consciouseating
HOME COOKING
Sustainable
Ten Reasons to Take Back the Plate
by Rich Sanders
W
e’re all cooks now. Or at least, we should be. The word is spreading about healthy home cooking and its connection to sustainable, local food. Here are 10 reasons to help you get cooking with conviction.
1. It’s economical
Home cooking saves money. At a restaurant, you’re spending dollars on the cost of running somebody’s business. Purchas- ing prepared food from the grocer’s freezer involves paying for the processing, packaging and advertising of that product. When you cook sustainably, you take savings to the next level, using locally raised and produced food, so you’re not footing the bill for transporting ingredients across the country or around the globe.
2. It’s safer
When you cook, you have more control over what goes into your body. By buying organic, sustainably raised or mini- mally treated meat, dairy and produce, you can dramatically reduce your consumption of food contaminated by chemical fertilizers, hormones, antibiotics or harmful bacteria.
3. It’s healthier
You have control over the nutritional value of the foods you prepare. Locally grown food is fresher and more nutri- tious. Cooking methods also count. For example, roasting a vegetable preserves vitamins that are wasted by boiling it; retaining the peel on many fruits and vegetables provides ad- ditional vitamins. Are you watching your salt or sugar intake or keeping an eye on fats or carbohydrates? You’re in control of all of these when you are the cook.
4. It tastes better
We’re losing our palates to an industrialized food system. Not so long ago, herbs, spices and sugar enhanced the flavor of our food. In recent decades, our taste buds have been cor-
24 Collier/Lee Counties swfl .naturalawakeningsmag.com
rupted by cheap chemicals and corn syrup. We’ve forgotten how wonderfully delicious fresh food tastes because we are acclimated to food polluted with preservatives. Sustainable, local ingredients just taste better, so let good food help you take back your palate, so you can take back your plate.
5. It tastes like you want it to
When you do your own cooking, you can customize the fla- vor to suit your own (or your family’s or guests’) preferences. Once you get the hang of it, experimentation is the name of the game. As you learn to cook sustainably, you’ll begin to find combinations of the tastes you like and which foods are especially healthy for you.
6. It’s satisfying
You’ll discover that you derive the same sense of satisfaction from learning to cook sustainably that many people get from working out. By preparing healthy meals with local ingredi- ents, you can be confident that you’re doing something good for yourself, your family and the environment.
7. It makes reducing meat consumption easier
Many people are pledging to cut out meat one day a week for their own health and that of the planet. MeatlessMonday. com advises that going meatless once a week reduces our risk of cancer, heart disease, diabetes and obesity. It also reduces our carbon footprint and saves precious resources like fresh water and fossil fuel. Learning to cook helps you create signature meatless dishes, whether they’re twists on old standbys or tasty recipes that start out meat-free.
8. It’s a gift to future generations
If the good food movement is to succeed, it will be through our children; invite them to participate in cooking. Kids love to “play” in the kitchen, and there are dozens of ways they can be involved—from reading a recipe and washing pro-
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