1. It's Economical: When you cook yourself, you are saving money,
So, when you cook, you are saving money, and when you cook sustaibly, you're taking those savings to the next level. You're using Locally raised and produced food so you're not footing the bill for transporting Ingredients across the country or around the globe. You learn to "use the whole thing". The bones from tonight's chicken and trimmings from fresh Vegetables can be transformed into a rich stock, the perfect starting point for a pot of delicious and nutritious homemade soup. If you compost and do any gardening some of your dinner waste can be repurposed as free Fertilizer.
2.
It’s safer. T hink about what you DON’T want to find in tonight's dinner- sickening Bacteria, toxic pesticides. When you cook, you have more control over what goes into your body. By buying Organic sustainably raised or minimally treated meat, dairy and produce, you can dramatically reduce your consumption of food contaminated by Chemical Fertilizers, hormones or antibiotics. Once you're in the kitchen, chances are you won't choose a recipe calling for artificial color, artificial flavor, or preservatives.
3. It's Healthier: You have control over the nutritional value of the foods you prepare. Locally grown nutricional value of the foods you prepare. Locally grown food is fresher by definition, which also means it's more nutritious. Cooking methods also count. For Example, Roasting a vegetable preserve vitamins that are wasted by Boiling it: also by not peeling some fruits and vegetables it provides additional vitamins. Watching your salt or sugar intake? Keeping an eye on fats or Carbs? You're in control of all these when you cook.
4. It taste better. We're losing our palates to our industrialized food system. Not so long ago, herbs and spices and sugar were used to enhance the flavor in our food. But in recent decades our taste buds have been corrupted through the use of cheap chemicals and corn syrup to fill that role. We've forgotten how wonderfully delicious fresh food tastes as we've become acclimated to food that's polluted with preservatives. The more you cook the more you'll learn that sustainable, local ingredients just taste better. Let the food do some of the work for you. Take back your palate so you can take back your plate.
5. It taste like you want it to. When you're doing your own cooking, you can customize the flavor to suit your own or your family's preferences. Want some more spice in your cooking? Want a new spin on your spinach salad? The world is your oyster! Once you get the hang of it, experimentation is the name of the game. And as you learn to cook sustainably, you'll begin to find the intersection of which tastes you like and that of your family. Also which foods are healhty for you.
6. It's satisfying, You'll discover that you get the same sense of satisfaction from learning to cook sustainably that many people get from working out You'll feel confident that by preparing healthy meals with local ingredients, you're doing something good for yourself and your family.
7. It will make reducing your meat consumption much easier. Lots of people are pleding to cut out meant one day a week for their own Health and for the health of the planet. At www.meatlessmonday.com you'll learn that going meatless once a week reduces your risk of cancer, heart disease, diabetes and obesity. It also reduces your carbon footprint and saves precious resources like fresh water and fossil fuel. But if it's a challenge to find appeling vegetarin choices at a restaurant or your supermarket, learning to cook is the answer! Before you know it, you'll be cooking your own special signature meatless dish whether it's a twist on an old standby or a tasty recipe that started out meat meat-free.
8. 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 dozends of ways they can be involved- From reading a recipe to washing produce to mixing ingredients to decorating cookies. Take kids shopping at Farmers' markets so they can see where those ingredients come from or buy from a co-op so they can see where those ingredients come from that they will be preparing later on. Even better, take them to a farm so they follow the trail from the beginning! They will learn by example and in a generation, healthy, sustainable home cooking will once again be the norm and not the exception
9. It will enrich your life. Involve friends in a sustainable dinner party. It's a perfect opportunity to build a community and spread the word, Join a co-op with friends and family.
Have potluck dinner and remember that sharing a meal together with family or friends reinforces a precious bond. You'll discover how the simple act of engagin in face to face conversation over a repast you've created yourself can become a meaningful part of your lives.
10. It will make a statement, Learning to cook sustainably is an opportunity to vote with your frying pan while you lobby with your fork make it your special way of furthering values you belive in Responsibily for our health, Love taking control of what goes onto our plate, and taking away some of the bloated power of industrialized agribusiness.
Article by: Sustainable Table
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