Week 43 - 7 Green Reasons to Cook from Scratch (Part 1)
When I started to write this blog post I thought I might struggle to get to 7 reasons why cooking from scratch is good for the environment ... turns out I came up with far more reasons so once you've read these 7 reasons to head to Reasons to Cook from Scratch (Part 2).
7 Green Reasons to Cook from Scratch
1. It saves you money
Ready cooked meals and takeaways are expensive. Cook from scratch and with the money you save you'll be able to buy what can be more pricey organic or fair trade ingredients and still be spending out less money for infinitely better quality food
2. You can use organic, fair-trade and local ingredients
All of which are better for the environment and for you. Less chemical use, better working conditions for agricultural workers and minimal food miles.
3. Use your own home-grown ingredients
Now that really in the way to have zero food miles and you cannot getter fresher than produce from your own garden/allotment.
4. Eat Seasonally
By following the above points you will begin to eat seasonally, not relying on ingredients flown in form the other side of the world. Yes, enjoy those strawberries in your desserts in summer and savour that apple crumble in mid winter when strawberries are not local and are expensive and tasteless.
5. Less Waste
Huge amounts of food is wasted in the manufacture of ready cooked meals etc from food rejected at the farm through the production methods.
One exception to this is cheap processed meat products where every available piece of the animal can legally be shoved in a sausage under the term "meat". You will also find incredibly high fat levels. Read this article for more about the way cheap sausages are made.
5. Less Packaging
Processed food comes with so much packaging much of which cannot be recycled. Dump the ready meal and watch your bin slim down!
7. Avoids Palm Oil
You won't find palm oil on the oil aisle in your local supermarket but you'll find it is so many ready made foods from cakes to curries that is is almost impossible to avoid ... but easy to do so when you cook from scratch. Read this post to see why how else you can avoid palm oil.
Have you seen all the other posts in my #WeeklyGreenTips series? Click on "Weekly Green Tips" in the labels section in the right hand column for loads more green inspiration.
Hi Rosie, some great tips there. Being bought up where home cooked meals were the norm, buying ready prepared food really doesn't do it for me. And they rarely taste good and I do like to know what I am eating. I am hopeless in the garden, lucky for me though my Dad isn't, so we often get nice homegrown veg passed this way.
ReplyDeletexx
And they are healthier! These are all great tips. Thanks for sharing on the #WasteLessWednesday Blog Hop!
ReplyDelete