Preparing Healthy Holiday Food

Here are some tips from the Environmental Working Group on how you can prepare your delicious holiday meals with your family's environmental health in mind. Just follow these simple tips as you shop, cook and eat together:

• Choose food low in added chemicals and pollutants 
• Use non-toxic cookware
• Store and reheat leftovers safely

CHOOSE FOOD LOW IN ADDED CHEMICALS AND POLLUTANTS

Food can contain ingredients we don't want to eat - from pesticides to hormones to artificial additives to food packaging chemicals. 

Some simple tips to cut the chemicals:

• Buy organic when you can (and can afford) – even if you can’t afford the ‘expensive’ organic food at the supermarket try getting your fruit and vege at farmers markets etc. Organic produce is grown without synthetic pesticides (I prefer my dinner without, thanks!). Organic meat and dairy products also limit your family's exposure to growth hormones and antibiotics.
• Cook with fresh foods, not packaged and canned, whenever you can. Food containers can leach packaging chemicals into food, including food can linings that leach the synthetic estrogen bisphenol A into food. Instead, head for fresh food or prepared foods in glass containers. Pick recipes that call for fresh, not canned, foods.

USE NON-TOXIC COOKWARE

Using a great pan makes a huge difference when I cook. I skip the non-stick so that my kids (and our new puppy) don't have to breathe toxic fumes that can off-gas from non-stick pans on high heat. For safer cooking, we suggest cast iron, stainless steel and oven-safe glass. Yes, there are many new products on the market, but most companies won't tell you exactly what they are. Even if they're advertised as "green" or "not non-stick," manufacturers do not have to release their safety data to the public.

Cook safer with non-stick if you're 'stuck' with it. You can reduce the possibility of toxic fumes by cooking smart with any non-stick cookware you happen to own: never heat an empty pan, especially at high heat, don't put it in an oven hotter than 260 degrees celcius, and use an exhaust fan over the stove.

STORE AND REHEAT LEFTOVERS SAFELY

Leftovers can extend the joy of a holiday - by giving you a break from the kitchen! But be sure to avoid plastic when storing and (especially) when heating them. Here's why, and how:

• Skip the plastic food storage containers if you can. The chemical additives in plastic can migrate into food and liquids. Ceramic or glass food containers (like Pyrex) are safer.
• Don't microwave food or drinks in plastic containers, even if they claim to be "microwave safe." Heat can release chemicals into your food and drink. Microwaves heat unevenly, creating hot spots where the plastic is more likely to break down.
• If you do use a plastic container you already own, handle it carefully. Use it for cool liquids only; wash plastics on the top rack of the dishwasher, farther from the heating element (or by hand!); use a paper towel instead of plastic wrap to cover food in the microwave. Also, avoid single-use plastic whenever you can - reusing it isn't safe (it can harbor bacteria), and tossing it fills up landfills (and pollutes the environment).

Happy eating!