Green Cooking, what is it? (solar panels, organic, stove, buying)

[Korel]

I really enjoy much of the programming on the Green Planet Channel. To the point, my wife leaves the room when Living With Ed comes on. I'm addicted. However, a show with Emeril comes on about Green Cooking. I don't get where anything on that show might resemble "Green". I would thing buying produce grown locally or possibly like Ed Bagley, Jr., cooking in his solar oven, (which his wife hates) is more the definition of Green Cooking. I'm sure everything Emeril and his guest prepares is totally awesum but does it reduce the carbon footprint?

Your thoughts on Green Cooking? What is it?

[lialleycat]

I would think that Green Cooking would be about being conscious of and trying to reduce your carbon footprint.

A number one item in towards that would be eating locally grown organic produce and meats (if you're into that sort of thing) to reduce the mileage transporting the food and the chemicals applied to conventional produce. Less meat is better, as commercially raised meat uses vast economic and environmental resources.

The greenest "cooking" would be a raw diet, where you don't use energy to cook anything. Barring that, I would think really green would be a solar oven or in the winter using your heat source (such as a fireplace) to cook with in the wintertime. It wouldn't be carbon neutral, but you'd be using the wood for both heat and cooking, and part of being green is about using things in as may ways as possible, right? If you have solar panels for your home and an electric stove, that's pretty carbon neutral as well.

I try to eat a lot of fresh salads in the summer using local produce and I grill outdoors using a mini charcoal grill. In the winter, I make a lot of stews, soups and chilis using my electric oven and end of season produce that I bought on sale and froze. I'd love to know about more ways to cook green.

Anyone out there know the 'green' ratings for cooking with propane, wood, electric or charcoal? I'm sure some are better than others.

[riveree]

Originally Posted by Korel

I really enjoy much of the programming on the Green Planet Channel. To the point, my wife leaves the room when Living With Ed comes on. I'm addicted. However, a show with Emeril comes on about Green Cooking. I don't get where anything on that show might resemble "Green". I would thing buying produce grown locally or possibly like Ed Bagley, Jr., cooking in his solar oven, (which his wife hates) is more the definition of Green Cooking. I'm sure everything Emeril and his guest prepares is totally awesum but does it reduce the carbon footprint?

Your thoughts on Green Cooking? What is it?

I looked up Planet Green's description of the show:

About the Show: Emeril Green : Green Celebrities : Planet Green

It looks like they'll be working closely with Whole Foods:

Values & Actions Overview | WholeFoodsMarket.com

So I'd say most of their ingredients will be green. Could the ingredients be greener? Sure, Emeril could have an organic garden of his own behind the studio, but for the sake of showing the viewers a green option, I think Whole Foods fits that request just fine. So there's some thought behind where the ingredients come from and their impact on the environment...I think that's a fresh angle on the typical cooking show (though Emeril is certainly not the first one to show you where the ingredients come from).

The show description also says Emeril will be cooking vegetarian fare, which we know has a lower impact on the environment. He's going to be combining cooked and non-cooked foods together (no cooking, no energy used).

So it's no solar oven Ed Begley Jr style (I love that too !), but I can see where Emeril can show viewers how to make subtle changes that will have a cumulative lowering effect on the carbon footprint.