Green Options

Fast food isn’t only a dumb choice environmentally, it can actually harm kids’ test scores, too. Factory-farmed meat? All that packaging? No thanks.

But if living a greener life isn’t a good enough reason for you and your family to avoid the junk, perhaps this is: kids who regularly eat fast food score lower on tests. Some kids had their test scored drop on literacy and mathematical tests by 16 percent compared to the average.

Kerri Tobin, who oversaw the research, said,

It is possible that the types of food served at fast food restaurants cause cognitive difficulties that result in lower test scores.

Wow. Just can’t picture Mickey D’s using that in a marketing campaign anytime soon. But the corporate giant isn’t the only culprit…

McDonald’s, the States’ largest purchaser of potatoes, is taking preliminary steps to go pesticide-free, Reuters reports.  Investor groups had been pushing for the move, and now McDonald’s looks like it’s bending.

It will now take steps to reduce pesticide use in potato production for its supply.

Our U.S. potato suppliers are already working with their growers to advance sustainable pesticide practices, such as reductions and alternative methods.

And because it accounts for a huge chunk of U.S. spud use, I suppose it’s good that they’re leaning toward organic. But this isn’t some charitable thing, though they’re gonna spin it that way (of course).

Doesn’t everyone love fried foods. Yet as Russ Parson’s said in How to Read a French Fry, “Most people would sooner tune their own car or perform minor surgery on a family member before they would try to fry in their own kitchen.”

Frying basically involves cooking food in hot fat. But it’s not quite that simple. Parson’s writes, “Anyone doubting that cooking is a complex craft, need only consider frying. Perhaps no other type of cooking involves quite as many variables or requires as many decisions on the part of the cook.” Type of fat, main ingredient, coating and temperature to name just a few.

You need to take care when frying, because if the fat is too hot, the food will scorch or burn before it is completely cooked; and if it’s too cold, the food will soak up fat and become soggy with grease. It’s a question of balance.

I confess: as much as I wish I could say every meal I eat is as healthy as my quinoa and kale salad, sometimes I just have a craving for junk food. Ya know?

When I first went vegetarian seven years ago I quickly realized how easy it was to replace meat with junk food. After all, I’d sacrificed so much my giving up chicken that I should reward myself with donuts, right? They’re vegetarian! And so are potato chips, and candy bars, and french fries…

But not only are these instant gratification foods loaded with calories, sodium, and often trans fats, but they’re not particularly eco-friendly. Consider even “healthy” choices like Nabisco’s 100 Calorie Packs of Oreos, Chips Ahoy, and the like. All come individually wrapped, and I’ve made it clear how I feel about overpackaging.

So what’s an eco-conscious consumer to do when you just want a quick bite? I’ve done you the favor of sampling some of the finest junk foods my co-op had to offer. (The things you do for research.) Consider some of these alternatives: