By Katherine Peach
Western Herald
(Aaron Ulrich / Western Herald) Chef and author Laura Stec discussed different environmentally friendly foods in her lecture “Cool Cuisine: Take a Bite out of Global Warming” on Wednesday at Kazoo Books.
When going to the grocery store, most college students are worried about price, not the effect their purchase has on the environment.
What these produce purchasing co-eds don’t know is that livestock is only second to petroleum in the production of carbon emissions.
Part of our global warming problem is livestock, according to the new book Cool Cuisine: Taking the Bite Out of Global Warming by authors Laura Stec and Eugene Cordero.
“Beef and chicken and everything plays a role in this planet,” Stec said. “We have a role here cause everything is so synced-up. In the end it’s because it’s part of own survival.”
Stec spoke to an intimate audience at the Kazoo Books II, located at 2314 Parkview, Kalamazoo. The author said simply reducing meat consumption, buying local produce and updating cooking methods make an impact on the effects of climate change.
Stec emphasized that balance is the key.
This starts with the amount of meat that Americans are eating each week. The average person in the United States eats about six pounds of meat a week, Stec said. Studies have shown that in order to be sustainable, people should eat only one pound.
“We depend on this planet because we are part of it,” Stec said. “If we don’t we’re screwed. We are eating this planet alive.”
It takes about 500 gallons of water a year per person to produce the food on the table, Stec said.
“We all have to learn to grow again,” said Gloria Tiller, owner of Kazoo Books. “Things aren’t growing the same. We are behind the learning curve and nature is sneaking up on us.”
The effect of the food that people eat has much larger ramifications on the environment than meets the eye, Stec explained.
“First, stop wasting food so much, if not, start composting,” Stec said. “The book is not all or nothing, with us or against us. It’s an every person diet.”
The book combines cooking methods with scientific data on how to reduce carbon impacts on the environment. The three R’s: reduce, reuse and recycle go a long way.
Despite the benefits, eating vegetarian, organic or local can be costly.
As a chef, Stec said that eating grains are excellent way to add variety to cooking while still keeping costs down. She passed around small jars full of grains such as buckwheat and fennel to emphasize her point.
Her top tips for cooking include keeping your knives sharp and keeping vegetables away from water. Vegetables are sweet by nature and boiling only takes away from that sweetness. Baking or sautéing vegetables helps to maintain the sweet taste of vegetables, Stec explained.
“Eaters are motivated by pleasure,” Stec said. “The energy of cooking goes into food and the energy of food goes into cooking.”
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