September 16, 2009: This week’s featured fruits and vegetables are: green cabbage, apples, Delicata winter squash, beans, onions, white potatoes, and corn.

Recipes:

Delicata squash – what a pleasure! I love it when these colorful, mild-tasting winter squashes make an appearance in the CSA box. Try them in this delicious Roasted Delicata Squash Salad – though I suggest making only half a recipe, because it makes up big! Also, since I still have leftover rosemary from a few weeks ago, I’ll probably make some Delicata Squash with Rosemary, Sage, and Cider Glaze, which is also quite tasty.

For more ideas, check out his list of Delicata Squash Tips and Recipes.

Food For Thought:

For anyone who winces at the thought of climate change and wonders, well, what can I do about it – here are some ideas.

First, those who haven’t already done so can measure their “carbon footprint,” an estimate of the total amount of greenhouse gasses an individual or household creates with their lifestyle choices. The Nature Conservancy has a calculator for individuals or households, and Carbon Footprint Ltd. has calculators for domestic households or businesses. Each takes different factors into account, so using both calculators is itself an education!

After completing the calculations, each site has some suggestions for reducing a carbon footprint – and I also found that seeing how the calculations are made can suggest some next steps. For example, the questions about diet first inspired me to plan at least one meatless meal a week, and as I began to enjoy the vegetarian options, that one meal a week has become several.

Green American, Green America’s journal on sustainability, also has some suggestions on making households more energy efficient – a green step that will save money right away! (After reading the Level One ideas, remember to go to the bottom of the page and click through to Levels Two and Three too!)

To mitigate the remaining impact, people can purchase “carbon offsets,” which are investments in projects that reduce carbon emissions, like clean energy or reforestation. Green American has a new article on which offsets to choose and which are better avoided.

When I began working on reducing my carbon footprint, I took small steps first. Later, after a series of small steps, I found that larger steps came more easily. But everyone can usually find at least one small step to begin with – just making the calculation, for example! For those who want change, though, the most important thing is to begin.