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Restaurant Daily News 4 3 Tuesday, May 23, 2017 GLOBAL WARMING REVERSAL TOOLS ALREADY AVAILABLE By Lorrie Baumann Practical solutions to reverse global warming already exist, and most of them are worthwhile to do even if they weren't tied together with climate change, according to Paul Hawken, Founder of Project Drawdown and editor of the recently published "Drawdown: The Most Comprehensive Plan Ever Proposed to Reverse Global Warming." Hawken reviewed some of these strate- gies and technologies for addressing cli- mate change during a March 8 address at Natural Products Expo West, held in Anaheim, California. Hawken started Project Drawdown in 2013 after it became obvious that global discussions about climate change were gloomy and becoming more alarm- ing all the time, and that their focus was on slowing down climate change rather than reversing it. He defines "draw- down" as that point in time when green- house gases peak and begin to decline on a year-to-year basis. "The rhetoric about climate change is about reduction, about slowing. If you're going down the wrong road, it's still the wrong road, even if you slow down," he said. "You don't want to solve climate change. It's like changing change. You want change. What we can do is reverse global warming. We don't want to fight climate change or do the war on carbon. This black/white duality is the cause of the problem." "If you Google the top solutions to climate change, what you get is proverbs," he added. "Proverbs are true, but they're not solutions. It's not help- ful." The goal of Project Drawdown was to identify the 100 most substantive solutions to global warming, and Hawken drew on the expertise of 120 scientists from 22 countries around the world who offered their ideas on strate- gies and technologies that are currently available and more than 80 other scien- tists who conducted peer reviews on those proposals, resulting in well-vetted data to back up a plan based on feasible and scalable projects that are already in place somewhere around the world. "It's not our plan. We did not make this plan. We found it. It's here," Hawken said. "This is humanity's collected wisdom. Are the odds terrible? Yeah. And we'll take the odds." There are costs associated with replicating these working projects in a global effort to solve the problem, but they're less than the cost of dealing with the consequences of global warming, according to Hawken. "That wasn't always true. We're going off old stories and old narratives about the economics," he added. "Is there a business case? What's the business case for double- glazing the planet? Destroying the world?" The per capita cost to achieve draw- down in 2050 is about $1.88 per person on the planet, according to Hawken. "The cost is de minimus. It's nothing at all," he said. "And it's getting cheaper." Food production as it's practiced today is a major contributor to global warming, and thus that industry has the greatest potential to change in ways that can help reverse global warming, most especially through educating girls, Hawken said. Educating girls is sixth on Hawken's list of the most effective means of reducing greenhouse gases in the Earth's atmosphere, and the provi- sion of family planning services that can help women to delay childbearing, if they choose to do so, is seventh. Together, they're the single most power- ful solution to global warming, accord- ing to Hawken. "When you leave girls in school, they make very different deci- sions and so do their daughters and their sons," he said. He noted that when girls get the opportunity receive an education, what happens next is that they stay in school and delay childbearing to accommodate their plans to use their education. Slowing the world's population growth will ease the economic stress that drives the need for greater industrial production that's fueling global warming, and pro- viding girls with the tools to practice bet- ter agriculture can increase the efficien- cy with which food is produced. Hawken noted that 80 percent of the food pro- duced in the world comes from small- holders, and the majority of them are women. "The majority of the food in the world comes from women," he said. "What they don't get is the training, the seeds and the tools that men get. If they did, food production would go up." First on that list of effective solu- tions is changing the way that we refrig- erate and air condition our environment to eliminate the use of chlorofluorocar- bon compounds, which are potent green- house gases. That's followed by increased use of wind turbines to gener- ate electricity, and then by reduction in food waste. It's estimated that about 30 percent of the food produced in the world is wasted, with much of that hap- pening as a result of spoilage during storage and transportation. Improved food storage techniques have already been identified as a priority for United Nations agencies. Adoption of plant-rich diets is another of the top solutions identified by Hawken's group. "We don't mean vegan or vegetarian. We just mean seriously reduced meat consumption in the west- ern world," he said. "It's making us sick. That would provide more protein for others in the world." Of the other solutions at the top of Hawken's list, several relate to agricul- ture and animal husbandry practices, while a few others relate to how we pro- duce energy, including greater use of rooftop solar power, development of geothermal energy sources and greater reliance on nuclear energy, including the possibility of hydrogen-boron fusion technology that's currently being tested. We need to use all of these potential solutions, not just a few of them, accord- ing to Hawken. "You can lead in a way that you never imagined because you have, not just the opportunity, but you have the know-how," he assured his audience of natural food producers. "You're right there in the catbird seat, and half of you are women." GROCERY INDUSTRY SEEKS TO REDUCE CONSUMER CONFUSION ON PRODUCT DATE LABELS In a new industry-wide effort to reduce consumer confusion about product date labels, grocery manufacturers and retail- ers have joined together to adopt standard wording on packaging about the quality and safety of products. The new initiative for common phrasing is led by the Food Marketing Institute and the Grocery Manufacturers Association. Currently, more than 10 different date labels on packages – such as Sell By, Use By, Expires On, Best Before, Better if Used By or Best By – can result in con- fused consumers discarding a safe or usable product after the date on the pack- age. Reducing consumer confusion around product date labeling is projected to reduce total national food waste by 8 percent. The new voluntary initiative stream- lines the myriad date labels on consumer products packaging down to just two standard phrases. "BEST If Used By" describes product quality, where the product may not taste or perform as expected, but is safe to use or consume. "USE By" applies to the few products that are highly perishable and/or have a food safety concern over time; these products should be consumed by the date listed on the package and disposed of after that date. Retailers and manufacturers are encouraged to immediately begin phas- ing in the common wording with wide- spread adoption urged by the summer of 2018. Broad industry adoption of this new voluntary standard will occur over time, so companies have flexibility to make the changes in a way that ensures consistency across their product cate- gories. FRESH EVOO FLAVOR – A MEASURE OF HIGH NUTRITIONAL VALUE AND HEALTH Rich in antioxidants and supportive of cardiovascular health, extra virgin olive oil has long been known to be one of the healthiest oils for culinary use. American consumption of EVOO increases year after year based on this fact. But not all EVOO is created equal. Award-winning Bellucci Extra Virgin Olive Oil is decid- edly a nutritional stand-out. Flavor and freshness are the greatest all-around indicators of nutritional value. Fruity, bitter and spicy notes, along with other aromatic hints, are always present at their maximum range of expression when EVOO is fresh and nutritionally rich. Since both flavor and health-giving properties subside over time, consuming the oil when fresh is key. This is why Bellucci prioritizes freshness in all facets of its production, and why every Bellucci bottle arrives fresh from Italy, with the harvest date featured on the front label, to reach shoppers when flavor, antioxidants and polyphenols are at their peak. In turn, Bellucci is regularly winning awards at tasting competitions for its aroma and nuanced profiles. The influence of cultivars on nutri- tional value and flavor can be significant. The coratina, for example, is especially rich in protective micronutrients. In Bellucci's 100 Percent Italian, the corati- na's polyphenols make their presence known on the palate through a hint of bitterness and a spicy tickle at the back of the throat. While other culti- vars typically impart this quality to a lesser degree, the coratina is sure to give a big peppery kick – though, again, only if the oil is fresh. An older bottle of EVOO, regardless of the cultivars, will be lacking in nutrients and entirely devoid of spice. With robust, nuanced flavor serving as a reliable indicator of nutritional qual- ity, consumers can learn to rely on their palates in selecting an outstanding oil; they simply need to know what charac- teristics to taste for. Bellucci is commit- ted to imparting the skills that consumers need. The Bellucci App, which traces any bottle to its origin in rural Italy, and the company website each offer detailed tasting instructions and a wealth of educational information. The design of Bellucci's packaging does a superior job of protecting the flavor and healthful properties of fresh EVOO. Fitted with an easy-pour spout that prevents the oil from exposure to air, Bellucci's iconic bottle prevents oxidation while its dark glass shields against damage caused by light. New On- the-Go EVOO squeeze packs similarly maintain freshness and come in conven- ient single servings that are ideal for peo- ple with active lifestyles, for the nutrition conscious and those who are either daily or occasional consumers of EVOO. For more information, go to www .belluccipremium.com.