We strive to live out lives in a pretty “green” manner. We are always looking to others for ideas, suggestions and inspiration. This year we decided to make some Green New Year’s Resolutions. We are focusing on THREE pretty major steps. I’m very interested in support from others to help us reach and maintain our committment to each step we are taking. We are looking to be greener for our children’s health as well as our own, lower our impact on Mother Earth by reducing possible exposure to chemicals, and cut down on our consumption and thus waste.
Goal #1: Avoid all canned food. I put this one first because it will be the easiest transition for us. We hardly use anything from a can. Our primary reason for avoiding cans is because we believe fresh is best! The second very important reason is because metal cans contain BPA, (Bisphenol A). BPA is a harmful chemical used in the lining of metal cans to preserve the contents. (It is also found in hard plastics). We shutter to think of a toxin leaching into OUR food, let alone our children’s ! BPA leaching becomes more of a problem when heat is involved and since heat is used in the canning process, you know BPA is present in your canned goods, NO THANK YOU!
and Although, aluminum is easy to recycle, I think cutting down the cans will help us help us consume less and will reduce our overall waste.
Canned foods that will need replacing:
1. Organic tomatoes-Since BPA is more likely to be present with fatty (i.e. tuna) or acidic foods,(i.e. tomatoes) tomatoes are the first to go. This year we grew our own organic tomatoes but didn’t learn how to “can” some so that we could have them all year long. So my goal is two part, learn to preserve what we do grow and find fresh alternatives to canned tomatoes. Muir Glen claims to have BPA free cans, but when I contacted them, they said their goal is to implement methods that would alleviate the need for BPA in the cans. They said some of their cans still contain BPA as the BPA free campaign is just underway. The cans that are BPA free will indicate such. I did find tetra pack tomatoes by POMI but they are not organic. I’m conflicted on this one. Do I go for the organic tomatoes? or with non-organic but BPA free? whew! Now I know where the term Green Fatigue comes from!
2. Organic Beans-easier than tomatoes by far! We eat a lot of beans! Black, cannellini (white kidney beans), lentil, kidney, garbanzo, you name it! I found organic, dry beans at the local health food store. I love to support our local businesses and I want to avoid BPA, so win:win on this one. The price is higher, but as my friend at the local greenhouse says, “Pay now, pay later.” Plus I can bring my own glass jar and fill it up. NO cans, no plastic, no waste!
I was also taught that cooked, dried beans can be frozen for up to six months! I am using my forever favorite Joy of Cooking to help with cleaning, cooking and storing tips.
Any tips ? I’d love to hear from you!
Click back tomorrow to learn more about our Green resolutions!
I have the same dilema with the tomatoes. When we make chili we need both the tomatoes and the beans. We get the dry beans like you. For the tomatoes if we’re not able to do fresh we get the POMI. For some reason even though they’re not organic I prefer them because I can’t get over the BPA thing. I have seen cans of beans that are BPA-free but I wonder how good the BPA substitute is so I’m more than happy with the dry beans. I wonder if we all wrote to POMI if they’d start offering organic tomatoes, or if the organic companies would start offering tetra packs. That would be great!
Thanks Victoria.
i agree, i decided to use the POMI over the orgo canned. I would totally write to them. Im going to see if they have a “page” first and go from there! I also heard that trader joe’s was planning on carrying tetra packs…
making chili today ha ha! i havent checked whole foods as it is not that close to me, but I wonder if they have orgo tetra packs, my local store did not.
thanks for stopping by!
Dave made sauce last year and put it in glass jars and froze it….could be an alternative till you find some BPA free cans! Glass is great because you can see inside!
I love glass! (i did make the mistake of freezing very thin glass and found a shattered glass mess inside my freezer!) not good!
Dave got Ball glass jars from AC Moore…froze fine! Happy Freezing!
I love those kind! i now i know I can use my 50% off coupon! thank you!
The “glass jarring” has been going well……We have made a lot of vodka sauce and it is frozen in glass. We have also frozen the butternut squash soup. I have found some other jars and use them in the fridge. Also, on the diet side of these recipes, the hubby has used skim mild instead of heavy cream in the sauce and in the soup….you absolutely cant tell the difference. You can really cut down on waste as well as fat and sodium by making your own! Happy jarring!