March 29, 2023

Notes by Krish Chander

Review and Introduction

As usual, Suman Ji led the opening prayers, but the class was completely different from there. Suman Ji explained that this class would be about sustainable eating. He illustrated how one of the ways to take care of ourselves, others, and mother earth was to eat sustainably, and there would be a guest speaker to talk about the matter. He briefly introduced Sapna Akka; he described her as a good cook, a former Bala Vihar student, and now a teacher. 

Lesson

Sapna Akka asked us all to think of a particular day, and what food we would eat on that day, and label our foods on a chart that she showed us. This is something like it:

Sapna Akka then asked us what number of our foods came in a package, how many were in their natural original form, and if any were sourced locally. 

Next, Sapna Akka asked the question of what does it mean to eat sustainably? She talked about how food production produces 26% of greenhouse gases. The emissions are released when food is bagged, processed, and shipped long distances.

Sapna Akka asked us how we could help lower these emitted greenhouse gasses. She stated that to reduce bags we could use reusable bags at the grocery store, and we could also buy big backs of snacks and put them in reusable containers instead of buying the tiny packages. To reduce processed food (food altered in some way during preparation), we should eat more things in their original form. The non-processed food requires less energy to produce and is often healthier. As scary as it may seem, our food often travels hundreds of miles just to get on our plates, thereby releasing emissions while traveling. To reduce food miles, we should read the labels on food to see if it is locally grown or not. Or you could go to your local farmers market and buy fresh produce there. She then pasted this link in the chat: https://www.seasonalfoodguide.org/. She said to select our state and the month. The website then provided us with a list of all the fruits and vegetables grown freshly in our area.

Quiz…Sort of

After sharing the website, Sapna Akka asked us a few multiple-choice questions.

Which of the following is not the worst choice?

Correct answers: A-In original form, unpackaged, 

B-In original form, unpackaged, 

C- Not packaged in an un-reusable bag

Which of the following is not the worst choice?

Correct answers: A-In original form, unpackaged, C- Lots of Indian food is good for you and contain vegetables that were in their original form before cooking, D- Vegetables in the sandwich are in original form, unpackaged.

Sapna Akka ended with a guessing game. How far did a head of lettuce travel to her home in Massachusetts if it started in California? The answer is 3100 miles! Another reason to buy local!

Closing

Suman Ji thanks Sapna Akka and encourages us to think about how we can help the food waste problem. Though that wasn’t officially the RAW, it’s a good filler RAW.