How to Be a Conscious Eater

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EAT LIKE THE PLANET

DEPENDS ON IT

E

very day, about three times a day, each one of us has the

responsibility, and delicious opportunity, to align our

food choices with our personal values. Whether you’ve

always thought of food this way, started recently to think of it

this way, or only as a result of enjoying my lovely voice in this

book have now been persuaded to think of it this way, I can’t

resist being that food writer who reminds you of this important

point. These values might be ones we hold closely, indivisible

from our identities and how we see ourselves. Or these values

might be more aspirational—those we would like to see more

of in the world, and those we wish to embody more as we grow

and age and serve as role models for our kids. Wherever the

values lie on your personal spectrum of reality versus aspira-

tion, this responsibility and opportunity call us to the adage of

“voting with your fork.”

When selecting your next restaurant for a gathering of fam-

ily or friends, date night, or business lunch, or deciding where

to order delivery for your kid’s birthday party, or choosing a

caterer for the bridal shower you’re hosting, try to consider

not merely the place that’s the cheapest or tastiest or health-

iest or most convenient (though those are good reasons), but

also whether that restaurant is doing its part to address the

overwhelming urgency of climate change. To make an envi-

ronmentally conscious decision about which restaurants to

patronize, take the following into account.

St u f f t h at’s made in restaurant kitchens 251

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