Prepare an Earth Friendly Meal

Earth Day is on April 22nd, and Mommy Labs and Greening Sam and Avery are hosting an Earth Day Celebrations Blog Hop.  The hosts along with many other bloggers will be sharing ways we can celebrate Earth Day with our kids.

I created an Earth friendly meal to show a way that Earth Day could be celebrated with our kids.  Food is one of the first things that comes to my mind when I think of celebrations, but so often the food we consume is not produced with the Earth's well being in mind.  Our family tries to incorporate environmentally healthy choices for food, but time and money can get in the way of making a greener choice. 

While we aren't always able to eat in an environmentally responsible manner, I wanted to make a commitment to celebrating Earth Day with an Earth friendly meal.  I shared with my daughter an alternate way of preparing a meal using green practices.  There may be ways that could have made this meal even greener, but this is an improvement over many meals my family eats.  By making small steps towards better choices, we can help keep our Earth healthy.

How to Create an Earth Friendly Meal

Grow Your Own Food

I don't have much of a green thumb. Most of my attempts at gardening are failures, but some produce is really easy to grow like mint.  We prepared mint, iced tea harvested from our garden for our meal.

Shop at a Farmer's Market

Food at a farmer's market is locally grown and produced so less fuel is wasted in transportation.  Organic  food is often abundant at these markets.  We bought pasta, chicken sausages, celery, carrots, and cheese spread for our celebration.

Pick Your Own Food at a Farm

We went to a strawberry farm to pick strawberries.  This allows children to experience the source of our food and the work that goes into harvesting.  I made strawberry preserves for our dinner.

Reduce the Use of Packaged Foods

Packaged foods use a lot of the Earth's resources for the production of bags, boxes, and the printed labels.  We try to limit the consumption of packaged food and eat more whole foods for this reason.  At times, I will make my own bread.  I wasn't keen on making my own bread until I discovered the book, Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day.  We baked two loaves of bread for our meal.

Buy Food in Season

We joined a Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) group to buy local and seasonal produce.  These programs are affiliated with a local farm or farms, and you subscribe to purchasing a box of produce each week or every other week.  Choice is limited because it depends on which vegetables are growing in the season. I like it because it encourages us to eat vegetables I would normally avoid.  With a quick internet search, I found this tasty brussel sprouts greens recipe for our meal.  I chose a recipe using only the ingredients and spices already in my pantry which is another way to be green.

Set the Table with Cloth Napkins

We use cloth napkins on a daily basis, but for this special occasion we created batik painted napkins.  We mostly clean with cloth rags too.

Decorate the Table with Trimmings from Your Garden

A flowering shrub in our yard needed pruning, and I used those cuttings for a simple arrangement for the table.


Admittedly, this meal required a lot more time and money than our normal meals, but it felt right to honor the abundance of our Earth with a meal showing our gratitude for it by respecting and being mindful of the Earth's well being.  
What steps do you think you can take to making your meals more Earth friendly?  How does your family respect the Earth with your meal choices?  
I am so excited to see how my dear blogging friends have been celebrating Earth Day.  Follow the links below to discover inspiring Earth Day ideas.  
Hosts: Mommy Labs, Greening Sam and Avery

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If you have blogged about Earth Day with your kids, please share your idea in the linky party below.
This post has been share at the Weekly Kids Co-Op.