Author Archives: Melissa | Growing Green Nutrition

No bananas for me

I stopped buying bananas over 7 months ago.  I have always loved banana bread (especially chocolate chip banana bread) but bananas do not grow here.  They do not grow anywhere near here, and thus have a large carbon footprint.  In fact, Barabara Kingsolver referred to bananas as “the Hummers” of the food world.  And I do not like Hummers one bit — shocker, I know.

In addition to the banana bread, I used to eat a banana pretty much every morning on my oatmeal.  Now I eat other fruit on my oatmeal, ideally local (like apples when in season).  For quick bread options, I have zucchini and pumpkin, which are both delicious.  Surprisingly, I miss bananas very little.

I know there are other foods I eat that also come from far away (ahem, chocolate), but this was my starting point, something glaringly obvious that I consumed every day.  Being green is a work in progress.

The other green

With my public health focus in behavioral science and health education, I am well aware that people make decisions and choices based on individual priorities, and no two people are motivated by exactly the same thing.  Economic incentives (i.e., saving money) motivate many people.  Who doesn’t like saving money?

For me, there are many reasons to be “green.”  An idea of stewardship and social justice rank high in my green motivation list.  The planet is not ours to exploit.  It would take 5 planets with Earth’s resources to allow everyone alive today to live like we do in the United States.  (To learn more about this, visit http://www.ecofoot.org/.)  We’re taking way more than our share, and that’s both disgusting and scary in its implications.

As mentioned in my “About Me” section, many eco-friendly behaviors are also preventive health behaviors.  However, health, in and of itself, is not a strong motivator for many people.

So eco-friendly behaviors are 1) good for the planet, and 2) good for health.  Having a planet that can sustain human life is not enough?  Reducing rates of obesity and chronic disease just doesn’t do it for you?  Do you need more motivation?    If so, there is good news: going green can save you green!

I haven’t talked a lot about this yet, since it is only one part of my personal reason for eco-friendly living, but good for the planet can be good for your wallet.  Part of the challenge is overcoming the now mentality.  Insulating your home will certainly save you money over the years, but there is an upfront cost to the future savings.  Same with buying energy efficient appliances.

While you can eat a healthy diet very affordably, you can also eat an unhealthy diet very affordably.  (Thanks, Farm Bill!)  If you do not think about the future cost in health, there are plenty of cheap, low nutritional value calories out there.  But nothing comes free, you just pay in different ways.  You may actually have to pay a bit more to eat real food instead of “food products”  produced from “food ingredients.”  One of the vendors at the farmer’s market has a great sign: “You can pay your farmer or you can pay your doctor.”

Living simply on as little money as possible is important to me.  Fortunately, the green in my wallet is very compatible with a green lifestyle, so stay tuned.  Click here if you want to see what someone else is already writing about this.

Taters

"Blue" potatoes
"Blue" potatoes

In real life, they are purple, but the seed company called them blue.  I’m not complaining — they are gorgeous, delicious, AND healthy.  These little taters have the same antioxidant profile as blueberries (which are often listed as a “superfood” because of all the antioxidant goodness).

However, that information is not doing much for my quads, which are still upset over their part in harvesting 200 pounds of potatoes on Saturday.  They hurt when walking, which is not an optional activity.  If those muscles could talk, they would have said, “Woman, what are you doing?  Are you trying to kill us?”  when I got on my bike this morning.  I think the movement will help them feel better faster.