Act against climate change, recipe by recipe

Renowned cooks, such as José Andrés or the goodwill ambassador of the World Food Program (WFP) Manal Al Alem, as well as indigenous home cooks and farmers from around the world have contributed to a new cookbook* that includes delicious and climate-friendly recipes.

Crab cakes made with fonio, an ancient West African cereal, or ratatouille prepared with “imperfect” products to reduce food waste, are just a couple of the more than 70 recipes included in the recently published Cookbook in Support of the United Nations: For People and Planet (A Cookbook in Support of the United Nations: For People and Planet).

“Understanding that the consumption of cookbooks is on the rise and that people use them as a source of education and inspiration, the idea of ​​publishing one had always been on our table,” the founder of Cookbook told UN News. Kitchen Connection and New York University professor Earlene Cruz.

Recipes, information and carbon footprint

The book is divided into chapters, including those on food systems, biodiversity, consumption, sustainable production and climate change, as well as food waste, providing recipes, but also information on the carbon footprint of each dish.

“We have discovered that the inhabitants of the most polluting countries in the world emit through our food choices about three kilograms of CO2 emissions per meal. The recipes in this book have 58.6% less carbon compared to an average meal of the world’s most emitting regions. This book is dedicated to the planet,” says Ms. Cruz.

The cookbook also highlights and follows the macronutrient guidelines of the World Health Organization (WHO), which makes the recipes not only healthy for the planet, but also for us.

But above all highlights the importance of our food choices and the impact they can have on our immediate environment, let’s cook where we cook.

The climate cost of our food choices

Describing a quiche recipe shared by Lisa Johnson, chef for NASA scientists in Antarctica, Cruz says, “This recipe contains eggs [de gallina]and in Antarctica, [las gallinas no pueden] interact in any way with the penguins, so Chef Lisa had to cook that part of the recipe in a completely separate facility. This demonstrates the challenges of cooking in remote areas.”

“The point is, whether we’re in cities, suburban or rural areas, or somewhere as remote as Antarctica, it’s paramount to consider our food choices and how they impact our immediate environment,” he adds.

The book features 75 recipes along with instructions for their preparation, but also reflections and stories, including those of indigenous communities and farmersroot of the global food production chain.

The contributors to the book were assembled by Kitchen Connectionwhich offers an online platform for cooking classes and education.

“Activist, restaurateur, and entrepreneur Kimbal Musk also lent his voice and introduced this book, so from the indigenous Sioux community to Antarctica, [el libro] it reflects the realities of our diverse food system and inherent culinary cultures. The most gratifying thing was to see more than 200 people gathered and signing to support this cause,” Cruz underlines.

Ska Mirriam Moteane, a cook from Lesotho, shares, for example, the recipe for a dandelion salad tower that emits 87.58% less carbon than an average meal in countries with high emissions, such as the United States and China.

The dish encourages biodiversity by incorporating dandelion, a nutritious vegetable that grows in the wild and in the fields around your own home.

Sustainability is even built into the book itself: its pages are made of wood fiber from responsible sources.

“There will always be a climate cost to producing something like this, but we’ve done everything possible, from start to finish, to make both the book and its content sustainable. Dedicated to the planet, this book is printed on sustainable paper certified by the [Consejo de Administración Forestal]understanding that this is how hardcover cookbooks are traditionally consumed,” explains Cruz.

Why is all this important?

According to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, food systems contribute to and are affected by extreme weather events associated with climate change, land degradation and biodiversity loss.

Meeting these challenges requires a food systems approach that addresses variety and complexity in a holistic and sustainable way. Initiatives like this recipe book are intended to support the response.

“We can start with questions that help us understand the journey of our food: Where is it grown? Who grows it? How did it get on my plate? As empowered and conscious individuals, we can come together to insist on more sustainable practices by part of farms and food companies, and demand bold climate policy from our governments,” urges the founder of Kitchen Connection.

Cruz, who is also a member of the Youth Representatives of Civil Society of the UN Department of Global Communication, stresses that it is necessary to consume more local biodiverse ingredients and reduce waste in the kitchen.

“But it also needs to taste good. That’s why we have to turn to activists, chefs, farmers and indigenous people, who really know how to farm and create beautiful recipes to help guide us,” he adds.

Reflections of José Andrés

The famous chef José Andrés, recognized for his culinary and humanitarian work, is another of the supporters and participants in the cookbook.

“Educating ourselves and each other on how to eat better to take care of human health and that of the planet, we can limit the number of hungry people by preventing and stopping natural disasters before they happen. The UN Supported Cookbook is a wonderful example of this,” he said in a video message to mark the book’s launch event at COP27, the recent Climate Change Conference in Sharm el-Sheikh, in Egypt.

For Earlene Cruz, nature holds the answers, because “what is good for humans is also good for the planet“.

“For example, indigenous chef Rosalía Chay Chuc’s black bean recipe is the least emitting in the book. Beans, when eaten with other grains, provide us with complete proteins that are wonderful for human and planetary health. In addition , are gentle to the soil and do not need a lot of water to grow. Nature itself provides the best ‘recipe’ and formula for human and planetary health,” he explains.

Other contributors include Dani Nierenberg, a food systems expert, who shares a delicious recipe called make ratatouillewhich reduces food waste by using “imperfect ingredients” to make a “perfect dish” in the most delicious way.

“And Chef Pierre Thiam contributed a fonio recipe that uses a grain that was ‘rediscovered,’ and has completely revitalized the economy of Senegalese farmers in the region where fonio is grown, historically a place where people migrated to Europe in search of a better life without recognizing the wealth that already existed in the land from which they were fleeing,” Cruz told UN News.

Towards the future

The cookbook, which is already available at major bookstores and online, and will soon be available for purchase at the United Nations Headquarters Visitor Center in New York, will also will come to life in 2023 as a documentary series which will include an exploration of indigenous communities and remote areas threatened by climate change.

“There is no single solution, but when adapted to the local context, we can really have a global impact through our food choices. We vote both with our ballots and with our palates“Cross says.

For her, the book represents the beginning, rather than the end, of a wonderful collaboration and contribution that she hopes will have a positive impact on citizens around the world.

“We want the book to reach the hands of ordinary citizens, which is why we’ve partnered with a traditional publisher, to get this message out of the media echo chamber and into the hearts and minds of those who may not know or care (yet) about the strong symbiotic relationship between our food systems and the planet. We don’t just want to sell books, we want to make an impact and spread the message,” says Cruz.

*The book – which has the collaboration of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and has been drafted in consultation with other UN entities such as the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Culture (UNESCO), the Program of United Nations for the Environment (UNEP), the United Nations Climate Change Program and the United Nations Department of Global Communication – is the work of Kitchen Connection, a non-governmental organization (NGO) that has spent a decade uniting culinary arts, sustainability and education. , and promoting the debate on the need to transform food systems.