While eating a salad is a great source of leafy greens, eating green doesn’t just mean eating all five American Heart Association-recommended servings of vegetables each day. Prioritizing a green lifestyle also means eating sustainably for both the body and the community.
Healthy New Albany Magazine spoke to Rachael Harmon, a consultant dietitian; Jennifer Cohen, the community garden coordinator at Healthy New Albany and Sharon Dunn, HNA’s Nourish program coordinator, who shared five ways to create a habit of sustainability in your diet.
Shop local
One way to eat sustainably is by shopping at local food markets.
“Oftentimes, these vendors produce more environmentally friendly products that are organic,” Harmon says. “Shopping locally helps decrease the amount of energy and waste produced in the environment since we are minimizing how far food travels.”
Stock up on local produce at Market Square on Thursday nights for the New Albany Farmers Market and support local growers.
Eat seasonally
Another way to eat “green” would be to focus on eating fruits and vegetables that are in season. When foods are out of season, the monetary and environmental costs to produce and transport them increases, Harmon says. For summertime, bring home produce such as blackberries, tomatoes, watermelon and green beans.
Grow fresh
Get your hands dirty and bring the farmers market to your own backyard with at-home gardening. While starting a garden may seem a daunting task, don’t hang up your shovel just yet. Cohen says there are many ways for aspiring gardeners to start.
“I always recommend to people to start with a potted garden … where you could then plant things in a theme,” Cohen says. “For instance, a salsa garden with a tomato plant, cilantro, a pepper plant and any herbs you want to add to the salsa.”
Cohen also recommends hydroponic tower gardens, which are space-efficient vertical pots ideal for growing fresh herbs. Tower gardens can be used indoors with limited lighting.
“The tower gardens … use strictly water,” Cohen says. “Then, you add minerals to them to help the plants.”
For first-time growers, Cohen recommends mint, basil, tomatoes and peppers.
But if you don’t have enough space for a garden, you can reserve a plot in the Healthy New Albany Community Garden, where you can grow your own food and connect with others with green thumbs who can share tips and tricks.
Eliminate waste
Perhaps the best and easiest way to prioritize sustainability is to eliminate waste as much as possible. There are many ways to go about it.
“Buying in bulk or family/value sizes, bringing your own to-go containers for leftovers at restaurants and using reusable bags at the grocery store helps to reduce the amount of plastic and overall energy required,” Harmon says.
You can also cut back by composting. Save food scraps, paper napkins, paper towels and compostable bags for composting or food waste programs. Compost your own food scraps or drop them off at one of the three composting locations in New Albany.
Eat green
Adopt a plant-leaning diet to prioritize a more sustainable lifestyle. Different from an entirely plant-based diet, a plant-leaning diet centers on reducing animal products and choosing more vegetable-centered dishes, Dunn says.
“When I first started cooking more plant-focused, … I always thought, ‘It’s going to take away from the flavor,’ but I’ve found that really the taste is very similar,” Dunn says.
Dunn recommends buying vegetables in bulk at the beginning of the week, roasting them at one time and storing them in the refrigerator. Then, throughout the week, throw the vegetables in with various dishes.
“Another key component of making vegetables with different flavor profiles is changing up sauces,” Dunn says.
Try your hand at eating green with Dunn’s spinach soup recipe, a tasty plant-focused dish perfect for summertime.
Katie Giffin is a contributing writer at CityScene Media Group. Feedback welcome at feedback@cityscenemediagroup.com.
Spinach Soup (4-6 servings)
- 5 carrots, diced
- 2 cans garbanzo beans, rinsed and drained, pat dry
- Olive oil
- 4 teaspoons ras el hanout*
- 1 ½ onions, diced
- 2 tablespoons ginger, minced
- 1 ounce fresh mint
- 16 ounces baby spinach
- 3-4 cups vegetable broth
- 1 ½ teaspoons salt
- Sour cream or yogurt and lemon, for serving (optional)
Place carrots and half of the garbanzo beans on a sheet pan. Toss with 2 tablespoons of olive oil, ras el hanout and a pinch of salt. Roast at 400F until carrots are tender and garbanzo beans are crispy, about 15-18 minutes.
In a large stock pot, over medium heat, add onion, ginger and a pinch of salt and cook until translucent, about 3-5 minutes. Add remaining garbanzo beans, mint, spinach and
vegetable broth and remaining salt. Bring to a boil and reduce heat to simmer. Cook until greens are wilted, about 4-5 minutes.
Blend with an immersion blender until smooth and season to taste with salt and pepper.
To serve: dollop with sour cream or yogurt and/or a squeeze of lemon juice, seasoned and roasted carrots and crispy garbanzo beans.
*Ras el hanout is a North African spice blend of cumin, cardamom, cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg, turmeric.
Rachael Harmon’s seasonal eating guide
Winter season: Grapefruit, lemons, oranges, tangerines, kale, leeks, radishes, turnips
Spring season: Apricots, avocados, mangoes, pineapples, rhubarb, strawberries, artichokes, asparagus, carrots, collards, fava beans, fennel, greens
Summer season: Blackberries, blueberries, nectarines, peaches, plums, raspberries, tomatoes, watermelon, broccoli, cucumber, green beans, zucchini
Fall season: Apples, cranberries, figs, grapes, pears, squash, cauliflower, garlic, ginger, mushrooms, potatoes, pumpkin, sweet potatoes
