Make This Year's Cookout a Green One

With 10% to 30% of greenhouse gas emissions coming from food, why not make this year’s Fourth of July cookout a green opportunity? In the New York Times, Brian Palmer offers some tips:

• Don’t boil your potatoes—cube and pan-fry them. That method takes less than a third of the energy, requires just 10 minutes to cook, and often tastes better.

• Try to avoid beef: It’s “an environmental disaster.” But if you can’t help yourself, cook with charcoal briquettes. “Made from scrap wood that would otherwise go to waste,” they do less damage to the planet than propane or lump charcoal.
• As for dessert, 'skip the pie:' Baking has huge energy requirements. Instead, turn again to the briquettes you used for dinner, and “use that leftover charcoal glow to grill up dessert.” Try grilled apples, pears, or even a cobbler.

(More Fourth of July stories.)