What can I do?
• Buy local - check out farmer's markets, greengrocers or local organic box delivery schemes.
• Buy seasonal - don't buy food that is out of season in the UK. Chances are that it has been transported from the other side of the world, and preserved in cold storage for its long carbon-emitting journey.
• Grow your own - the most environmentally friendly way to eat.
Seasonal Recipe: Shepherds Pie (vegan) Get the whole family enjoying good hearty, wholesome food.
750g potatoes, peeled and cubed
25g-50g vegan margarine
50ml or more soya milk
1/2 onion, finely chopped
1 stick celery, finely chopped
1 medium carrot, diced
75g dried red lentils, cooked in water until tender
1 x 400g tin tomatoes, chopped
150ml vegetable stock
vegetable oil for frying
Steam potatoes until soft. Place in separate bowl and add margarine. Mash thoroughly, adding soya milk until potato is smooth and creamy. Place aside. Heat vegetable oil in frying pan and add onions and celery. Fry until tender. Add carrot, chopped tomatoes and vegetable stock. Simmer for 20 mins or until lentils are cooked and liquid is absorbed. Place in casserole dish and spread creamed potato on top. Heat in oven at 180C, 350F or gas mark 4 for 15-20 mins until potato is browned on top.
Seasonal Recipe: Yummy pumpkin and orange soup
Keep the kids’ energy reserves at their maximum with a hearty autumnal soup, perfect for warming up after an evening’s trick or treating.
Preparation time: 15-20 mins
Cooking time: 50 mins
10 or more servings
Ingredients
1.5kg pumpkin, seeded, peeled and diced.
2 large onions, chopped.
110g organic long grain brown rice.
900g carrots, sliced.
3.5 vegetable stock, boiling.
1tsp ground nutmeg.
1 stick cinnamon.
1/2 tsp mixed spices.
2 oranges.
Salt and pepper, to taste.
Put all the ingredients, except the oranges, in a heavy saucepan over a medium high heat and bring to a boil.
Reduce heat and simmer for about 40-45 minutes, until the rice is ready.
Remove the cinnamon stick.
Cut thin slices of the oranges from the middle and put aside.
Grate the rest of the rind and squeeze out the juice and add to the soup.
Season with a little salt and pepper to taste.
Decorate individual servings of the soup with a thin slice of orange.
Eating well as a family
Food is the bedrock of good health, what we put into our bodies is hugely important. Teaching children about healthy food and good nutrition when they are young gives them an excellent foundation for wellness into adulthood.
Here are some of the things to watch for when food shopping for your family:
Food milesFood miles describe the distance our food has to travel to reach our plate. Transport by road and air uses up huge quantities of fuel and causes tonnes of harmful carbon dioxide emissions. Food production and distribution produces eight tonnes of CO2 emission per household every year. It is estimated that the ingredients for a typical Sunday
lunch could have travelled 24,000 miles to get to our homes.
Why does food travel so far?
As supermarkets have taken over from local retailers, produce often travels many miles to a centralized distribution point and is then dispatched again, sometimes to a store within miles from where the food was originally sourced. Ninety five percent of fruit and half the vegetables we consume in the UK are imported. This all adds up to thousands of air miles to get bananas on our supermarket shelves. We can now buy strawberries in January, asparagus in December, and oranges in March, all flown in from warmer climes. Because food has to travel such long distances and must reach the shelves in good condition, fruit and vegetables are often harvested unripe, transported in cold storage and delivered to the supermarket days, even weeks old, and yet still unripe. It may seem obvious to the average consumer that produce tastes best when picked fresh and ripe from the tree.
Additives
For children exposure to food additives like preservatives, artificial colouring and flavourings and artificial sweeteners can cause dramatic behavioural changes, skin problems and allergies such as eczema and asthma. Some of these substances have been found to cause cancer in laboratory animals. A survey by the Food Commission found that of 350 children's foods tested, 61% have flavours and flavour enhancers added, 38% have colouring added. One in five products has five or more colours added to make them more appealing to their young audience. This survey looked at food our children eat every day, cereal, fruit and vegetables, dairy products, canned and frozen foods and desserts. It did not even include so-called junk food such as confectionary, soft drinks or juices, bag snacks, crisps or birthday cakes.
What to avoid:
The Foods Standards Agency has just embarked on a study to determine whether there is a link between additives in food and children's behaviour. The report will be published late 2007. In the meantime you might like to consider the opinion of thousands of parents the world over who have watched the effects of additives first hand and have decided to eliminate them from their family's diet.
What are the alternatives?
• Choose organic foods - you can avoid E numbers and other chemical nasties.
• Become label savvy - always read the label and learn to spot additives lurking in the description. Be especially aware of products like bread, packets of cereal, children's flavoured yoghurts and canned food.
• Cook your own - home made food tastes better and is wholesome.
• Avoid taking your children shopping in shops where sweets and junk foods are displayed at the checkouts.
• Talk to your child's school/nursery about additives in food and encourage teachers to find out how they affect children's learning and behaviour.
• Talk to your children about how companies boast about their products. Explain about food advertising and branding and encourage your children to make healthy choices when choosing for themselves.
THE ALTERNATIVE
What is organic food?
Organic means grown without the use of pesticides and other chemicals. In conventional agriculture a huge array of pesticides is used, many of which are toxic to humans and can cause diseases like cancer. Despite the fact that there are Government regulations to control the use of these chemicals, foods are often found with much higher residues than are considered acceptable.
Why choose organic?
There are 20 chemicals found on the average non-organic apple, even after washing. We do not have enough evidence that it is safe for babies to ingest the cocktail of chemicals that they are subjected to in eating food that has not been grown organically. The benefit to the environment of organic farming has been demonstrated by many surveys. The pesticides used in conventional farming kill many soil organisms, insects and larger creatures. They also kill plants considered to be weeds, reducing food sources for animals, birds and insects and destroying habitats. Organic farming, in contrast encourages a wider range of habitats, herb and clover rich grassland and a mixed range of crops. Animals on organic farms are free to express natural behaviour, have access to fields and are fed on organic feed or grassland. They have no need for the routine antibiotics and other drugs given to non-organic livestock. There are no health or pollution problems caused by organic farming as no artificial chemicals are used. This in turn means less dependence on non-renewable energy sources, such as fossil fuels, which are used in the production of fertilizers and agrochemicals.
What can I do?
• Shop around. Ask for good deals at farmers markets
• Form a collective. Get together with friends and buy organic food from wholesalers. Grains, cereals, pasta, sauces, oils, canned foods etc. can all be bought cheaper in bulk through a wholesaler like Infinity Foods or Suma. The order is delivered to one address and all the members come together to collect their food.
• When you have the time prepare food at home rather than resorting to ready made foods. It's cheaper and fresher.
