Green Top 5: Eating Out

Our Green Top 5 is up and running!!!

Each week a new consumer product or service will be looked into and provide our top 5 things to consider in order to make the best purchase decision, while providing suggestions and tips.

This week we look at Eating out. Café’s are so much a part of Melbourne culture, with people even lining up to eat brunch these days! So what things should we consider?

Top 5 Eating Out Tips 

1) Eating seasonally from local growers:

It can seem when you go into your local supermarket that most fruit and vegetables these day are grown all year round! Strawberries in winter, pumpkin in summer… This is due to the fact that these crops are shipped in from long distances, costing the environment and you. When buying produce that is in season, the relative abundance means lower price.

By choosing cafes that buy their product locally, it means less energy is consumed getting the product to your plate. It also means that they change the menu regularly to reflect what is in season, keeping you interested! What could be wrong with that? 

Consider trying cafes such as:

“The Farm Cafe” at the Collingwood Children’s Farm:  All food is made from scratch on the premises (pictured). With the veggies and eggs being sourced on site at The Collingwood Childrens Farm and the rest of the produce is from local Farmers. (http://farmcafe.com.au/)

Annie Smithers in Kyneton:  The one acre block supplies the restaurant with up to 90% of the produce at different times of the year.  (www.anniesmithers.com.au)

2) How you get to the café:

It’s always been known that one of the first things you can do to reduce your carbon footprint is reduce the time spent in your car. In Australia, road transport emissions account for 12.6% of national greenhouse gas emissions.

So why not make a change… Choose to walk or ride to the café, nothing better than a morning stroll to wake you up for breaky and wet your appetite! Or consider taking a train or tram, its actually quite fun people watching! You may even be    fortunate enough to witness a tram session (http://www.tramsessions.com/

3) Go meat free:

No meat?! This seems like an impossibility for some, and yes the appeal for some of a juicy stake is all too much sometimes. But going vegetarian every once and a while can reduce your carbon emissions. Meat, in particular lamb and beef, has the largest carbon emission; refer to the Life-cycle analysis bellow, which takes into account the production and farming through to the transport and cooking.

 (www.coolmelbourne.org)

4) Try raw:

Eating food in its most natural state reduces the energy used to cook and prepare your meal.

Some restaurants to try:

The Veggie Bar on Brunswick Street:   Their philosophy is that food should not be over worked and should have minimal human involvement the preparation and cooking stages resulting in rustic, home-style cooking. (http://www.vegiebar.com.au/)

Yongs Green Food on Brunswick St: Offering a raw menu along side a vegan menu, which does have cooked options, this restaurant is one of the first to come to mind when thinking “raw” offering rawsagne, yes that’s right… and raw cheesecake, it will open your mind to a world of possibilities!


5) Coffee:  

Coffee culture defines Melbourne; along with wearing black, carrying a take-away coffee is a part of our look. But here is something to consider… If you get a take away coffee on your way to work most days you will use 260 paper cups, that’s 3kgs of landfill waist and 265 mjs of energy.  

This can be reduced by using a re-usable coffee cup. There are a lot of brands out there… We have found the KeepCup to be the best option. The cup is made mainly in Victoria with only the band being produced in China. And you can design your own… An all black “Melbourne” cup could work! (http://www.keepcup.com/)

By Alex