Episode Summary: In this episode, hosts Kristina, Jen, Olabanji, and Leekei, delve into the joys of sustainable eating and the challenge of food preservation in different settings.

The discussion starts with sustainable food practices, highlighting the benefits of farm-to-fridge initiatives and the importance of supporting small, local businesses for fresh produce.

Challenges like the lack of preservatives and the need for frequent shopping due to smaller storage spaces in urban settings like Paris are discussed.

The conversation also covers effective food storage techniques, especially in varying climates, from the cold of Montana to the warmth experienced by Olabanji.

The episode concludes with a discussion on embracing simplicity in food preparation and the broader theme of fearlessness in trying new foods and experiences.

For more information on the project and to order your copy of the Carbon Almanac (one of Amazon best-selling books of the year!), visit thecarbonalmanac.org

Want to join in the conversation?

Visit thecarbonalmanac.org/podcasts and send us a voice message on this episode or any other climate-related ideas and perspectives.

Don’t Take Our Word For It, Look It Up!

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Featuring Carbon Almanac Contributors Leekei Tang, Jenn Swanson, Olabanji Stephen and Kristina Horning.

Leekei is a fashion business founder, a business coach, an international development expert and podcaster from Paris, France.

From Langley in British Columbia, Canada, Jenn is a Minister, Coach, Writer and community Connector, helping people help themselves.

Olabanji is from Lagos Nigeria. He’s a Creative Director and visual designer that helps brands gain clarity, deliver meaningful experiences and build tribes through Design & Strategy. He founded Jorney - a community designed to help people stay productive, accountable, and do their best work.

Kristina has a background in architecture and engineering. Currently in Prague (that it is where she is originally from) and her base is US

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The CarbonSessions Podcast is produced and edited by Leekei Tang, Steve Heatherington and Rob Slater.

Hi, I'm Christina.

2

I'm from Prague.

3

Hi, I'm Jen, and I'm from Canada.

4

Hi, I'm Oladunji, and I'm from Nigeria.

5

Hello, I'm Liki, and I live in Paris.

6

Hi, I'm Brian, and I'm from New York.

7

Welcome to Carbon Sessions.

8

A podcast with Carbon Conversations

for every day with everyone

9

from everywhere in the world.

10

In our conversations, we share ideas,

perspectives, questions, and things we

11

can actually do to make a difference.

12

So don't be shy and join our Carbon

Sessions because it's not too late.

13

Hi, this is Christina.

14

Hi, this is Jen.

15

Hi, this is Olabunji.

16

And hi, this is Leki.

17

And now, Christina, can you share

your good story of the week?

18

I have a good story of the year.

19

Uh, last weekend, I went to Hot Springs,

uh, Boulder Hot Springs in Montana.

20

And for me, what was so positive

is that it was an old Victorian

21

hotel that was supposed to be taken

down because it was falling apart.

22

And a woman bought it in the 80s.

23

And has been rebuilding it and restoring

it for last 30 years into usable and

24

functionable hotel with hot springs.

25

And they heat up their place from

the waters of the hot spring, which

26

is about 140 degrees Fahrenheit.

27

And I felt that's a positive story that

hopeful that not everything is disposable.

28

What do you guys think?

29

I love this idea.

30

I love the fact that

places are not taking down.

31

Uh, I just posted a

picture on Instagram today.

32

I went to the doctor and in the

waiting room, I looked around.

33

It was like, wow, it looks like

Versailles, the palace of Versailles.

34

Because it was, it was like, you know, One

of these old ancient buildings in Paris,

35

but in Paris we don't take down buildings.

36

It, it's not really renovated,

but it looks so stunning.

37

So I thought it was interesting.

38

I really like the idea of

not turning down places.

39

So, what are we talking about today?

40

We discussed that we're going

to talk about food again,

41

but It's always a good topic.

42

Yes.

43

Well, because we eat a

couple of times a day.

44

So I think it's a very,

very important topic.

45

And now this time we're going

to discuss how, um, we get our

46

food and how we preserve it.

47

So where we get our food and how we

keep it in our house to keep it fresh.

48

So, So, So, Maybe I can start.

49

You know that I don't

really like supermarkets.

50

I mean, by now, you know that.

51

And I'm very happy to see that there

are more and more in my neighborhood,

52

those kind of small shops that

sell food from farms around Paris.

53

And I like it because it's Direct.

54

Is it a term like your farm to fridge?

55

I don't know if this is such a term.

56

That sounds like a great term.

57

It's something like that.

58

And farm to table.

59

Yeah.

60

I like the farm to fridge.

61

I think farm to table is for restaurants.

62

But, um, but farm to, farm

to table, farm to fridge.

63

I think this is a.

64

And I like it because

there's no intermediary.

65

And, um, so the food is not

necessarily more expensive.

66

Um, the thing about it as well is that

we need , to keep this small businesses.

67

Alive.

68

So that's, that's a good source

of income for those small farmers.

69

Also, you know, it's, it's

great because we get to connect

70

with the farmers sometimes.

71

So I really, really enjoyed this

kind of small shops that end up

72

popping around in Paris everywhere.

73

Um, so that made me very, very happy.

74

And sometimes they have this, um,

you know, uh, when they have left.

75

Like is it leftovers things that they

haven't sold and now they have some

76

kitchen and so they you can buy the fresh

the fresh food like like cauliflower or

77

Tomatoes, but then when they don't sell

it they have their own kitchen and they

78

cook it and they make it like, you know

jars of food that you can Keep and eat if

79

you don't feel like cooking and it those

are delicious and I love it because , as

80

consumers, we can give direct feedback

to the shop and to the cook to tell,

81

because there's a, there's a dialogue

now like, Oh, how do you define it?

82

Oh, is it so?

83

Oh yeah.

84

Maybe you can add a little bit more,

uh, more onions or this kind of thing.

85

And I really, really love

this, this kind of places.

86

That's great.

87

But one of the problem with this kind of

places is that there's no preservative.

88

In the produce, so you can not

keep it for very, very long time.

89

So you have to buy in small batches and

eat it quite fast or put it in the fridge.

90

, but I live in Paris, so I

don't have a big fridge.

91

So I have to go to those

shops all the time.

92

Yeah.

93

So I think the preservation of the

produces them is a kind of problem.

94

But, um, but it's not really a

problem because that's a way for

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us to always have fresh food.

96

I think it's definitely worth.

97

Checking out some tips on storing food.

98

We can increase the storage life of the

food that we buy Just by a few things

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probably by Keeping them in in different

places, you know, like potatoes for

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example might need some more air They

should be stored in like cool dark places

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And you know tips like that for different

kinds of Food are really helpful.

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So I found I saw a video on YouTube

that also talked about how to store

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tomatoes and some of this other stuff

And it's definitely worth checking

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out, you know, rather than spoiling

food and throwing them away, you

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know, it's fresh food So you want

to make the most of them keep them?

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Okay until you need them.

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So yeah, I think it's worth checking

You know, if you, if you get a bunch of

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groceries or fresh food, you can just

browse on the internet like tips to

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store this for it to last longer, you

find a bunch of stuff that you can do.

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I think Christina, you live in a place

where it's very, very, very cold.

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So food storage is not

a big problem for you.

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Yeah, right now I'm in Montana

and it's minus 30 degrees Celsius.

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And, uh, so.

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If we want to freeze something, we

don't even have to use freezer, but,

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uh, in the winter, in last three years

has been, the winters have been warm.

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This is a first year of, I don't know, I

would have to look at almanacs, but, but

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it's finally has been below 20, minus 20.

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And it will be healthy for the

woods because the destructive.

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Bugs will disappear, but, uh, so

it's, we're happy about, uh, this low

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temperatures and hopefully they'll stay

for a little while, so, uh, the woods

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are healthier, uh, but about the food.

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I love when you were

talking about markets.

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One also thing I love when I am in Prague

and, uh, going to the farmer's markets,

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not only we take, when we buy eggs, we

take, uh, the egg curtains with us, but

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also we'll We bring back the eggshells so

the farmers can reuse it for the chickens.

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So it's kind of a, uh, nice connection and

it feels good that I'm not wasting things.

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And, um, and about preservation in check.

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A lot of people ferment food, so like

sauerkraut and other, uh, vegetables

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fermented and dry meat and those don't

need refrigerations and also they

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don't need very cold temperatures.

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And as Olabanchi was talking about

potatoes and being underground, uh,

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storage, keeping it cooler, um, if the

fermented foods are kept down there,

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they definitely would last at least

half a year, a year without no problem.

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So those were my thoughts about storage.

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And yeah, but it, when it's minus 30,

you really have to watch it if you

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put the soup outside to cool so it

wasn't freezed for a block and not

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being able to get it out of the pot.

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But yeah, it's kind of nice.

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That's nice.

140

Uh, I am in lock cabin and I can see

how amazing is the ability of wood to

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insulate and not, uh, to have condensation

on inside is just what a wonderful

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material in these extreme conditions.

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It's, it's about half

as cold here where I am.

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in Western Canada.

145

And one of my jobs today is every hour

and a half or so is to go out and get

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the hummingbird feeder and put it in

a pan of water and thaw it because the

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little birds are still here because

it's been so mild and they're hungry.

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And if we don't thaw the food every

hour and a half or so they'll starve.

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So we're on hummingbird Feeding.

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Duty.

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Because if you don't take the feeders

down in September, they don't leave.

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And if they don't leave, they need food.

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So you have to commit.

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You have to commit.

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So even if we go, and when it's

this cold, the feeder will freeze

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every, it'll freeze in about.

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40 minutes.

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So we have to take it down.

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And this morning, my husband went

out with the feeder and I heard

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him go, ah, and I said, what?

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I guess a bird had come and was

right in front of his face and went

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telling him to hurry up with the food.

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Anyway, it was pretty funny.

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So they're, they're waiting for

us to get the food ready for them.

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Anyway, it's very cute.

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But, but you know, if you, if

you commit to it, you have to

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commit to it or else they'll die.

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So it's a task.

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Um, but on the topic of food, I

mentioned a little while ago that I

170

had found an app called flash food.

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And, uh, it only works with

certain stores here, but what it

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allows you to do is go on and see

what they're about to throw away.

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It's what they can't sell because

it outdates today or tomorrow,

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and then it goes in the landfill.

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And the way it works is you

can see what they're offering.

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You can purchase it right on your phone

and you have till 11 o'clock at night

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or whenever the store closes to go

and get it or else it gets thrown out.

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But the food is generally half or less.

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The cost of normal food.

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The only problem is that

it's all in plastic.

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. A lot of it, like, it's, it's a

pre-made, you know, family size

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salad that's normally $15 and you

get it for seven or something.

183

Um, but.

184

Yes.

185

But, but, but I kind of make a comment

about this because I thought that plastic

186

is not good for food and I've, \ , I've

always been like you against plastic

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and food, but then what if, if you think

of plastic as a way to preserve food,

188

to keep the food in good conditions,

then the food doesn't go to waste.

189

So, you know, another way of looking at

it, it's make the plastic wrapping the,

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the food not so evil, because it's a

way , to help reduce food waste, you know?

191

Well, and it would just go in the

landfill with the food, right?

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Because they don't take

everything out of the pack, they

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would just have thrown it out.

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Yeah, well, it's not how

it's supposed to work.

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I know.

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So, so when we buy it, at least my

thinking is at least I'm saving the

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food and then recycling the plastic.

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So, you know, but there's,

there's fish, there's meat,

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there's, uh, bags of produce.

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Um, you can get a whole big heavy bag of.

201

produce, lemons, limes, uh, you know,

uh, pomegranates, all sorts of things for

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5 that they're just going to throw out.

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I was happy to notice when I was

there the other day picking up

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some things that there was a little

lineup of people picking up things.

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And I was happy to notice that

that much food is being saved

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from just being thrown out.

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So So that was fun.

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And then a third thing, real quick,

is that I came home the other day and

209

our daughter had been doing something

with Parmesan cheese and she works

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in a restaurant and she took the

rind after she had grated the cheese.

211

There was the rind left that

normally you just throw out.

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Well, apparently in their restaurant,

they make something with that.

213

So she made something with it and you

could eat it and it was really crunchy

214

and delicious and I started looking

on Instagram and I found a few things

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about how to use up your little bits

that you normally wouldn't eat like

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orange peels can whiten your teeth

and they can clean stainless steel

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and like all sorts of things, right?

218

So there's many things we can

do with this stuff that we

219

probably don't take advantage of.

220

Anyway.

221

So I have a question for Olap Anji.

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You are on the opposite

side of the weather.

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For you it's hot.

224

How do you store the food or

how do you deal with the food

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because I don't have a clue.

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Yeah.

227

Um, mostly the fridge.

228

Yeah.

229

For the most part of it, it's the fridge.

230

Um, the grains and things that can stay

out of the fridge do stay out of the

231

fridge, but if it's going to get bad

quickly, then it's usually the fridge.

232

Do people buy a lot of dry meat or

dry fruit or something or just fresh?

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It's, it's usually fresh.

234

Um, so where Yeah.

235

lucky to be close to the

farms or the farmers, right?

236

So they're, they're like farmers market,

very small farmers market around.

237

So if I step out of the

house, I'd like 9, 10 a.

238

m.

239

in the morning, I could get fresh

oranges, fresh fruits, pineapples,

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watermelons, and the rest of them.

241

Um, yeah, usually you can get fresh food.

242

Mostly anytime you go out, you would

most likely get fresh food, um, bananas.

243

There's fresh bananas like,

what, 30, 40 feet away from me.

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If I step out of my house right

now, I'll just walk like a few

245

steps and I'll see fresh bananas.

246

Oh, that's amazing.

247

Can I share a little story?

248

I lived in, not in your part of

the world, but I lived In the

249

country, the climate should be

similar to where you are right now.

250

And I love ice creams.

251

And I have developed a skill

related to ice cream because I love

252

ice cream and eating ice cream.

253

And I realized that when you

eat ice cream outside where you

254

normally do it, when it's very,

very hot, it melts very, very fast.

255

So I've developed a skill which is like.

256

It's to lick the ice cream very, very

fast so it doesn't go all over my hands.

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That's all over my fingers.

258

That's a skill I have developed and it's

really, really, really, really useful when

259

you live in a very, very hot country.

260

That's a lifesaver.

261

That's interesting.

262

That's really interesting.

263

You don't have this problem?

264

You don't look like ice cream, do you?

265

Yes.

266

I, I guess , you know, you say

it's interesting, it's probably

267

You don't like ice cream.

268

Oh, I do.

269

I actually do . Yeah.

270

Strella, ama, rhino vanilla.

271

Um, I, I've got a few flavors up there.

272

I love ice cream.

273

. I'm not a, I wouldn't say I love, love

ice cream, but yeah, I can be a fan.

274

So you're not like me.

275

You're, you don't eat an ice cream

every other day, . No, I'm not.

276

I'm not a heavy eater.

277

. Yeah.

278

I've got someone who's a heavy eater.

279

Every time I've had ice

cream, it was because of her.

280

She just drags me to go

get ice cream all the time.

281

It sounds like when we talk about

food, it goes from food to community.

282

and how to connect with people.

283

And, um, I think that's the pleasure

of, uh, being around food, connecting

284

with people who eat it and connecting

with people who will grow it for us.

285

Yeah.

286

And Hopefully that, that joy will overcome

the supermarket prices and it will

287

shift into markets and, and fermentation

and drying and storing things.

288

I was playing with a thought earlier today

while I was writing, and the thought was

289

that humanity is a community in itself.

290

And it's good to be talking about

this right now because food is

291

actually one of the things that

brings us together as a community.

292

So we all eat, everybody eats.

293

You can do intermittent fasting

and all the kinds of fasting, but

294

you eat at the end of the day.

295

So this is, this is a great conversation.

296

Even hummingbirds.

297

Yeah.

298

Even the hummingbirds eat.

299

Everyone eats.

300

Even hummingbirds.

301

I love hummingbirds.

302

I do too.

303

I was putting my garden beds to bed,

um, putting some straw on top of

304

them and, and feeling a little bit

sad because we're, we're moving.

305

And, um, And I didn't plant garlic this

year for the first time in years, you

306

planted in the fall in October and,

uh, and harvested in July and yeah, the

307

first year this little bed was empty.

308

It's kind of like, Oh yeah.

309

So we'll have to see where we're at in

the next place to be able to grow food.

310

And, uh, this year I'm.

311

planning to have an hydroponic

plant in my kitchen.

312

This is, uh, because you talked about

this and someone else talked about this.

313

And so, so this is a project.

314

It's not a big thing.

315

It's, uh, it's, um, I probably have

some basil leaves and, uh, and some

316

chives because I like those herbs.

317

Um, but it's, uh, it's a project and,

uh, I don't have a garden, but I can

318

understand your joy and your sadness,

of growing or of not growing food

319

because it's exciting to see things.

320

It's it's kind of miracle, I think it is.

321

And there's a couple things I thought.

322

Oh, I'm taking that with me.

323

I planted a little bush this fall.

324

Um, uh, and I thought,

Oh, that's going to come.

325

Yeah.

326

There's certain things I'm going to

dig up and bring, bring the strawberry

327

plant, bring the rosemary bush.

328

Oh.

329

Yeah.

330

Yeah.

331

Some of them are in pots.

332

So it's easy.

333

We just take the pot.

334

Um, if the next people aren't

gardeners, I don't want to leave

335

things that'll get thrown out.

336

Right.

337

So are you moving very far away?

338

Uh, we're moving about a half an

hour drive away across a river,

339

so not far, but closer to my work,

so I don't have to drive as far.

340

Do you like the new space?

341

I have, we haven't got one yet.

342

It's one of those things where you

have to sell your house and hope to

343

goodness there's one that'll work.

344

So right now it's All about deciding

what things we need and what we

345

don't need anymore and decluttering

and getting rid of things.

346

And the whole theme is

simplicity and doing with less.

347

That's my theme for the year.

348

That's beautiful.

349

Yeah, that's my theme of cooking this year

because I'm fed up with cleaning too much.

350

So my, my theme for cooking

this year is simplicity.

351

Nice.

352

And how will that look?

353

Um, a lot of steaming, , , not so

much of frying, uh, a lot of baking.

354

Things that doesn't, you know,

that doesn't, um, involves,

355

.

Things splashing everywhere.

356

, very simple recipes.

357

So like getting very, very good

The basis must be very good.

358

So very good, , vegetable, very good

fish or meat and lots of, spices and,

359

um, minimum cooking and, um, minimum

preparation because I'm fed up with

360

very complicated recipes that requires.

361

Hours of preparation and hours

of cleaning for only half an hour

362

of food, so that's not worth it.

363

But it's fun.

364

Yeah, yes, yes.

365

But I value my time.

366

I like the simplicity theme for the year.

367

I'm gonna try to keep my

refrigerator more empty.

368

Not overflowing.

369

Oh, yeah, that is something that makes you

very happy when I see my, my fridge empty.

370

That's that's something that

makes me very, very happy.

371

So what's the theme of the year,

Labanji, when it's related to food?

372

I don't have a food

related thing for the year.

373

Mine is, I only have a general

theme, and it's fearlessness.

374

Yeah.

375

Fearless.

376

Fearlessness.

377

That means that you're going to

try out a lot of different foods.

378

Well, yeah.

379

That, that'll be it.

380

That'll be it.

381

Yeah.

382

Happy to try a lot of

different foods, actually.

383

New adventures.

384

Well, I hope everyone has a snack

after they listen to this episode,

385

a healthy snack, a simple snack.

386

That would be a great way

to celebrate the episode.

387

Like, Oh yeah, I just finished

listening to an episode on food

388

so might as well grab some.

389

Or try out fermenting

something after their lesson.

390

That's right.

391

Yeah.

392

I'll go do some research on how you can

preserve your food for, to last longer.

393

Okay.

394

Bye.

395

Bye.

396

Bye.

397

Thanks, everyone.

398

Bye.

399

Have a good week.

400

Yeah.

401

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Sessions, a podcast with carbon

402

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403

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404

So you too can share your

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405

This is a great way for our community

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406

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