Earth Day: The Power of a Sustainable Grocery Cart
Use your grocery cart to help protect our forests, oceans, and wildlife by focusing on sustainable foods and products.
Earth Day: The Power of a Sustainable Grocery Cart
By Chef Gerard Viverito, The Sustainable Chef
In addition to being passionate about sustainability, I’ve always been a bit of a rebel. I’ve never been one to just accept what I’m told or what I read on the internet. Instead, I’ve got to experience things for myself. I’ve been fortunate to travel the world. I’ve seen firsthand how different cultures protect their natural resources. There’s no better way to understand the concept of being a citizen of the world.
This year’s Earth Day theme is Protect our Species.
One of the best ways to protect our wildlife and their habitats is to support the global use of sustainable products. Thankfully it’s getting easier to make planet-friendly food choices here in the U.S.
Learn where your food comes from. I’m not just talking about buying local – although that’s nearly always a great idea – but also understand that there are entire countries that put a high priority on caring for our world’s natural resources.
Make time to read the food labels. Research by EcoFocus Worldwide revealed that 87% of us are thinking about the environment when we shop for groceries. And 58% of shoppers (up from 54% in 2014) care about where companies source their ingredients. Here are a few logos that might appear on packaged foods, indicating that the ingredients are sustainably sourced.
Buy only US-caught seafood. Ask the seafood department manager about the country of origin if it’s not already marked. More than 90% of our seafood is imported. We don’t know what regulations were followed to protect our oceans when those fish were caught. I serve as Director of Culinary Education for Passionfish, an NGO non-profit organization dedicated to educating people around the globe on the issue of sustainability in the seas. I can confirm that the American seafood industry generally has superior sustainability practices than those of other countries.
Stop using GMO cooking oils. Use palm oil instead of canola, soy or corn oils. Palm oil is non-GMO and versatile for most high-heat applications. Palm oil is one of the most widely consumed products on the planet and can also be found in many of America’s biggest brands. Much of our palm oil comes from Malaysia, where it is certified sustainable. (MSPO is a new logo you might soon see on packaged foods.) I’ve walked through the Malaysian oil palm plantations. Malaysians are diligent about protecting the rainforests and wildlife. Don’t buy into the no-palm oil movement. The oil palm is about 10 times more productive than all other oil-bearing crops. Without the oil palm, the amount of deforestation needed to plant other oil crops to feed the world would be unimaginable. So, instead of saying “no palm oil” insist on only certified sustainable palm oil.
Be efficient and buy only what you need. More than 30% of our food in this country goes to waste. Freeze what you can’t eat right away. Eat your leftovers. If you overbought, share the bounty with your neighbors.
Use your grocery shopping choices to support tougher standards and strengthen enforcement of already existing laws and legislation. Food manufacturers are listening. Many more have now committed to using certified sustainable ingredients. This is good news for the growing number of informed consumers who are visiting manufacturers’ corporate responsibility websites for ingredient sourcing details.
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About the Author
Chef Gerard Viverito, The Sustainable Chef, is a culinary instructor as the Director of Culinary Education for Passionfish, an NGO non-profit organization dedicated to educating people around the globe on the issue of sustainability in the seas. He is also an operator of Saveur Fine Catering, a company whose beliefs and products center on local, sustainable and organic foods. Chef Viverito’s pantry is loaded with items commonly overlooked in the supermarkets, yet he has a thorough understanding of them and a passion to teach others how to cook more healthfully.
In addition, Chef Viverito has dedicated a large part of his career to what he terms “functional cooking.” This is where he adds nutritional ingredients to dishes to gain healthful results. He is well known for his ability to lower the glycemic index value of food, add omega fatty acids, and whole proteins to dishes without compromising the texture or taste. He appears regularly on radio and television programs demonstrating this as well as consulting clients on their dietary needs. www.ChefGerard.com
