23 June 2025

Whew! They are predicting record-breaking heat and humidity this week. Unfortunately, it turns out my central air conditioning does not work (I told the property manager about that a week ago, but that's another story). So we picked up a small portable AC to keep the cats cool. But it got me thinking about the catch-22 situation we have, where the thing designed to provide relief from the heat is simultaneously creating more of it (by virtue of its refrigerants and fossil fuel energy requirements).

I'm not asking you to forgo your air conditioning, of course, but if everyone has their thermostat down at 65 degrees, there may be a power outage and we all lose.

It's a little bit like that with food. When some people have plenty (over 30% wasted!) and others have not enough (it's called food insecurity), we all lose. When I was a child and didn't clean my plate, my dad would say, “people are starving in China."

It turns out, people were starving right here in the US too, although the problem was not as broad as it is now; the incidence of food security has more than doubled in the thirty years since it was first measured.

I always knew we couldn't just ship our leftovers to the starving people in China, but I missed an important point - the inputs. My meal had an impact on the planet. Everything is connected. Individually, we can't control the climate patterns, but collectively, we have tremendous power. So while today's heatwave can't be blamed on hamburgers and hotdogs, we do know that a diet heavy in animal foods contributes to climate change, which means the oceans are getting warmer, which means more humidity rolling in.

And if you think about the fact that swapping out one or two burgers a week could help improve quality of life for a whole bunch of people (maybe not in China, but in some parts of the Southern hemisphere where the most extreme effects of climate change are apparent), it's nowhere near as difficult a decision as the trolley dilemma. Because, on top of mitigating climate impacts, that swap will likely improve your personal health and dietary deliciousness too!

I bet you're looking for some easy ways to keep your kitchen cool (we can't go out to eat every night at those prices!). You're in luck, because I've been thinking about it ever since the heatwave was predicted:

Try proteins that are “chill”.  Just because it's hot, doesn't mean we need to resort to cold cuts. There are plenty of healthful protein sources that don't require cooking, e.g. tofu (check out this excellent recipe for balsamic marinated tofu sandwich from Plantifully Based) or canned beans.

Use the microwave (which cooks with waves, not heat) or Instant Pot (which keeps the heat contained). If I really want to bake something, I like to use my 360 saucepan; it's like a "mini-oven" on my stove, limiting the amount of heat created.

Experiment with raw veggies. I was so excited when I discovered I could grate raw beets into a salad for a splash of color. Most veggies and fruit can be eaten raw, and may even be more nutritious uncooked.

Smoothies, sandwiches and bowls. It's pretty easy to create a balanced and varied meal through any of these methods. Try this healthy cookie dough milkshake,  chickpea of the sea “tuna” filling or reach out to me for my Beautiful Bowls worksheet.

Just.don't.cook. One of my trademark recipes is the Mediterranean No Cook Cous Cous with Loads of Herbs (adapted from Jamie Oliver). I've taught this recipe to seniors with mobility issues, young adults with developmental disabilities, busy moms with active toddlers and empty nesters like me, who don't want to make a fuss over meals. As the narrator reminds us in Ratatouille, “anyone can cook”, especially if it's this! Email me for the recipe.