Guest Article by Gesina Beckert Image: Gesina Beckert lifting the heavy beef burger at the Facebook Farmers Market We are experiencing record high levels of carbon dioxide (CO2) in the atmosphere. They are higher than they have been at any time in the past 400,000 years. In this paper, I am going to explore how the burger, and other parts of our lifestyle impact our climate. Understanding is the first step to changing behavior towards a lower personal CO2 footprint. We can all do something to make our world a better place. CO2 Emissions Thanks to the world bank, data about the CO2 emissions per country per capita (basically per person) is available for everyone. To show some numbers, I selected the highest, and the lowest CO2 emissions, and as I currently live in the US, but I am a native German, these countries are also included. On average carbon emissions have increased slightly over the last years. Several reasons such as increasing levels of wealth resulting in higher consumption of products, growing number of cars, ships, planes, more production, connectivity; are responsible for the increase. Our lives depend on electricity, fossil fuels, and mass (meat) production! Everything needs power. Take a moment to look around. Most likely you see your phone, you are on your computer, your car is parked outside, you might have the AC turned on, and you already dream about this next burger. All this is increasing CO2 emissions. The table above shows that the average emissions per person in the US is almost twice the amount of the average German. Some explanations can be found in Germans driving smaller cars, building houses with better insulation which reduces heating and AC needs, eating less beef in the diet, smaller and more efficient household appliances etc. In all countries, no matter what the baseline, there is room for improvement and it is possible - other countries are already there and are still trying to get better. We are all in the same boat here! The diet One very effective, and rather easy step to reduce your carbon footprint is analyzing your diet, and adjusting it. Recently I read an article that compared five different diets to each other. And if there is one thing I will remember, it will be this: beef is the single biggest contributor to carbon emissions. "Eating chicken instead of beef cuts a quarter of emissions in one simple step" While the average American diet has a carbon footprint of 2.5 t per year, cutting beef consumption reduces this amount significantly to 1.9 t CO2 per year. Another factor encouraging a diet with less meat is that your general health level will improve with a balanced diet consisting of more veggies, fruits and white meats.
This research made me question if buying organic food can reduce this even more. Some first articles seem to justify that, others argue that there is no real difference between traditional and organic farming. This topic would be a whole new one, so I leave it for now. Remember the less beef advice :) Learning about climate change, and carbon footprint, and different carbon weights of diet is one way, but our mind really understands best, when more our senses are involved too. My partner in carbon footprint reductions, Tom Kabat, and I came up with an easy way to demonstrate the impacts of different kinds of food. Everyone knows fast food hamburgers. In fact Americans approximately consume 50 billion burgers a year!!! Now considering that every burger contains a quarter pound of beef, the carbon footprint is 17 times as much as the burger weight. Yes, that’s right, every burger adds 7 lbs of carbon to your footprint. 50 billion burgers mean 850 billion lbs of CO2 emissions per year in the US from burgers alone. http://www.pbs.org/newshour/rundown/the-hidden-costs-of-hamburgers/ That’s the bad news. The good news is that there is an easy way out. Every day, every meal, you have the choice to decide what you want to eat. A chicken burger adds only 2 lbs, while the Veggie burger with 1 lb is the lightest for the earth, and for your body, too. Choosing chicken instead of beef, leaving meat out for day or more out of your diet will make a huge impact on your carbon footprint, and on your health, and on your figure, and eventually on the US, and the worlds carbon footprint. Thank you! Let me know what you think about the burger and the climate. Gesina.Beckert@gmail.com Visit and taste the “Island of the Gods” without leaving your kitchen in David Barratt’s book, “A Traveler's Guide to Balinese Street Food.” The small island of Bali is rich with a union of religion, tradition and people. Barratt shares his guide to Balinese food culture, emphasizing street food and festival dishes, recipes included. No visit to the island's culture would be complete or satisfying without understanding the spiritual implications of food, so co-author to the text, I Wayan “Budi” Budiasa, serves as a Bali-Hindu cultural guide. “Introducing clients to our dishes is both delicious and fulfilling,” Budiasa said. Many of the recipes can be made vegetarian or vegan as needed as there are many substitutes. Check out this Dessert Recipe below! Pisang Goreng (Fried banana godoh) This is an Indonesian classic. Try it topped with coconut ice cream or drizzled with honey. Ingredients 5 dessert spoons white rice flour 2 teaspoons tapioca or cornflour 1 1⁄2 teaspoons white sugar 1⁄4 teaspoon salt 1 1⁄2 tablespoon shredded coconut 1 cup water 2 bananas Oil for frying Directions 1. Mix rice flour, sugar, salt, and coconut. 2. Stir in water, a little at a time, and mix to form a thick batter. 3. Peel the bananas, and cut each down the middle. 4. Completely coat each banana slice in batter and then fry in hot oil until golden. 5. Drain on paper towels. Serve at once. Ingredients:
Whisk egg, milk, flax and vanilla together. Heat sprayed pan over medium heat. Place bread in egg mixture and coat both sides. Place bread in hot pan and cook for about 3 minutes per side or until golden brown. Serve with yogurt, fresh berries or syrup! Ingredients:
In a large mixing bowl, blend flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Using a whisk or hand held mixer, whisk in buttermilk and egg until well combined and smooth. Stir in the melted butter. Heat a non-stick pan or griddle over medium heat. Using a ¼ cup measure, pour pancake mix to cook. When pancake is golden brown, flip and cook other side. Keep warm in a 275° oven. To serve stack a few pancakes and top with maple syrup and Viki's Cranberry Maple Granola. Visit and taste the “Island of the Gods” without leaving your kitchen in David Barratt’s book, “A Traveler's Guide to Balinese Street Food.” The small island of Bali is rich with a union of religion, tradition and people. Barratt shares his guide to Balinese food culture, emphasizing street food and festival dishes, recipes included. No visit to the island's culture would be complete or satisfying without understanding the spiritual implications of food, so co-author to the text, I Wayan “Budi” Budiasa, serves as a Bali-Hindu cultural guide. “Introducing clients to our dishes is both delicious and fulfilling,” Budiasa said. Many of the recipes can be made vegetarian or vegan as needed. Check out this Recipe: Pisang Goreng (Fried banana godoh) This is an Indonesian classic. Try it topped with coconut ice cream or drizzled with honey. Ingredients 5 dessert spoons white rice flour 2 teaspoons tapioca or cornflour 1 1⁄2 teaspoons white sugar 1⁄4 teaspoon salt 1 1⁄2 tablespoon shredded coconut 1 cup water 2 bananas Oil for frying Directions 1. Mix rice flour, sugar, salt, and coconut. 2. Stir in water, a little at a time, and mix to form a thick batter. 3. Peel the bananas, and cut each down the middle. 4. Completely coat each banana slice in batter and then fry in hot oil until golden. 5. Drain on paper towels. Serve at once. Would you like to make your own Probiotics such as Yogurt, Sauerkraut, Kombucha, Kefir, Crème Fraiche, Dried Fruit Chutney, Fermented Ketchup, Fermented Carrots, Sweet Pickled Relish, Sweet and Spicy Tomato Salsa AND Sweet Crème Grilled Peaches! Check out the new book: Fermented Foods at Every Meal! SAMBAZON will introduce its Açaí Superfruit Snack Cups at Costco stores in the Los Angeles and Orange County Area in August SAMBAZON’s Açaí Superfruit Snack Cups are single-serving 80 calorie cups of already blended Açaí packed full of Healthy Omegas and Antioxidants, making them a healthy, delicious and easy snack solution. Like all SAMBAZON products, the cups are USDA certified organic, gluten-free, Non-GMO and Certified Fair Trade, plant-based and kosher. Check out this Recipe courtesy of Sambazon. 3 Ingredient Avocado AÇAÍ What You'll Need ½ ripe Avocado (peeled) 1 Banana 2 scoops Açaí Sorbet (any flavor) How To Make It Blend the avocado, açaí sorbet and banana until combined. Scoop into a bowl and keep it in the freezer for at least fifteen minutes or until you’re ready to eat. If it’s frozen for more than an hour, make sure to let it sit out a few minutes first! Gratitude Gourmet first heard about La Marcha because they offer both Vegetarian and Vegan Paella!! La Marcha Chef/Owners Sergio Emilio Monleón and Emily Sarlatte have created a menu of tapas and paellas that reflect their passion for Spanish cuisine and desire to bring the tapas bar culture to Berkeley, California. La Marcha recently announced Sangria Sundays and Flamenco Tuesdays and have also expanded the flavorful menu of authentic and inventive Spanish cuisine to include more tapas, paellas and a wider selection of desserts! All the Wine Pairings, Tapas and Desserts we selected were absolutely flavorful and amazing! We recommend: 1. Paella Huertana: kabocha squash, cipollini onions, chickpeas, cauliflower, saffron, rice and an optional farm egg! It was absolutely delicious!! 2. Piquillos Rellenos: goat cheese stuffed piquillo peppers, hazelnut breadcrumbs and honey balsamic reduction 3. Montadito: saffron mushrooms with oloroso sherry, marscapone and garlic tosta 4. Bruselas: crispy brussels sprouts, grapes, balsamic 5. Col rizada: sautéed kale, manchego, pistachios, dried cranberries, balsamic brown butter (you can ask them to remove the ham) 6. Churros and Ice Cream Enjoy!! |