How to Have a 100-Mile Thanksgiving

SUSTAINABLE - AMERICA- HOW TO HAVE A 100-MILE THANKSGIVING AND OTHER TIPS FOR A MORE SUSTAINABLE HOLIDAY! Take the fuel out of your food with a 100-Mile Thanksgiving - a meal made with key ingredients that come from within 100 miles of your table. By buying locally-sourced food (even just one dish!) you can dramatically decrease the amount of fuel used to transport your meal. FIND YOUR: LOCAL FARMERS MARKET LEARN WHAT'S IN SEASON IN YOUR AREA There is nothing Thanksgiving was obviously originally a local, more festive than a farmers market the day seasonal meal. From pumpkin to sage to apples - something is in before Thanksgiving, and it's no more crowded than the season where supermarket! you live! TURKEY DAY WITH THE RIGHT TURKEY INVOLVE YOUR ENTIRE FAMILY There are lots of They will be more likely to buy into the concept of local food if you include them. Kids love learning sustainable turkey options. Heritage, pastured, organic, or even stuffed chickens. where their food LESS FUEL IN YOUR FOOD comes from - especially if it is a place nearby they can relate to! American food travels an average of 1,500 to 2,500 miles from farm to table, reports the Worldwatch Institute. WHY YOU SHOULD CHOOSE LOCAL SEASONAL AND ORGANIC GOOD FOR YOUR TASTE BUDS GOOD FOR COMMUNITY Heritage and heirloom varieties of meat and produce typically found on When you buy local, more of the money you spend goes directly back into your community, creating jobs and supporting local business. smaller farms offer more flavor and unique variety. GOOD FOR THE ENVIRONMENT GOOD FOR THE WATER By supporting small, sustainable farms you can help reduce the impact of industrial farming and promote the use of environmentally friendly farming methods. Reducing the amount of miles your food travels also reduces carbon emissions. Nonorganic agricultural activity was identified as a source of pollution for 48% of stream and river water, and for 41% of lake water. GOOD FOR ANIMALS If animal welfare is important to you, or if you have concerns about the environmental impacts of factory farming, knowing where your food comes from can help you choose farms that meet your standards. GOOD FOR FARMERS Farmers are becoming a vanishing breed. It's no surprise, since they receive less than 10 cents of the retail food dollar. Local farmers who sell direct to consumers at farmers markets or through CSAS get full retail price. That's good for farmers, their families, and their way of life. GOOD FOR YOUR HEALTH Fresh produce loses nutrients quickly. Locally grown food, purchased soon after harvest, retains its nutrients. PLAN AHEAD FOR LEFTOVERS SAVE TREES Use your real dishes and silverware Don't forget to plan ahead for the mountain of instead of disposables. If every family in the U.S. bought one less package of paper plates this year we could save leftovers by having reusable containers on hand for you or for your guests to take home. almost half a million trees. THIS IS HOW FAR YOUR PRODUCE WILL TRAVEL This graph compares how many miles, on average, local produce and conventional produce will travel to reach your dinner table. I LOCALLY GROWN PRODUCE I CONVENTIONAL SOURCE 2000 1,846 1,811 1,823 1,759 1,838 1,815 1,726 1,569 1500 1,426 1,313 1,277 1,155 1000 719 -500 311 61 65 20 50 27 20 31 43 35 75 41 36 52 60 MILES O If the population of Plymouth, MA spent the average American Thanksgiving dinner budget of $50 (for a group of ten) on only local food, by some estimates they would invest about $275,000 back into their own community. MONEY FLOW WITHIN A COMMUNITY EATING LOCAL NOT EATING LOCAL THEY DON'T CALL IT TURKEY DAY FOR NOTHING! Though you may have to do a little research, finding a local turkey should be possible in most places. From conventional to organic to free-range, turkeys are grown in almost every state! TURKEY PRODUCTION NUMBER GROWN NONE OR NO DATA 1-8,682,434 8,682,435 - 16,151,754 16,151,755 - 29,164,234 29,164,235 - 60,030,181. *source: Western Illinois University Libraries with data from the U.S. Census Bureau and the Census of Agriculture, 2007 UNITS OF FOSSIL FUEL TO PRODUCE A SINGLE UNIT OF PROTEIN If everyone switched to chicken for Thanksgiving we would save 633,600 barrels of crude oil, which translates into roughly 12,355,200 gallons of gas. TURKEY CHICKEN TIME FOR CLEAN UP Holidays can mean a lot of clean up, leftovers and food scraps. Make sure you are doing all you can with your trash! AMERICA WASTES 40% OF ITS TOTAL FOOD DO NOT CONTRIBUTE TO, THAT 40% • Compost your table scraps to improve local soil quality! • Pack up all leftovers for guests to take or for your family to eat later in the week. • Find and share recipes with your guests on how to reuse the leftovers. THAT'S ENOUGH FOOD TO FEED THE ENTIRE POPULATION OF TEXAS • Use cooking scraps (bones, vegetables, etc.) To make a broth to freeze as an ingredient for a future meal. • Don't overload your plate. We know that's easier said than done, but it's a good strategy for creating less waste and being able to keep your pants buttoned on the way home. OVER THE RIVER AND THROUGH THE WOODS Last year, Americans were expected to spend around $553 million at the gas station to fuel their Thanksgiving trips, but one report says consumers could reduce that bill by over $260 million if they drove cars capable of a fuel economy equivalent to 54.5 MPG. 56% 91% THIS THANKSGIVING 91% OF TRAVEL WILL BE DONE BY CAR AND 56% OF THESE DRIVERS WILL TRAVEL AT LEAST 100 MILES MAXIMIZE YOUR FUEL EFFICIENCY At the very least, maximize your fuel efficiency by making sure your tires are properly inflated, removing unneeded heavy items from your car, observing the speed limit, using cruise control, and practicing ecodriving techniques. GET HIGH-TECH Get high-tech and Skype your family. Have your 100-Mile Thanksgiving at home and join the extended family via Skype! You can have a full conversation with your mom, see how your cqusin's baby has grown, and cut out for dessert and a movie with your friends or spouse! No airport headaches, and far less fuel spent no matter how you cut it. FLYING TO GRANDMA'S HOUSE Last Thanksgiving, it was estimated that 23.2 million air travelers used approximately 129,993,309 gallons of jet fuel. All of these tips can seem overwhelming, so don't feel like you have to use all of them to make a difference this Thanksgiving. Make a local dish or learn some ecodriving techniques for your drive! Sustainability is a practice, and you can start practicing now! HAVE A НАРPY 100-MILE THANKSGIVING SUSTAINABLE - AMERICA - SOURCES: http://www.bts.gov/publications/america_on_the_go/us_holiday_travel/html/entire.html http://www.slate.com/articles/health_and_science/the_green_lantern/2007/11/the_greenest_bird.html http://www.dosomething.org/tipsandtools/have-a-earth-friendly-turkey-day http://www.businessinsider.com/thanksgiving-food-statistics-2011-11?op=D1 http://www.thedailygreen.com/environmental-news/latest/reduce-oil-consumption http://www.thedailygreen.com/environmental-news/latest/reduce-oil-consumption#ixzz2BNqd143F http://www.epicurious.com/articlesguides/howtocook/primers/turkey_shoppingandprep TOMATOES SQUASH SPINACH PUMPKINS POTATOES ONIONS LETTUCE GARLIC SWEET CORN CARROTS CABBAGE BROCCOLI BEANS APPLES