Seasonal food
As part of my attempts to lower my carbon footprint I've been trying to buy and eat more locally produced, seasonal, unprocessed food. It's hard to work out the exact carbon footprint of a particular item of food and some things can catch you out, for example New Zealand lamb can have a lower carbon footprint than British lamb, because the lower carbon intensity of production in New Zealand makes up for the transport emissions.
My approach at the moment is to go to the market on Sundays and buy a big load of veg from the local organic farmer who has a stall there and then base my meals around what he has. I'm also trying to be a bit more aware of what's in the fridge so that I can think "x, y and z aren't going to last more than a week, so if I don't eat x today, I definitely need to use it by Friday and I can put y and z and a thing tomorrow". Luckily veg gets to the 'it will probably be OK in a casserole' stage before it becomes inedible and we're in casserole season. Of course, to make things more interesting than boil veg every day you have to include some more processed/imported ingredients such as cooking oil and spices.
Here are some of the things I've been eating lately, which mainly involve seasonal fruit and veg.
Ginger Roasted Winter Veg You can use carrots, parsnips and potatoes rather than the veg suggested.
Orange-glazed beetroot. Basically just boil the sliced beetroot in orange juice with a little bit of salt and maple syrup until cooked, then reduce the liquid into a glaze.
Braised Red Cabbage
Apple crumble
Do you have any good recipes for vegan foods which are in season at the moment?
My approach at the moment is to go to the market on Sundays and buy a big load of veg from the local organic farmer who has a stall there and then base my meals around what he has. I'm also trying to be a bit more aware of what's in the fridge so that I can think "x, y and z aren't going to last more than a week, so if I don't eat x today, I definitely need to use it by Friday and I can put y and z and a thing tomorrow". Luckily veg gets to the 'it will probably be OK in a casserole' stage before it becomes inedible and we're in casserole season. Of course, to make things more interesting than boil veg every day you have to include some more processed/imported ingredients such as cooking oil and spices.
Here are some of the things I've been eating lately, which mainly involve seasonal fruit and veg.
Ginger Roasted Winter Veg You can use carrots, parsnips and potatoes rather than the veg suggested.
Orange-glazed beetroot. Basically just boil the sliced beetroot in orange juice with a little bit of salt and maple syrup until cooked, then reduce the liquid into a glaze.
Braised Red Cabbage
Apple crumble
Do you have any good recipes for vegan foods which are in season at the moment?