Being a chef does not change the fact that you need to be environmentally involved. You need to be aware of the top environmental issues concerning you and you need to adopt various measures in order to respond to these problems. You can do something. In fact, you can do a lot. After all, you are the head of the kitchen. You can start your environmental programs inside your own kitchen.
Preserving the environment is very important. It doesn’t matter where you look at it. You need to adopt ecological principles and teach them to others. There is a huge difference that you can make. This primer basically covers the top environmental issues that you need to address as a chef.
Chemicals
Machines have made it extremely convenient for people to go about their daily activities. In fact, the kitchen has also benefited greatly from them. Unfortunately, chemicals have also been introduced together with these machines. There are more than 70,000 harmful chemicals out there and these pose a threat to lives and health. These chemicals are actually one of the top environmental issues that concern everyone these days. These harmful chemicals cause diseases like asthma and cancer. Unfortunately, they can be found everywhere! Even your kitchen cleaning products have harmful chemicals in them.
To combat the threats brought about by these harmful chemicals, you should consider using natural cleaning products without dangerous toxins. You should also make sure that you are using kitchen tools and dishware that are free from toxic chemicals.
Waste Products
Your kitchen creates waste products like leftover foods, plastic, papers, glasses, metals and more. Most of your garbage goes to landfills. If you don’t recycle and you don’t segregate your trash properly, these things get dumped on top of one another. Over time, segregating recyclable and biodegradable materials from those that are not would be difficult. This creates huge sloppy mess that creates nasty effects on the environment. Landfills are major producers of carbon dioxide and methane which are dangerous greenhouse gasses. You probably know that these gasses are probably one of the top environmental issues these days.
If you would like to do your own part in solving this problem, you need to get serious about recycling products. You also have to make sure that you purchase recyclable products. In fact, you should insist on this.
Chlorine
The garbage that is not thrown in landfills is often incinerated. Many of these incinerated materials are chlorinated paper products. Unfortunately, the burning of chlorinated materials basically results to an even more dangerous chemical which is referred to as dioxin.
In order to avoid contributing to the production of dioxins, you should make sure that you purchase paper products that are not chlorinated. Many kitchens purchase paper towels, so you should make sure that you are using non-chlorinated towels. In fact, why don’t you avoid purchasing these kinds of towels altogether. You should opt for cloth towels instead. These are more environmentally friendly.
Food
The existence of food products that are loaded with pesticides and chemicals is one of the top environmental issues that you need to address. This should be one of your major concerns. Many food products that are found in grocery stores or supermarkets are often genetically modified. Many meat products contain steroids, antibiotics and other chemicals. Unfortunately, although many food products contain these toxic materials, these additives are not often revealed in labels or packaging. As a result, many people suffer from various health risks arising from long-term consumption of these toxic foods.
As a chef, it is your responsibility to ensure that you provide your customers with healthy and nutritious meals. You can do this by purchasing organic food products. When purchasing these products, however, it is important that you buy organic food products locally. You will certainly help in reducing gas emissions resulting from the transport of organic products if you purchase locally-produced items.
Petroleum and Carbon Dioxide
The Greenhouse Effect is taking its toll and people are finally noticing. Unfortunately, you cannot patch the gaping hole in the Ozone layer. However, there are many things that you can do in order to reduce your ecological footprint. In fact, there are some things that you can do in the kitchen in order to reduce your petroleum or gas consumption. You can turn off the lights when you don’t need them. You can choose to use the air conditioner or the electric heater sparingly. You can choose not to pre-heat the oven. Doing all these little things will certainly help reduce your own environmental footprints.
These are some of the top environmental issues that concern people these days. As a chef, these things affect you. However, you can certainly adopt measures in order to do your part in resolving these problems.
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