The Matter of What You Eat

By: Lynn Gannon, Board President

I recently attended an event where Polar explorer and climate advocate Will Steger and Minnesota food writer Beth Dooley teamed up to promote Climate Generation and talk about the importance of carbon-friendly food choices. By making carbon-friendly food choices, individuals can promote environmental health and sustainability and support their local economy, all while having tasty, nutritious food on their plates at mealtime! Listening to Beth Dooley talk, I thought about how grateful I am that my community has Spiral Co-op (not every community is so lucky) and how easy Spiral Co-op makes it for all of us to make carbon-friendly food choices.

Even in the dead of winter, Spiral’s produce department is well stocked with local root vegetables grown by Wisconsin Amish farmers. There are a great many main-dish dinner recipes where rutabagas, turnips, sweet potatoes, yams, and beets are the stars of the show. How does roasted root vegetables tossed with Minnesota wild rice and topped with a fried egg sound? Add a salad made from locally grown lettuces and micro-greens and serving up a delicious locally sourced weeknight dinner really isn’t hard at all. More so than any other store in Hastings, Spiral Co-op’s shelves are stocked with local foods and products. From salsas to soaps and dog treats to dinner rolls, shopping at Spiral supports carbon-friendly food choices and our local economy.