Introduction to Sustainable Cooking: Understanding the Impact of Food Choices
CHAPTER 1
Learning Objectives
After completion of this lab, students should be able to:
- Understand that food choices impact human health and environmental sustainability.
- Understand that foods associated with the reduced risk of chronic disease are the same foods associated with lower environmental impact.
- Differentiate between whole foods and industrially processed foods and understand the health and environmental impact of each.
- Understand the term “Sustainable Cooking” and its guiding principles of:
- Eating primarily plant-based diets
- Eating seasonally
- Shopping locally
- Eating home-cooked meals
- Minimizing food waste
Course Introduction and Learning Concepts
“Eating is inescapably an agricultural act, and how we eat determines, to a considerable extent, how the world is used.” –Wendell Berry, Farmer, and Author
Any exploration into sustainable cooking and eating must begin with the understanding of the current state of human health and the impact human behavior and industrial food production have on the global environment.
The term “foodprint” refers to the “collective impact that the food we eat has on animals, the environment, and people. It is the result of everything it takes to get your food from the farm to your plate. Many of those processes are invisible to consumers. Industrial food production — including animal products like beef, pork, chicken and eggs and also crops — takes a tremendous toll on our soil, air, and water, as well as on the workers and the surrounding communities.”1
FOOTNOTES
1 foodprint.org
