Introducing the Foodie Tots’ Sustainable Family Supper Project
I started this blog to document our family’s efforts to eat healthier and more sustainably, and that has trickled over to other green choices around the home. I have occasionally been asked how to weed through all the alarming news and studies and figure out where to start “going green” at home. Naturally, I am a proponent of starting in the kitchen. The foods we eat have an impact on our health and on the health of our environment. Here in the Chesapeake Bay region, choosing oysters over endangered blue crabs supports restoration efforts in the Bay, as shellfish naturally filter nutrients out of the water. Choosing local, organically-farmed produce means less pesticide run-off into the Bay’s tributaries.
It may be selfish, but I am more concerned about reducing the toxin load on my two-year-old son’s developing brain and growing body than I am with the polar ice caps, at least on a day to day basis. But as we make small changes in our cooking and buying habits, we find being green(er) starts to become second nature, and the next steps come more easily. And at the end of the day, if we’ve reduced our consumption of fossil fuels and helped slow climate change, well who can argue with that?
Over the coming weeks, I’ll be sharing a “Twelve Steps to a Sustainable Kitchen” plan, highlighting some of the toxins we try to avoid and offering suggestions for steps to implement in your home. Please read along, ask questions and join the discussion!
You’ve probably heard of the “Dirty Dozen” list of pesticide-laden fruits and vegetables. Here are the “Dirty Dozen” food and home contaminants the Foodie Tots family tries to avoid:
- unsustainable fish
- pesticides and dirty produce
- synthetic fertilizer and industrial farming
- doped up dairy (rBST)
- feedlot meat (beef and pork)
- irradiated mutant food (GMOs)
- refined sugars, including high-fructose corn syrup (HFCS)
- caged birds (poultry)
- exploitative imports
- plastics and bisphenol-A (BPA)
- volatile organic compounds (VOCs) in cleaning products
- heavy metals and petroleum by-products
For each installment, we’ll suggest alternatives to these kitchen toxins and offer a complete “Sustainable Family Supper” menu incorporating that week’s theme. I hope you’ll follow along and share your recipes and tips, too!
Sharing this via the January Green Moms Carnival on global warming, hosted this month by The Not Quite Crunchy Parent.
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15 responses so far ↓
1 Jill // Jan 12, 2009 at 1:46 pm
I’m eager to hear your tips! It’s hard to find the time to do the research.
2 Lynn from Organicmania.com // Jan 12, 2009 at 2:25 pm
Wow! Colleen, this looks to be a great series! Can’t wait to digest it (pardon the pun!)
Thanks for participating in the Green Moms Carnival!
Lynn
3 Steph @ Greening Families // Jan 13, 2009 at 9:17 pm
I’ll be tuning in for your series! We’ve made many changes to our diet but want to keep improving.
I’m not sure how you handle your comments so feel free to delete this if you like – our changes over the last year are listed at Reflecting on 2008 and Looking Ahead to 2009.
4 Lindsay // Jan 15, 2009 at 1:08 am
Yay! I’m so excited – this is my New Year’s Resolution! Soon to be made even more challenging with our upcoming move to China… so I’m looking forward to reading more!!
5 JessTrev // Jan 16, 2009 at 9:24 pm
Yay! I can’t wait for your insights. I love learning where you source your food. Hope you guys are doing well!
6 Sylvie, Rappahannock Cook & Kitchen Gardener // Jan 19, 2009 at 10:30 pm
I think many people are looking for a little guidance in making for sustainable food choice. Your series should be a great help, Colleen.
Sylvie
7 foodietots
Twitter: foodietots
// Jan 22, 2009 at 1:09 pm
Thanks everyone, glad you’ll be following along!
Lindsay – It’ll be fascinating to hear about your adventures moving to China!
8 FoodieTots.com » Blog Archive » Sustainable Fish Soundbites // Jun 12, 2009 at 8:02 am
[…] 101″ post I wrote earlier this year, part of the FoodieTot’s Sustainable Family Supper series. (And my contribution to this week’s Fight Back Friday, hosted by Food […]
9 Isabel Lee // Jun 30, 2010 at 3:29 am
everyone should Go Green so that we can help the environment..’,
10 Oliver Jones // Sep 6, 2010 at 2:12 am
everything should be green these days, let us help mother earth””
11 Sofa Slipcover ` // Oct 11, 2010 at 8:45 pm
going green is probably a wise choice because we need to protect our environment~’~
12 Encryption Softwares : // Oct 23, 2010 at 9:40 am
we should always Go Green to help the environment, always use products that are earth friendly,-`
13 maria // Sep 10, 2011 at 2:57 pm
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