A sustainable Thanksgiving

The food we eat is one big area of each of our lives where we have opportunities to impact the “triple bottom line” of sustainability:  supporting healthy people, a healthy planet, and healthy profit to the local economy.

(I received this information in an email from Linda Robson at Case. As you may recall, I volunteered to be an energy ambassador for the building where I work. Linda has been doing a great job as the organizer of this program.)

With Thanksgiving in a couple days, here’s an easy way to make a place for sustainability and NE Ohio at your holiday table and to get your family and your guests involved!

1. Choose ONE ingredient from your holiday menu that is grown in your area. Purchase the ingredient at a local farm, farmers market, co-op, or food store (i.e., Zagara’s, Heinen’s, Miles Market, Mustard Seed Market, Nature’s Bin, or Web of Life).

2. Learn everything you can about the ingredient including:

a. The name and location of the farm where it was grown.
b. The part of the plant we eat (root, leaves, stem, etc).
c. Nutritional value.
d. Uses (culinary, commercial, medicinal, etc).
e. Region where it was first domesticated by humans.
f. Folklore or any other related facts

g. How the food was raised and prepared (i.e. seed variety/animal breed; soil amendments; pest control techniques; planting times; harvesting times; animal housing, feeding, and slaughter methods; storage; processing; transport).

 
3. When you serve your ”local dish,” share all the trivia you learned with your guests (or better yet, have your kids do it!). Strike up a discussion on the importance of local food, find out other food facts or ways to use your ingredient from your guests.
 

4. If it’s a lively discussion, you can win a free copy of Brian Halweil’s book Eat Here: Reclaiming Homegrown Pleasures in a Global Supermarket.  Submit your Thanksgiving story (400 words or less) to the Worldwatch Institute (http://www.worldwatch.org/node/1082 [1]).Tell them about your ingredient, dish, and discussion!   Worldwatch will choose their favorite entry and send the winner a free copy of Halweil’s popular book.

Submit your entries (http://www.worldwatch.org/node/4744 [2]) by January 3, 2007—winners will be announced on January 5, 2007.