April is Earth Month – a time to raise awareness for sustainable, eco-friendly living and cooking. From reducing food waste to supporting the local food system, there are countless ways to choose sustainability and conserve energy in the kitchen.
Consider the source
What’s the easiest way to make sure your food is sustainably sourced? Understand where your ingredients come from and prepare meals at home as often as possible. Whether you’re a home chef or new to the kitchen, sustainable cooking is a great way to reduce your environmental impact. Cooking at home enables sustainable choices at every stage, from selecting the most eco-friendly ingredients to minimizing food waste during preparation.
Here are a few tips to help you save energy in the kitchen.
- Opt for sustainable ingredients like seasonal produce.
- Find a farmers market near you to support local growers directly.
- Join a CSA (Community Supported Agriculture), by investing a small sum in a local farm in exchange for a weekly box of assorted vegetables and/or other farm products from milk and eggs to chicken and beef.
- Eat more plants! Going meatless saves energy since meat requires significantly more energy than producing plant-based foods. Check out these Earth Day-friendly plant-based recipes.
Cook with efficiency
To cook more energy-efficiently and conserve resources, use lids on pots, boil only the necessary amount of water, and consider alternative appliances like slow cookers or air fryers.
- Choose energy-efficient appliances.
- Use lids. Covering pots and pans helps keep in heat, which further decreases cooking time and energy usage.
- Cook multiple dishes at once to conserve and maximize oven usage.
- Turn off smaller appliances when not in use, including toaster ovens, microwaves, coffee pots, blenders, instant pots and more.
Reuse. Recycle. Repurpose.
In addition to adopting some of the sustainable food shopping methods mentioned above, there are many ways to further reduce waste at home.
- Meal plan. Make a list before food shopping to ensure you only buy what you need.
- Store food efficiently.
- Freeze leftovers.
- Consider canning produce in season.
- Donate excess food.
- Compost. Use a compost bin to collect fruit and vegetable scraps and food waste to reduce trash.
Sources: VisitSouthJersey.com, EarthDay.org, Energy.gov
