating a Variety of Food
"The loss of genetic diversity � silent, rapid, inexorable � is leading us to a rendezvous with extinction, to the doorstep of hunger on a scale we refuse to imagine," writes Kenny Ausubel in the book "Seeds of Change: The Living Treasure." Organic farms grow a wide variety and diversity of plants to keep the soil healthy and preserve diversity. Industrial farms, on the other hand, monocrop, meaning they grow nothing but a few commodities.

Step 5: Eating Low on the Food Chain
Humans can eat both high and low on the food chain and be adequately nourished. Residues of persistent chemicals such as DDT, PCBs, dioxin, and many pesticides concentrate in animal fat.

Step 6: Eating Whole Foods with Adequate Fiber
Whole foods are nutritionally complex and complete. Refined foods have had much of their nutritional value and fiber removed.

Step 7: Avoiding Processed Food
The average American eats 150 pounds of additives a year, much of which is sugar and salt, but by no means all. Three thousand additives are intentionally used in processed food. Many of these additives, such as hydrogenated oils, can cause health problems.

Step 8: Reducing Packaging for Public Health and the Environment
Chlorine and dioxin are just two chemical compounds that are released in the manufacture of many packaging materials. Toxic chemicals can also migrate to your food from packaging.

Copyright: Adapted from The Green Kitchen Handbook, by Annie Berthold-Bond and Mothers & Others for a Livable Planet.Copyright (c) 1997 by Annie Berthold-Bond and Mothers & Others for a Livable Planet.

Some businesses that are "green:"

Benefits of buying organic

1. Chemical free food/herbs. (Need we say more?)
2. Natural sustainable agriculture. (Organic crops build healthy soil through crop rotation, using composting methods, and relying on natural cycles of life to help reap bountiful harvests)
3. Farm worker safety. (Non-organic harvesters are directly exposed to agricultural chemicals. Adding enormous health risks, skin irritations, lung degeneration, and several known cancers. Organic harvesters need not worry about this)
4. Reduced pollution. (Organic agriculture avoids substances that contribute to air, water, and soil pollution and it does not contribute to the problem of chemical manufacturing and waste disposal)
5. Our bodies will thank us!

According to the Environmental Protection Agency�s Report on Conventional Pesticides Applied to Agricultural Crops in 1994-95, each year an estimated 911 million pounds of synthetic pesticides are applied to conventional agricultural crops throughout the United States.

According to the EPA�s Office of Prevention, Pesticides and Toxic Substances, about 2.2 billion pounds of pesticides are used annually in the U.S. Pesticides are used not just for conventional crops, but also in homes, gardens, schools, offices, grocery stores, golf courses and parks.

In the study, "Food and the Environment: A Consumer�s Perspective," 86 percent of respondents said they believe there is a connection between the health of the environment and their own well-being.

Since 1945, total U.S. crop losses from insect damage have nearly doubled. During the same time, insecticide use has increased tenfold. Today, seventy-one known carcinogenic pesticides are sprayed on food crops. (In Harmony�s report, "Pesticides: Losing Their Effectiveness")

According to a 1997 study, up to 14 percent of all occupational injuries in the agricultural sector and 10 percent of all fatal injuries can be attributed to pesticides. (International Labor Organization)

The EPA reports that Americans ingest 167 times more dioxin every day than the acceptable daily level.

According to the U.S. General Accounting Office, only 1% of all imported fruits and vegetables are tested by the Food and Drug Administration for illegal pesticide residues.

Links for Organic Resources

Don�t Panic, Eat Organic!
Organic Trade Association (A trade resource and forerunner in the campaign to establish organic agriculture)
Organic Consumers Association (A fun, informative and engaging site full of campaign goodies)
Mothers for Natural Law (A fabulous organization on the frontlines in the battle against genetically altered foods and herbs)

Other Helpful Pages: