This cookbook encourages us to consider the planet in our meal choices

WHAT we cook and the way we prepare a recipe can factor in more than just taste: it can also reflect our environmentalism.

Designed in partnership with the United Nations to guide consumers in their food choices while encouraging them to prepare food for pleasure, a recent book brings together 75 climate-friendly recipes.

For anyone looking for a late gift idea this holiday season for foodie loved ones who are concerned about reducing the carbon footprint of their plates, this book could be worth checking out.

NGO the Kitchen Connection Alliance has recently published a book in collaboration with the UN featuring 75 recipes that are good for the planet.

Titled ‘The Cookbook in Support of the United Nations: For People and Planet’, the tome was produced with the help of chefs from all over the world, organic farmers, indigenous cooks and food activists.

The chapters are divided into several themes, such as biodiversity, sustainable consumption, climate change and food waste.

Even the design of the book is ecological, since the pages are printed on sustainable paper certified by the international NGO Forest Stewardship Council.

Inside, there are of course vegetarian and vegan recipes (though not exclusively) from all over the world with, for each of them, the corresponding carbon footprint.

One recipe, for example, encourages home cooks to prepare a ratatouille with "imperfect" products, with the aim of raising consumers' awareness of the importance of reducing food waste.

Chef Ska Mirriam Moteane, from Lesotho, also offers a recipe for a dandelion salad that emits nearly 90% less carbon than an average meal in high-emission countries like the United States and China.

“We found that those in the highest-emitting countries in the world emit through our food choices about 3 kilograms of CO2 emissions per meal.

"The recipes in this book have 58.6% less carbon compared to an average meal from high-emitting regions of the world,” explained Earlene Cruz, founder of Kitchen Connection and New York University Professor. 

The book can be purchased online for US$29.99 (about RM132.78).

It should soon also take the form of a documentary series "that will include an exploration of indigenous communities and remote areas threatened by climate change," says a statement from the UN. – ETX Daily Up, December 29, 2022