Ethical Eating Made Simple with

Environnementon’s P’tit Bio Basket

By Angela Saab Saade, Staff Writer

Ethical Eating Made Simple with Environnementon’s P’tit Bio Basket

Butternut squash, carrots, tomatoes, potatoes, leeks, lettuce, endives, onions, avocado, kiwi, apples, pears, oranges and bananas — you may be thinking, “what a bland set of crops,” or, “what a phenomenal combination of delicious ingredients.” Once I read what I had written, I thought, “this could be a children’s song.” Unlike what the picture below may insinuate, the presented list is not just a bunch of fruits and vegetables in a basket. Each of these items may be transformed into a delicious meal rich in flavors, colors, vitamins and biotics, either combined with the right ingredients or prepared individually to yield positively surprising outcomes. This article will demonstrate how I used my P’tit Bio basket. More importantly, we will explore — in tandem with Environnementon’s “Veganuary” initiative — the environmental impact of different diets.

The P’tit Bio Basket is Environnementon’s way of providing you with the necessary resources to facilitate your preparation of more ethical and eco-friendly plant-based meals. Sold at eight euros, while the original purchase is priced two euros more from P’tit Bio in Menton, the basket is extremely cost-efficient. The co-president of Environnementon, Esther Boulekouane, affirms the aim of this discount is “to offer the student body a cheap option to have this sound and plant-based alimentation.” Fifteen baskets are sold every two weeks. I certainly encourage you to try it out; my two roommates and I have bought it twice this semester and would have purchased it more often had we had the chance! Kindly note this is not an ad; I am not even part of the association, but I am fond of great deals, yummy food and noble mission. Perhaps the easiest and most convenient meal during this cold weather is vegetable soup. My roommates and I collectively chopped some onions, carrots, potatoes and leeks. It took us no more than ten minutes to chop them all up and place them in hot water with two vegetable broth cubes, olive oil and spices to taste. We also dropped in lentils as a protein source. Alternatively, you may choose to add tofu, chickpeas or beans. About thirty minutes later, we ate the soup alongside a baguette, which was the perfect way to end the long and tiring cold day. With the lettuce and endives, I made a delicious side salad for my baked potatoes, topped with balsamic dressing, olive oil and salt. I also ate the lettuce and avocado on toast with zaatar, a delicious Levantine dried-herb mix. As for the half butternut squash, I tried it for the first time this year. However, when I devoured what my roommates had cut up in cubes, baked in the oven with some olive oil and salt and tossed into our communal salad of baked vegetables and tofu, I instantly noticed my culinary world expanding. I can attest that I have disregarded a superb vegetable for the first nineteen years of my life — I hope you have not been missing out too. Lastly, the fruits of the basket were eaten as snacks, alone or with peanut butter (which, by the way, appears to be sold at a great deal at Menton’s Asian Store!)

There are countless ways you could choose to eat the fruits and vegetables from your P’tit Bio Basket. Regardless, they emit far fewer carbon emissions than animal-based products, especially meat. As a reference, the Carbon Food Calculator estimates that one kilogram of meat produced in the region of the European Union emits 24.13 kilograms of CO2 emissions. On the other hand, one kilogram of squash emits 4.1 kilograms of CO2, one kilogram of tomatoes emits 3.36 kilograms of CO2, and all other vegetables and fruits included in the P’tit Bio Basket emit under 1.3 kilograms of CO2 emissions per kilogram. Figures for the impact of daily versus weekly meat consumption and other protein sources have been presented in the images below as a general overview. To better understand the impact of your consumption, you may refer to the Harvard Foodprint Calculator, the BBC Calculator or others. Furthermore, on its Instagram page, Environnementon has shared various recipes that may ease your transition to a more sustain- able lifestyle. Some other resources that may be of relevance are itsvegansis, veganiina, dr.vegan, _sunchef, fitgreenmind and thecheftomy. Pick and choose!

While this article sheds light on the impact of each consumption on the ecosystem that we so vitally need to survive as a human species and as a planet, it is by no means claiming that these individual steps will solve the worldwide dilemma of the unethical, environmentally degrading animal-based industry. The need for greater initiatives is undeniable, but it does not mean we must remove all responsibility from ourselves. Indeed, as the saying goes, ignorance is bliss. Still, in this day and age, ignorance is no longer an excuse, especially being educated citizens of the world. We must all take the initiative if we have the means, individually, within our communities and global institutions. It is not a chronological process, where one starts small and ends big, but rather a combination of changes in individual lifestyle habits and entrenched communal norms. There is no point in beating yourself up if you enjoy eating meat or other animal-based products; we have been accustomed to such habits from a very young age. Rather than unrealistically attempting to cut off all animal-based food, you may try to reduce consumption instead. As Boulekouane expressed well, “It is really simple to tell someone to go vegan/vegetarian (and make them conscious of their environmental footprints), but it is way better to provide tools for the transition and to show people that being vegan is not dull, nor annoying.” I hope this article has done precisely that.