Top Ten Green Culinary Holiday Gifts

My friend Kerry sent me this list of Top Ten Sustainable Culinary Gifts, and I had to pass it on! I love some of their ideas. These would make great gifts for the holidays coming up....

Some highlights:

• Heritage Foods USA - I love them! I made a heritage turkey for Thanksgiving last year and contrary to what some say, it was not gamy at all and was delicious.
• Seed Savers Exchange - Love them too! They're like the seed version of Heritage Foods. So many delicious and different foods are being lost in favor of the same old, same old. If I had room for a garden, you can be sure I'd be growing heritage breeds of veggies and fruit. Someday, someday....
• Green Pan - Okay this is the only one I take issue with. I came very close to getting a Green Pan because I was so over my teflon non-stick pan with its off-gassing and unhealthiness. But my dear friend Winston convinced me to go with the old-school non-stick: a cast-iron skillet. And I followed his advice, and I am so glad I did! It cost me all of $20, I think, and works like a charm. Plus it can absolutely go from stovetop to oven, is completely green, and you even get your daily dose of iron when you cook with it! All you need to do to make sure it stays in tip-top shape and keeps its non-stickiness is to never, ever, ever, EVER use soap on it. And keep it properly seasoned. More on this to come in another post.
• Heifer International - I love their ideas of buying a family a goat or a cow. But this year, I found out about some of their projects here in the U.S. and was very moved -- they're helping struggling farmers stay afloat and low-income communities in 28 states get connected to real food. I love that.
• The Malibu Company Bamboo Products - I love bamboo stuff. I have a bamboo cutting board and I use it every day. It is awesome. And very eco-friendly. I even have a shirt made of bamboo -- how can one plant be so hard in one iteration (cutting board) and so soft in another?
• Frog Hollow Farm - One word: yum. They have a store in the San Francisco Ferry Plaza and their stuff always looks AMAZING. Now I am drooling, thinking about it.
• Bacon of the Month Club - Holy moly. I have no words. There are several folks who read this blog who I know are, as they read this, clicking through and signing up.