Because it’s Thursday and Thursdays always need some sprucing up to help us get to the weekend faster, here are some things in the last few days that have made me unbelievably happy:
Nerd awesomeness number one –
My weekly Econundrums newsletter from Mother Jones was safely delivered in my inbox on Monday, equipped with a carbon calculator for my food!
Why is that important? Well, Kiera Butler from MJ is here to explain -
Cows have become famous for trampling the planet: A four-ounce serving of steak creates 10.6 pounds of greenhouse gases, the same as a 95-mile car trip. But foregoing meat that once mooed without considering the carbon impact of the rest of your diet? That’s a little like telling someone who’s counting calories that the bacon explosion is off limits, but corn dogs, pizza, and chocolate cake are all fair game.
With books and movies like Fast Food Nation, Food, Inc., The Omnivore’s Dilemma, we’ve all thought (or at least pretended) to think about where our food comes from and what has to happen for it to get into our bellies. And by now, we’ve heard the basic message – eat less meat, eat more plants. But it isn’t always that simple. Bon Appétit (the catering company, not the Condé Nast publication) has served up a calculator that can help you make ethically-minded eating choices.
The calculator’s not entirely accurate, but it gives you a gist of how many carbon points are in a generic piece of food. You choose a category and a food item, drop it in the frying pan and voilà! You have a general estimate of how much carbon was produced to make your lunch.
And what’s this thing about carbon points? Econundrums explains:
Foods are assigned point values based on their greenhouse gas emissions—one point equals .035 oz. of emissions. Researchers took into account both the agricultural and shipping emissions associated with each food—for a detailed account of their methodology, click on “What do these points mean?”.
And I say it’s a general estimate because there are some inaccuracies in that it doesn’t factor in certain environmental elements…and it’s produced by a catering company. But then again, it doesn’t tout itself as the end all be all. But I still think it’s pretty neat and that it can help people to make more environmentally-conscious (and healthier) food choices.
Nerd awesomeness number two. NPR time!
NPR is pretty great. You get great reporting, interesting stories that actually mean something (see any local TV news broadcast at 5 to see the opposite), and a way to continue learning about the world around you – all for free! Plus sometimes you can get pretty sweet swag if you donate. And now one of my favorite NPR news shows, All Things Considered, just released a cake cookbook, All Cakes Considered. Political news with baking? Be still, my beating heart.
Melissa Gray, an ATC producer, wrote this book after bringing a cake to work every Monday. It has a focus on American-style, comfy, down-to-earth cakes with recipes for things like the bundt cake of all bundt cakes, The Tunnel of Fudge, and others like the Brown Sugar Pound Cake. And I’m not only excited about the different kinds of cakes in the book, but also because of the writing that goes on in between the recipes. Gray has produced some of my favorite ATC stories.
I haven’t gotten my hands on a complete copy of the book, but I’ve secured a few of the recipes and am anxious to try them out. But I’m pretty confident that NPR + Cake = Great.
And bonus - I found this on Flickr. Man, does it make me miss my dog.
Nelson! *I have no idea what is on his tongue. I don't really want to know.
