Why Buy It, When You Can Make It
Part 10: Wrap It Up
My disdain for fluorescent lighting and football-stadium-sized grocery stores lined with too many choices our bodies do not need to function, or litter our pantries, has ended. Before I sign off, let’s review the nine foods.
NINE FOODS TO MAKE
Salsa = Tomatoes + Onion + Garlic + Jalapeño
Flour Tortilla = Flour + Coconut Oil + Water Gluten Free = Cassava Flour + Psyllium Husk + Coconut Oil + Water
Hummus = Chickpeas + Water + Garlic + Lemon Juice + Tahini + Olive Oil
Flavor Syrups = Sugar + Water + Lavender Buds
Salad Dressings = Lemon + Olive Oil + Shallot
Hot Chocolate = Chopped Chocolate + Milk
Canned Whipped Cream = Heavy Whipping Cream + Syrup
Granola = Oats + Coconut + Nuts/Seeds + Oil + Syrup
Pasta = Flour + Water or Eggs
LESS IS MORE
These nine simple foods account for as much as 20% of store inventory. Imagine how much plastic packaging could be avoided by making these foods with a few vegetables, fruits, herbs, beans, grains, nuts, seeds, and oils.
It prompts a question worth pondering: What footprint do our food-buying habits create?
WRAP IT UP
Nature creates its own wrappers. A walnut lives deep inside a robust shell. A banana is cocooned in a sleeve. A juicy mandarin is preserved in its peel.
We humans, have created a ton of waste inventing wrappers that preserve food, but that does not mean we eat it. Thirty percent of all food ends up in landfills. Often, the wrappers weigh more than the food they provide. Think toddler squeeze pouches or a bag of chips.
Over 27 million tons of plastic waste end up in landfills in the United States annually. The food may be consumed, but the packaging lasts over 500 years.
THERE IS HOPE
Thailand and Vietnam have adopted practices in grocery stores for wrapping fruits and vegetables using banana leaves.
Japanese scientists at RIKEN developed a biodegradable plastic that dissolves in seawater within hours or decomposes in soil, leaving no microplastics behind:
Mexico aims for 100% of plastic packaging to be reusable, recyclable, or compostable by 2030, and already has a collection rate exceeding 63% of PET used in packaged foods and beverage bottles.
Free-flowing potable fountains in Rome ensure drinking water is available to all.
The coffee bar at Brindisi airport, before security, can be kid-friendly and caffeine-free, with freshly squeezed orange juice to order in a real glass. It was delicious!
Let nature be our guide; a consumer shift toward a circular economy can mean a healthier way of life for us all.
BE THE SALMON
Swim upstream and enjoy making these simple foods rather than buying them at the grocery store. Most plastic exists because we outsource simple foods to factories far from nature. Making food at home addresses the root cause. There is no need for recycling if we did not produce the waste in the first place.
Reduce the amount of food bought in plastic containers.
Use fewer ingredients and less “stuff.”
Break dependence on industrial processing.
Encourage a relationship with whole foods.
Ultimately, shrink the middle aisles of grocery stores, thus right-size them.
Less does not mean less fun. It can be empowering and joyful to make your own food.
Consider that the waste from convenience foods is not convenient at all. It pushes the burden to the public and the environment. It shows up in higher taxes to deal with the waste if you care about your pocketbook. It contaminates our water supply if you care about health.
If we made even some of these nine food categories at home, we could reshape the grocery store into something more reflective of nature instead of its antithesis, reclaiming food for the longevity of all.
That’s a wrap on Why Buy It, When You Can Make It. Please stay tuned for brainstorming to re-imagine and convey the resources of a wasteful food system to a circular one.