Sustainable Celebrations for a Changing Planet

Harvest season is traditionally a time of abundance, where we reflect on all that the Earth provides. It's a moment to express gratitude for our planet and consider ways to protect it .

Our food systems and climate change are inextricably linked at every stage-from production and consumption to waste management, and that includes cooking. With new technologies and techniques, cooking also has the potential to lower greenhouse gas emissions, reduce waste and improve food security.

At the University of Vermont, the Climate Kitchenis reimagining this connection between cooking and climate change. This initiative combines cutting-edge food systems research with practical applications for cooking - at home and beyond - transforming how we approach meals for a changing planet.

"We all eat every day," said UVM Prof. Amy B. Trubek , a cultural anthropologist and chef, and Director of the Climate Kitchen. "The goal of the Climate Kitchen is to empower people to cook for a future that considers the relationship between food and climate change."

Led by Trubek and Cynthia Belliveau , Research Faculty Emerita in the UVM Department of Nutrition and Food Science, the Climate Kitchen aims to incorporate the latest cooking and research technologies focused on energy efficiency, water conservation, smart monitoring, and preparation practice from "nose to tail or root to seed."

"Ultimately, a kitchen is a maker's space that can help us create any possible positive future, where we have lowered emissions, halted biodiversity loss, decreased waste and increased food access," said Trubek. "Because kitchens are where we can move from abstract ideals to tangible actions and results."

"It's autumn in Vermont and we wanted design a harvest meal with our tenets for sustainability in mind," said Trubek.

The Climate Kitchen Tenets for Sustainable Cooking

• Plant Forward:highlight sustainable and regenerative plant-based foods as the center of a meal rather than the resource intensive production of animals and animal products.
• Low Waste: aim to reduce or eliminate waste at every step of the cooking process
• Whole Food Utilization:transform entire ingredients - including the parts that are not typically consumed (or even sold in grocery stores / markets) - to increase the amount of food available for human consumption and to decrease the ratio of resources/inputs needed per calorie
• Regional and Local Sourcing:source food closer to home to not only support the regional food producers, but promote food production focused on taste and quality, not transportability and shelf life
• Integrating Tastes and Habits:understand that tastes and preferences are rooted in individual and cultural experience and a one-size-fits-all approach may not work for all planetary health goals

This year, the Climate Kitchen brought these principles to life with a harvest meal. This reimagined version of a holiday feast emphasized plant-forward dishes without abandoning tradition entirely. The idea was to show how small adjustments in the kitchen can make a big difference for the planet, without sacrificing taste.

"The inspiration for our harvest dinner was to think about what it could look like if we took it in a more plant forward direction," said Amy Finley, Culinary Lecturer and member of the Climate Kitchen team. "Turkey is tradition. We didn't want to do away with the turkey."

Turkey Rillette on Rhode Island Cornmeal Cakes

A classic French dish, rillette is made by slowly simmering poultry in herbs, fat, and stock before pureeing it into a rich, flavorful spread. For this dish, the stock was crafted from turkey bones and cartilage, reducing waste by utilizing every part of the bird. This dish is a great way to use up turkey leftovers. The creamy rillette was served on local cornmeal cakes as a savory hors d'oeuvre.

"If we want to try to change behaviors, we still need to accommodate what people's expectations are. So instead of doing a whole roasted bird, we decided we would take the turkey and turn that into an appetizer," said Finley. Shifting toward more plant-based meals is a simple way to help the planet, as producing animal products takes a heavy toll on resources and the environment.

Each rillette was topped with tangy, pickled red onions, adding a burst of acidity and color while extending the onions' shelf life. Pickling is a smart way to prevent food waste by using up aging produce that might otherwise be discarded.

Cheesy Stuffed Pumpkin

The centerpiece of the meal features kabocha squash and pumpkins stuffed with hearty bread, cheese, and garlic and baked for two hours. This dish presents a stunning plant-based alternative to the traditional stuffed turkey, delivering the 'wow' factor like carving a bird. Slicing through the tender pumpkin skin revealed a gooey, savory filling. The recipe uses stale bread for the filling, reducing food waste by giving leftover bread a delicious second life.

"Our goal was to put plants at the center of the meal," said Finley, Culinary Lecturer. Even the pumpkin seeds were also put to good use in another dish-they were roasted and candied with local maple syrup, showcasing whole food utilization and minimizing waste. The sweet, crunchy seeds added a delicious contrast to a kale and walnut salad.

Apple Upside Down Cornmeal Cakes

The same cornmeal base from the turkey rillette makes a second appearance in dessert form, highlighting the versatility of ingredients. These apple cakes are created from apples harvested just a few miles away. Local foods not only travel shorter distances from farm to table-reducing greenhouse gas emissions and minimizing packaging-but they also offer fresher, more flavorful results.

Explore:

Climate Kitchen Harvest Meal Recipes

While preparing a meal like this every week might seem impossible, these tenets can help home cooks think about the environmental impact of everyday cooking. Trubek likens the process of creating sustainable meals to participating in a culinary challenge show, like Iron Chefor Chopped. "It's a challenge!" she said. "But the other way of thinking about it is asking: how do you start to develop a slightly changed way of thinking about cooking in your everyday life? Try to figure out ways in which we might be able to combat some of the negative aspects of climate change."

Jonas Camera, UVM undergraduate food systems major, helped with food prep for this meal. He said that for home cooks and restaurants it can be difficult and expensive to cook sustainably. "It's awesome if you can afford to do that, but I think there's a systemic problem."

Mitigating climate change is a complex issue and home cooking is just one part of it. The Climate Kitchen is funded in part by UVM's Food Systems Research Centerwhich funds collaborative research that puts people and the planet first. The Climate Kitchen is already looking beyond the home kitchen and has begun funding innovative research. This summer they kicked off the inaugural Climate Kitchen Summer Research Institute. Three teams of researchers engaged in projects ranging from working with the Nepali-Bhutanese community to develop a climate-smart mung bean tailored to South Asian sensory preferences, engineering a food-grade scaffold for cellular meat using whey, and creating protein-dense, sustainable recipes using mealworm flour.

"UVM is at the forefront of research and education on food systems and planetary health," said Belliveau, Pedagogy Director of the Climate Kitchen. "Our ambitious goal is to solve some of our most pressing climate issues."

The Climate Kitchen has already partnered on a project with Casella Waste Systemswhich has provided the Kitchen with a FoodCycler countertop food waste recycler. Undergraduates at UVM have been conducting research with the device for months. Nutrition and Food Sciences major Andrea Rebimbas said that's she's enjoyed this opportunity for hands on learning. "I find the connection between the skills we've learned in food lab courses and the exploration of sustainable foods of the future fascinating."

This harvest season, home cooks can consider what the future of cooking will look like for them. From sustainable practices to new ingredients, the holiday dinners might change, but hopefully stay just as delicious.

Trubek says, "Anyone can join us as we integrate the tenets of practice - low waste, full cycle, plant forward, local/regional sourcing and integrating tastes and habits into teaching moments, designing research projects, and developing foods."

For more information about the Climate Kitchen, visit: go.uvm.edu/ClimateKitchen .

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The Food Systems Research Center(FSRC) at the University of Vermont (UVM) funds collaborative research that puts people and the planet first, unites disciplines and communities, and answers complex questions about food systems.

The FSRC gives researchers the freedom, resources, and time to engage community stakeholders, including decision-makers, farmers, and food systems actors, about inequities and opportunities across our food system. This results in relevant, widely disseminated research that informs policies, practices, and programs locally and regionally for a more resilient and equitable food future for all.

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