Green dining

How can you eat sustainably while dining in Kingston? There some things to consider whether at home or at a restaurant.  Even if you are at a food joint that is not explicitly environmentally friendly, you can still make greener choices!  Consider these factors when choosing a restaurant and when choosing your meal.

What to eat

·         Choose local foods – the energy used and carbon dioxide emitted through transporting foods is significant.  By choosing local foods you can reduce this pollution and waste and get fresher food in the bargain!  Queen’s MSC student Sunny Lam recently studied 58 different food products and determined that obtaining them locally could reduce greenhouse gasses by around 21 000  tonnes annually!  That’s the equivalent of taking more than 6500 cars off the road.

·         Eat seasonal foods – this ensures that you chose local foods. Because seasonal foods grown naturally at that time of the year your food is fresher and requires less mechanical and chemical inputs.

·         Reduce the meat in your diet – whether you choose to do so for social reasons, ethical reasons, environmental reasons, or health reasons, this is a large step.  Besides the fertiliser, pesticides, and irrigation water used to produce grain, it then takes about 7 kg of grain to put on 1 kg of weight on cattle, not all of which then becomes edible meat.  Choosing a low-meat diet uses 41% less energy, generates 37% less greenhouse gases, and 50% less SO₂ equivalents (which cause respiratory problems and acid rain)!

·         Choose sustainably produced fish – many of the world’s fisheries are in danger of collapse or have collapsed from unsustainable fishing.  A few better choices are calamari, farmed tilapia, or wild Alaskan salmon, while poor choices include Atlantic halibut, cod and haddock, shark, or tiger prawns.  See http://www.eartheasy.com/eat_sustainable_seafoods.htm for more details.

·         Choose fairly traded, organic, shade-grown coffee and shade-grown coffee. Fair trade ensures the farmers are getting a proper wage. Organic ensures specific growing standards, and shade-grown coffee is grown where there are trees that provide habitats for birds.

When ordering

·         Ask your waiter/waitress about environmentally friendly options at their restaurant.  Many restaurants are proud to offer them and your inquiry will show them that green eating is important to their customers.

·         Reduce portion size – you can share a meal with a friend or many restaurants will serve you a half-portion.  This can help reduce wasted food you can’t eat.

·         Choose to eat in instead of getting take-out if you can.  Many restaurants have washable and reusable tableware for dining in, which reduces waste.

Take-out or ordering in

·         Request at the counter or on the phone line that they do not load your bag up with condiments and napkins.  Save those you don’t use for later rather than throwing them out.

·         Make sure to recycle containers that take-out food comes in and to choose foods that are less-packaged.  Remember that Styrofoam is recyclable in Kingston!

·         Reduce the amount of packaging you bring with you – do you really need to have your wrapped-up bagel also in a bag?

·         Best yet bring your own reusable container wherever possible!

Where to eat restaurant

·         Choose somewhere in walking distance. There’s no reason to drive or cab it when there are so many delicious options nearby!

·         Luke’s on Princess Street offers a delicious menu of seasonal local foods – a great place for an intimate evening.

·         The Sleepless Goat offers delicious fairly traded coffee, organic, and vegan options.

·         Pan Chancho makes significant efforts to use organic eggs, meats, produce, and baking supplies, and sources much of its food from local farmers.

·         The Brew Pub brews their own delicious drinks right here in Kingston!

• Lotus-Heart-Blossoms – Delicious vegetarian and vegan dishes:  185 Sydenham St. (just off Princess)