This week we explored yet another way in which the food system affects climate change: food waste. Our opening circle focused on San Francisco’s three-bin trash, recycling, and compost system and what goes in which bin. Then we watched The Environmental Cost of Food Waste, which highlighted some startling statistics about the impact of inefficient food distribution systems and personal diet choices world wide.
Conveniently, there were orange peels on students’ desks after morning snack, which transitioned us nicely to one of the two recipes we made together, Food Waste Candy. Our chefs learned a simple food preservation method for a product that usually gets discarded, making candied orange and lemon peels to be eaten as part of our final cooking class for the year. (The orange peels came from the third grade garden snack and the lemon peels came from the dressing we made for the tabbouleh that we served at the October PFC dinner!)
Because it would be unbearable to make food and not get to eat together, we also learned how to make Climate Change Bacon using coconut flakes seasoned with tamari, smoked paprika, and maple syrup, then baked in an oven. We ate the “facon” with a crisp romaine salad and a dijon-red-wine-vinegar dressing. It was one of those weeks where Ms. Stuti and I had no issue eating the same meal three days in a row! I hope many of you are able to try both recipes at home.
