An Earth Celebration Menu: 3 Low-Carbon Recipes for Eating Local
Zero out your earth day dinner's carbon emissions.
By Roxanne Hawn
March/April 2009
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Finding meat from a local provider lessens your meal's carbon footprint. This Lamb Ravioli in Broth features ingredients available from your area dairy.
Photography By Joe Lavine
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This Earth Day—or any holiday, for that matter—why not host a low- or even zero-carbon celebration? Menu selection, travel planning and carbon offsets make such an event not only possible but pleasurable.
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Jason Rogers, executive chef at the St. Julien Hotel and Spa in Boulder, Colorado, hosted a zero-carbon dinner for Earth Day last year. Rogers developed recipes for a five-course meal made from local, natural, or organic proteins and produce. On average, the various ingredients traveled 43 miles from farm to plate.
The hotel calculated its carbon emissions in tons for the day of the event, including local food transport, wine shipping from California, and guest and staff travel. Though their use was 13.61 metric tons, the hotel purchased offsets through UHG Consulting, also in Boulder, for 100 metric tons.
You too can achieve a zero-carbon dinner party by creating a seasonal, local menu and asking guests to offset travel. Offset the food’s travel costs yourself, or ask each guest to sponsor one course or ingredient.
Lamb Ravioli in Broth
Lessen your meal's carbon footprint with locally souced meat and dairy proudcts, featured in this recipe for lamb ravioli.
Parsnip Flan with Roasted Beets
Rushing spring produce to market burns a lot of carbon-based fuels. Instead, focus on readily available, easy-to-store root vegetables in early spring.
Flatiron Steak with Natural Jus and Root Vegetable Mash
A new take on old-fashioned meat and potatoes, this dish harnesses rosemary, garlic and root vegetables to round out tastes and textures. Use modest beef portions and a full cast of culinary characters.
Local = Low-Carbon? Not Always
Many factors, including flavor and community economics, make eating local foods a great idea. However, local doesn’t necessarily mean low-carbon.