Nov 25 2008

Have A Happy Green Thanksgiving

Posted by: Leonard Anderson

Organic Thanksgiving? Vegan Thanksgiving? Energy-efficient Thanksgiving? So many choices. What's a family to do to celebrate an environmentally friendly holiday? Here are some tips gleaned from newspapers, blogs, colleagues, and personal experience.

• Shop for locally grown food. Food trucked over long distances pumps more harmful carbon emissions into the air. There are many farmers' markets in cities and towns throughout the PG&E service area in northern and central California offering organic produce that hasn't been exposed to chemical pesticides and fertilizers. More information is available from the California Federation of Certified Farmers' Markets.
• If a farmers' market isn't available in your area, you can find organic food in stores such as Safeway, Berkeley Bowl, Whole Foods and other large markets and at smaller neighborhood groceries. My favorite in San Francisco is Golden Produce, a small grocery carrying a large offering of organic fruits and vegetables along with other foods on Church Street near Market Street opposite the Safeway. FoodRoutes.org has more information on local stores.
• Take along reusable bags for your Thanksgiving shopping. More stores large and small are providing reusable bags free or for a small charge. And look for goods packaged in recyclable materials.
• Turkeys have come a long way. When I was a boy, our neighborhood butcher sold a lot of fresh turkeys at Thanksgiving but I can't recall anyone asking if the bird was free range or antibiotic-free, or much less happy. Turkey was turkey. Today it's all about choices and that's a good thing. I usually get my turkey at Mollie Stone's Grand Central Market on California Street in San Francisco's upper Fillmore neighborhood. The store offers a number of turkey categories, among them organic (organic feed; access to the outdoors; no antibiotics or growth hormones) and free-range (growers must show the USDA the birds can go outside). Ask your butcher for more information on the differences. 
• An organic Thanksgiving may cost up to $100 more, according to SmartMoney.com, which did some shopping in New York City at a Whole Foods Market, an Associated Supermarket and a Food Emporium. Organic baked yams, for example, cost $9.95 (5 lbs.) for eight people, $6 more than non-organic. Nationwide, organic groceries can carry a 40 percent premium. If your wallet is a little light these days, take a pass on certified organics.  
• While the bird is roasting in the oven for a few hours, your home will be nice and warm so turn down the thermostat by 4 or 5 degrees to save energy. If you're using an electric stove, cook side dishes in off-peak hours to save energy and warm them up in the oven while the turkey is resting before carving. In a hurry? Try the easy 45-minute roast turkey recipe from Mark Bittman, who writes the Bitten blog for the New York Times. You can check out Bittman's in-the-kitchen video at New York Times.com.
• Pack leftovers for your guests in reusable containers and if you still have extras, consider a mini-Thanksgiving the next day. One year we had a lot of leftover turkey, so my wife found a recipe for Turkey Tetrazzini, and we had a wonderful picnic at Muir Beach in Marin County with friends who also shared their leftovers. And don't forget to put the scraps in the compost bin if your town offers this service or if you compost in a garden.
• If you decorate the Thanksgiving table, try creating a centerpiece in a cornucopia basket with colored leaves, gourds, dried ears of corn and other natural decorations. If you have young children in the house, ask them to arrange the centerpiece. Or give the children construction paper and crayons to draw placemats for the table.
• You may want to consider carbon-emission offset programs if you're travelling to your Thanksgiving destination, but you should only consider carbon credits that are rigorous and verified by third parties.

NEXT100 wishes you and yours a safe and happy Green Thanksgiving.

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