Culinary Weekly Message
Culinary: Organic
Sustainability: Energy
Monday
Culinary:
•
Foods claiming to be organic must be free of artificial food additives and are often
processed with fewer artificial methods, materials and conditions such as chemical
ripening, food irradiation and genetically modified ingredients. Pesticides are allowed as
long as they are not synthetic.
Sustainability:
•
What uses more energy? Six hours of laptop use or making coffee?
• They are about the same.
Tuesday
Culinary:
•
4 Categories for organic labeling:
•
100% Organic: this means that all ingredients are produced organically. It also may have
the USDA seal
•
Organic: at least 95% or more of the ingredients are organic.
•
Made with organic ingredients: contains 70% organic ingredients
•
Less than 70% organic ingredients: three of the organic ingredients must be listed under
the ingredients section of the label
Sustainability:
•
Which single technology can provide our society with a seamless transition to cheap, safe and
carbon-free energy? Electric cars? Nuclear power? Clean coal? Wind turbines? Natural Gas?
• None of the above. There is no single ‘silver bullet’ technology that will give us a simple
transition to carbon-free energy. Every source has its drawbacks and benefits.
Wednesday
Culinary:
For the vast majority of history, agriculture can be described as having been organic; only
during the 20th century was a large supply of new chemicals introduced to the food supply. The
organic farming movement arose in the 1940’s in response to the industrialization of
agriculture known as the Green Revolution.
Sustainability:
•
•
If every American household replace 3 incandescent light bulbs with compact fluorescent
light bulbs, how would US carbon dioxide emissions change? .75% increase? .1% decrease?
1.5% decrease? 5% decrease?
o 1.5% decrease in total US carbon dioxide emissions.
Thursday
Culinary:
•
Processed organic foods usually contain only organic ingredients. If non organic
ingredients are present at least a certain % of the food total plant and animal ingredients
must be 95% organic in the U.S. Some countries have different % requirements.
Sustainability:
•
True or False: every year, wind turbines kill more birds than domestic cats do.
o False, in Denmark, where 9% of their electricity is generated by wind turbines, it was
estimated that 30,000 birds are killed by wind turbines each year. While that is a
large number it is also estimated that car traffic kills over a million birds per year. In
Britton cats are responsible for 55 million bird deaths a year.
Friday
Culinary:
•
Organic products are the fastest growing segment of agriculture. It has grown on
average more than 20% per year over the last 7- 10 years.
Sustainability:
•
The biggest use of energy in the typical US home is: Home electronics? Water heating [such
as for hot showers or laundry]? Space heating [heating the house itself]? Lighting? Cooking:
•
Space heating uses the most at about 31% the rest are all at about 11%.