Happy Earth Month!

Happy Earth Month!

Happy Earth month! This month, we are going to be highlighting sustainable eating tips and food items to help improve your carbon footprint and lessen your impact on the planet. While there are many ways you can practice sustainable living, a lot of it starts with what you put on your fork. You can do this by adding more canned tomatoes into your diet, as these are a more sustainable option than fresh. Also, when shopping, choose MADE IN THE USA, to decrease your global footprint, and to get the sustainable quality you can count on.

So, if you’re looking for some ways to spice it up in the kitchen and cook more eco-friendly meals, be sure to follow along on social media for lots of culinary inspiration!

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NEW RECIPE!

If you’re craving pasta, then go ahead and whip up this delicious recipe for Nona’s Beef Ragu! This entire meal can be made in a slow cooker, which makes it perfect for any night of the week. Plus, it’s kid-friendly, which makes dinner time even easier!

Vintage BBC Footage of the Spaghetti Harvest

Originally aired on the BBC in 1957 this fascinating look behind where our spaghetti comes from shocked millions of viewers at the time of it’s release. For some reason, it always feels fitting to reflect on this time of year.

PROCESSED TOMATOES, A SUSTAINABLE CHOICE, by Sharon Palmer, MSFS, RDN

Every time you open a can or jar of tomatoes, you release the essence of that warm, summer day in which those perfectly ripe tomatoes were harvested. These tomatoes are picked at their top flavor and nutrition peak on the field before they are quickly whisked away to the processing plant to be canned, sealing in all of that good flavor and nutrition within just a few hours of harvest.

Beyond good taste and nutrition, you also make a more sustainable choice by choosing those preserved tomatoes. Why is it a more sustainable choice than fresh? The fresh tomato crop is typically picked about two weeks before maturity to withstand transportation, during which it requires more energy to refrigerate and transport. In addition, many fresh tomatoes are grown in Mexico, requiring longer transportation distances, or in heated, energy-intensive greenhouses before reaching your supermarket shelf.

No wonder processed tomatoes can be a more sustainable option. Click here to read more reasons why.

6 Tips on How to Reduce Food Waste in Your Kitchen

6 Tips on How to Reduce Food Waste in Your Kitchen

April is not only a beautiful month dedicated to spring, but it’s also a great time to center your efforts around planetary health. Since it’s Earth month, you can double down on your efforts to improve the health of our planet by making small adjustments in your life. Whether it’s composting, eating leftovers, or freezing foods, you can make changes by what you put on your fork. Learn how you can help the world around you with these tips on how to reduce food waste in the kitchen!

The Earth has granted us with so many beautiful sights to see and air to breathe! However, it’s easy to take it all for granted. Since it’s Earth month, this is the perfect time to reflect on ways that you can give back to the world that has provided everything you need to survive. This time of reflection may lead to thoughts of how to focus on reducing your carbon footprint, eating less animal-based products, recycling canned items, or engaging in sustainable practices. There are countless ways that you can contribute to creating a healthy, sustainable planet. Although the world is a HUGE place, the small changes that you can make in your daily life to improve our planet’s health can truly go a long way, especially if we all work together to achieve the same goal—protect our Earth. You might be thinking “How can I (one person) make a difference in something so surmountable?” Well, it’s a lot simpler than you think, and you can start with what you put on your fork.

Whether you’re interested in meal prepping or reducing kitchen time, there are numerous recipes that are both nutritious and environmentally friendly. Canned tomatoes are one of the most versatile canned products that should be a staple in your pantry. The long-shelf life of canned tomatoes helps to reduce food waste and improve the health of our earth. The accessibility and affordability of canned tomatoes make them a hot commodity, especially if you’re looking for ways to improve the quality of your meals. Canned tomatoes can be used in recipes that require little to no prep and cook time, which makes it quick and easy to whip up a delicious, nutrient-rich meal that everyone will enjoy. Check out these tomato-based recipes for some inspiration on how to start incorporating canned tomatoes into your dishes.

In addition to choosing sustainable foods (such as canned tomatoes), you can also do your part by reducing food waste. Wondering how you can achieve this? Check out these 6 tips on how to reduce food waste in your kitchen:

  1. Make a Grocery List. Keep a sticky note or white board in your kitchen so you can easily jot down foods you need for your next grocery run. This allows you to avoid buying unnecessary items that are already in your kitchen and purchase items that you need for the week.
  2. Freeze Foods. You should freeze your groceries 2-3 days before you know they will go bad to ensure maximum freshness. For instance, if you have kale in your refrigerator and know that you might not eat it over the next week, don’t be afraid to freeze it! Frozen kale can be used in a ton of recipes, such as smoothies, soups, and pastas, and it tastes delicious.
  3. Save Leftovers. If you cook at-home meals that you don’t finish, you can always save it for leftovers the next day! This will save you time and money since you will already have food readily available for your upcoming meal. If you’re going out to a restaurant with friends or family and don’t eat all the food on your plate, you can ask for a to-go box and take it home with you.
  4. Prepare Your Meals. When you have meals already prepared, you tend to limit grocery shopping, eating fast food, and wasting food. Preparing meals ahead of time allows you to choose exactly what you want to eat for the week, which also means you can eat more plant-based foods (which is great for the environment). Plus, you save time AND money!
  5. Purchase Canned Products. Purchasing canned, nonperishable items (like beans, fruits, vegetables, and tomato products) is one of the best ways to engage in practices of sustainable eating. Using canned foods reduces greenhouse gas emissions, requires less resources to produce, decreases food waste, and is 100% recyclable.
  6. Create Compost. When preparing meals, you probably throw away strawberry leaves or broccoli stems in the trash. But did you know that scraps of fresh produce (that are generally thrown in the trash) can be used for composting instead? This compost is a natural, authentic way to fertilize plants and is packed with more nutrients than synthetic fertilizers. The organic elements in compost are providing the soil with the most nutrient-rich foods, all while utilizing the scraps of other foods.

To discover additional recipes and articles discussing the benefits of canned tomatoes, be sure to check out some of our favorite Registered Dietitians Sharon Palmer, Liz Weiss, and Toby Amidor. Not only do they all discuss how canned tomatoes can reduce food waste and improve the health of our environment, but they also share their favorite tomato-based recipes. In addition to these amazing resources, you can also get more information from Today’s Dietitian, RD Lounge, and the Vegetarian Resource Group regarding health benefits of canned tomatoes.

By practicing sustainable methods in your home this month (and throughout the year), you have the power to impact your community and help restore our planet’s health. So, what are you waiting for? Encourage your friends and family to take part of Earth Day with some actionable methods! Learn more about how you can help here.

Green Up for Earth Month!

Green Up for Earth Month!

Earth Month is a great time to reflect on your choices and better your habits to improve the environment. Learn how you can help the planet with your fork!

Happy Earth Month! If you weren’t aware, April is the month where we raise awareness for sustainability, food waste, and taking care of our planet. While this should be something we do year-round, this month is a great time to reflect on your choices and better your habits to improve the planet’s health. Whether you have been focused on your carbon footprint for awhile now, or if you’re looking to begin your sustainability journey, this is the perfect time for everyone to put some extra love towards our planet. You can do this by learning how to lessen food waste, and while this may seem like an overwhelming task at first, it’s actually quite simple. You can start by eating with your fork! When you choose foods that are sustainable and eco-friendly, you better the environment with each bite you take. It doesn’t get much better than that!

When looking for sustainable foods, turn to canned, nonperishable items (such as canned beans, fruits, and vegetables) for an affordable, earth-friendly option. That’s why we love canned tomatoes! Not only are they versatile and delicious, but they are also an incredible sustainable food, as they don’t need as much energy as fresh tomatoes to refrigerate and transport. Since fresh tomatoes are generally grown in Mexico (which requires longer transportation distances) or in heated, energy-intensive greenhouses, they are not as sustainable-friendly as their canned counterparts. On the other hand, canned tomatoes are generally stored in steel cans when they reach their seasonal peak, which means that these cans are 100% recyclable, and the tomatoes stay nutritious! That’s a win all around! In addition to their sustainability factor, canned tomatoes also have a long shelf life, which makes them the perfect pantry item to have on hand. Whether you’re looking for a sweet or savory dish for breakfast, lunch, or dinner, canned tomatoes are a staple to have in the kitchen. This allows you to save time and money on those busy weeknights when you need to prepare a meal for the whole family, and there are countless flavorful and nutrient-rich recipes to choose from!

Considering food waste is also vital when it comes to improving environmental health. According to Feeding America, approximately $218 billion worth of food in the USA is thrown away each year! So, what can you do to offset this number? When it comes to purchasing foods, you should think a bit more about how you can utilize what you buy (i.e. create leftovers or meal prep) and what types of food are going to provide better use in the kitchen. Feeding America states that canned foods are much less likely to be wasted, as the canning process requires less resources, time, and money, which means less energy and water is used to make the product ready for purchase. What you choose to eat each day plays a part in food waste, and by making small changes in your daily life (like using canned foods instead of fresh foods), you can make a difference.

By practicing sustainable methods in your home this month (and throughout the year), you have the power to impact your community and help restore our planet’s health. So, what are you waiting for? Encourage your friends and family to take part of Earth Day with some actionable methods! Learn more about how you can help here.