Human beings have a tendency to overcomplicate things and sustainability is one of those things. When we are met with the goal of “being more sustainable”, we imagine it requires expensive grocery hauls of all organic foods, compost systems that need full instruction manuals, and a complete overhaul of the way we shop, cook, eat, and clean up. But in reality, some of the best ways to be sustainable come from kitchens I’ve seen where the inhabitants of said space simply grew up without the luxury of waste. They cooked from what they had, saved everything, and when needing a cup of sugar, they asked their neighbors freely. Sustainability in the kitchen isn’t just a trend for Earth month. It’s coming back to something we already knew how to do and got away from.
First up, start with what you have. Before you make one more grocery list or add things to your online cart, open your refrigerator, pantry, and kitchen drawers. Look at what’s there already and make that a list – the half-used container of pesto, the five jars of fruit jams and jellies, the wilting herbs, and the miso paste in your fridge; the collection of pasta, flours, and rices you have deserve a trophy all on their own in your pantry; and your drawers are filled with takeout sauce packets, random plastic container bags, and chopsticks you take home thinking you’ll use one day. Here’s the reminder: the most sustainable meal you can make is the one you can build from what you already own.
Yes, this is a meaningful shift and one that requires work and practice. Not everyone has the culinary knowledge nor aptitude to see bits and pieces of ingredients and are able to come up with a delicious recipe, I understand that. But here’s the second reminder: practice makes progress. Once you start seeing the half block of tofu, the not-as-crisp carrots, and the wilted herbs as a tasty stir fry served over that wild rice you bought 1.5 years ago and promised yourself you’d use it someday (today is the day!), you’ll realize that it’s all about practice and repetition. If you force yourself to make a grocery list of what you already have before making a meal, you’re half-way there. Instead of leading with a recipe, start with your ingredients and let the recipe follow. Read that sentence again and commit it to memory, this one piece of advice will help your sustainability mindset grow exponentially.
Now, let’s look at your spice section – it may be a cabinet or drawer, but to me it’s a magical step in the most delicious direction. A well-stocked spice cabinet can make almost anything taste intentionally amazing. Spices and dried herbs are the great equalizer in a recipe and they work to transform your meals into culinary masterpieces. Grab something like that head of cauliflower that’s been rolling around in your produce drawer for weeks. Season it with olive oil, salt, and pepper and sure, it’s fine. But slather it with a mix of sesame oil, smoked paprika, ginger and garlic powder, and you’re well on your way to a restaurant-quality meal. Because that’s one of the main differences between a typical home-cook and a restaurant chef – a chef is not afraid to use spices and neither should you.
You’ll take stock of your spice drawer and someone might suggest smelling them, and if they smell like nothing, toss them. I am going to beg you not to do that. A spice that’s past its prime can be used in marinades, brines, infused oils, or flavored butters because their flavor is less critical. I recently gave our spice cabinet a challenge: I was not allowed to purchase any spices, dried herbs, or spice blends until I ran through every spice I had. It took months – honestly, maybe a full year since I started – to get down to 1-2 spices. That pesky Old Bay tin can truly make its way into almost every dish I made in the last few dishes and you know what? I survived. While traveling and at markets, I’m lured by small-batch makers selling local spice blends and somehow end up with dozens of one-time used spice, oil, and vinegar bottles. I’m sure I’m not the only one. Do you really need 13 types of vinegars? If you’re a regular, every day cook – I promise you, you do not.
But here’s the thing that leads me to my next piece of advice and something I’ve been seeing on social media a lot recently: “everyone wants a village but no one wants to be a villager”. The beautiful logic that explains how communities used to share food sources. A neighbor had extra eggs from their hens, someone’s pear tree was ripe for the picking…it all became moments of collaboration and sharing that we’re all looking to get back into. It was not only practical, but it was social and created a sense of belonging unlike anything else. We’ve slowly lost this and our communities are poorer for it. How do we get back to that lifestyle? Next time you need two tablespoons of fish sauce, reach out to a neighbor that already probably has a bottle of it; need fresh herbs and know your best friend has an herb garden, ask for some clippings; and if you have an abundance of something, check in with your community to see who needs it.
This isn’t about being cheap, but about rebuilding a community around bountifulness. The village we want will be built on small exchanges that happen one at a time. Start small and watch it grow.
And when we talk about growing, it makes me think of how to use up produce in the most effective way possible, knowing how many resources (specially on this Island) it takes to grow and harvest it. That’s where the freezer bag comes into play: keep a plastic bag and collect vegetable scraps that in 2-3 weeks will be the base of a flavorful broth. Carrot peels, herb stems, celery leaves, and onion scraps, among other vegetable bits and pieces, can be thrown into a large pot covered in cool water, simmered for an hour and resulting in a delicious base for your soups and stews. One special place I love using my sustainably-made broth is using it to cook my starches in it – nothing tastier than rice or pasta cooked in a rich vegetable broth that costs you nothing but preparedness.
And all this advice isn’t to convince you to cook all your meals at home, far from it. It’s meant to be a helpful way to rework how we think about what we have, what to do with it, and how to share it a bit more. Because the reality is that the Island is also packed to the brim with fantastic restaurants with talented chefs at the helm that need our patronage. Where does sustainability come in when you dine at a restaurant? Easy. The decision to avoid food waste, take leftovers home, and actively repurpose them into a unique meal is a talent all within itself. Yes, you can go above and beyond by bringing your own takeout container to the restaurant but I’m not asking that of you. I’m asking this: can you promise me that those delicious leftovers you bring home will not go in the fridge to be forgotten and then thrown away in a week? Can you promise me that you’ll repurpose that leftover burger & fries into a fun breakfast hash with an egg on top? That’s all I ask.
Sustainable cooking doesn’t have to be perfect – far from it. It’s about paying attention, being proactive about what you have; and what you don’t have, getting comfortable about asking your inner circle to provide. The most planet-friendly is not the one with the top model composter or the most organic grocery list. It’s the kitchen where very little goes to waste, because the cook has developed the skill to see potential in every scrap. And that can start now, right when you finish reading this article.
This article is published as a part of The Grapevine–a monthly email newsletter dedicated to our local events and culinary scene. Click here to subscribe to the Grapevine.