Eco Friendly Eating

Transporting, packaging, and cooking food requires energy that comes from burning fossil fuels, which in turn contributes to global warming. However, there are several steps that you can take to reduce the environmental impact of your eating habits.

Don’t eat hot meals all the time. Perhaps the simplest way to reduce the environmental impact of your eating habits is to eat more fresh, and less cooked food. Not only is this kinder to the planet, it can be good for you too, as many fruit and vegetables lose vital nutrients and vitamins when they are heated.

Use locally sourced food. Transporting food in boats, aircraft, and haulage trucks requires the burning of fossil fuels, contributing to global warming. Wherever possible, you should try to eat food that has been produced in your region, as this will require far less in the way of transportation.

Grow food in your garden. You can have a lot of food for next to nothing if you grow it yourself. By growing your own food, you are helping to reduce carbon dioxide on two levels, as it does not require any transportation, and the plants themselves will absorb CO2 from the atmosphere.

Cut your food smaller before cooking. The smaller a piece of food is, the quicker the heat from cooking can penetrate it. By cutting your food into smaller chunks, you can reduce the amount of time it takes to cook your food, which conserves energy.

Turn off the cooker early. Once a pan or an oven has been heated, it will stay hot for a good while even if the heat is off. You can use this excess heat to cook your food by turning off the heat just before your food is finished cooking, and leaving it to cook on its own heat.

Use the right cooker for the job. A microwave is not an appropriate cooker for every task, but for reheating food, or heating liquids other than water, it is by far the most energy efficient option. Pressure cookers are quick too, and are a lot more energy efficient than a hob for heating certain foodstuffs such as soups, casseroles, and vegetables. Slow cookers need to be left on a lot longer than other types of cooker, but use far lower energy levels and can be more efficient for certain tasks. If you are cooking something that requires boiling water, it is far quicker and more energy efficient to boil the water in the kettle first before putting it on the hob. Finally, gas cookers, which require a gas supply from a firm such as British Gas, are far more energy efficient than electric cookers, and are generally preferable for most cooking tasks. Visit British Gas’ website to find out more on their energy prices.