Friday Food Fast Facts
April 12, 2019
Sixth Friday of Lent
“Mindful of the effects of climate injustice on the cosmos, Earth, and all creatures of Earth, particularly the most vulnerable, we commit to work against climate injustice. We pledge that by June 2019, we will have collectively reduced carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions by 2 million pounds (in personal activities and in local or broader communities). We pledge, in addition, to advocate for strong environmental policy.”
— 2018 Providence Climate Agreement (link)
During Lent as we take the opportunity to pray, contemplate and reflect upon how our choices and actions impact our relationship with God, each other and with the whole Earth community, we share the Immaculate Heart of Mary Sisters Food Ecotone’s “Friday Food Fast Fact” sheet.
A question to ponder: If beef was more expensive, would you eat as much of it?
A team of French scientists recently published a paper on the practicality of putting a carbon tax on beef as a tool for meeting European Union climate change targets. The French researchers decided to take a look at a carbon tax on beef because the European Union has committed to cut its greenhouse gas emissions more than half by midcentury – and that includes agricultural emissions. Their study found that a relatively steep tax, based on greenhouse gas emissions, would raise the retail price of beef by about 40 percent and cause a corresponding drop in consumption, much like the sugar tax on sodas and the tax on tobacco products.
The tax would also reduce the substantial contribution of beef and dairy cattle to water pollution, deforestation, biodiversity loss and human mortality.
Learn more about this study in this article from the New York Times.
“There is an urgent need to develop policies so that in the next few years, the emission of carbon dioxide, and other highly polluting gases can be drastically reduced.”
— Pope Francis, Laudato Si: On Care for Our Common Home
You may wish to try a new recipe or two, found below:
Vegetable Cobb Salad
- 4 cups packed shredded romaine lettuce
- 1 8-ounce can garbanzo or red kidney beans, rinsed and drained
- 1 large ripe tomato, seeded and diced
- 1 ripe avocado, peeled and diced
- ½ cup crumbled blue cheese
- ½ cup canned beets, drained and diced or julienned
- 2 hard-cooked eggs, peeled and diced
- 1/3 cup olive oil
- 3 Tablespoons red wine vinegar
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon sugar
- ¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
Arrange lettuce on a large serving platter. Top with beans, tomato, avocado, cheese, beets, olives and eggs in rows over lettuce. Combine oil, vinegar, salt, sugar and pepper and mix well with fork. Drizzle over salad and toss well. Serves 4. Recipe from Meatless Dishes in Twenty Minutes.
Chili Con Elote
- 2 19-ound cans red kidney beans, rinsed and drained
- ¼ cup vegetable oil
- 1 onion, diced
- 1 garlic clove, minced
- 2 stalks celery, diced
- 1 green pepper, diced
- 1 carrot, diced
- 1 cup mushrooms, thinly sliced
- 2 cups vegetable stock
- 1 28-ounce can diced tomatoes in liquid
- 1 cup corn
- SPICES: 2 teaspoons chili powder, 1 ½ teaspoons salt, 1 teaspoons dried oregano, 1 teaspoons ground cumin
Mash ½ of the beans in small bowl. Set aside. Sauté onion and garlic over medium heat for three minutes. Add celery, green pepper, carrot and mushrooms; sauté two to three minutes. Add the stock, tomatoes and liquid, corn, kidney beans (whole and mashed), chili powder, salt, oregano and cumin and stir. Cover and simmer for 30 minutes. If chili is too watery, remove lid and simmer an additional 10 minutes. Recipe from Jumbo Vegetarian Cookbook.