Maintaining an ecologically sound kitchen makes cooking and eating more enjoyable and contributes to the well-being of the environment and your health and family. The Green Kitchen Handbook offers a wealth of practical advice, references, and sources for turning your kitchen into a healthful, livable space. It contains simple tips for immediate use: how to buy organic foods as inexpensively and conveniently as supermarket foods, how to clean and control pests with nontoxic materials, what to look for on food labels, and how to reduce packaging. It also offers advice for more ambitious solutions, including information on canning, creating a root cellar, foraging, and joining community environmental projects. In addition, there are valuable insights on how to buy seasonal, fresh, local foods; how to avoid processed foods and refined sugars; how to recognize the hidden costs in commercial packaging; the best way to prepare and store foods; and how to embrace the "new green diet" without wasting time and money. Read Less