Sustainable revolution in the kitchen! | Lisa Casali | TEDxTrento

Our planet needs revolutionaries: people who look at their daily life and think of ideas and practices that will make the world a happier, wealthier, healthier and more sustainable place. Lisa Casali tells us how we can encourage this revolution by starting in our kitchen with the food choices we make every day.

This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at http://ted.com/tedx.

I thought that starting a revolution
required being an important person,

such as Mao, Che Guevara or Gandhi.

Then one night, my life was changed
in an unexpected and very simple way,

and I realized what my mission
in the world was.

It was not for a mug of beer
nor for a romantic encounter -

as some earlier speakers have told us -

but for a vegetable.

It was fine; it could have been worse

because it was thanks to an artichoke,
so I feel very lucky.

Maybe, while you've been
cooking vegetables,

you've had the realization
of how much you discard every day,

and the percentage of that waste.

That's what happened to me that day,
thanks to an artichoke.

It opened my mind,
and it changed my perspective a bit.

In that moment,

I decided that my mission in the world

would be to take nothing for granted

and to try to make the world
a little more sustainable,

starting with food.

Why food?

With food, we have the freedom of choice.

It's something which we get to decide,
for ourselves and for our family,

every single day.

It is, therefore,
not only a matter of choice,

but is also a matter
of environmental impact

because our daily food choices

constitute a large part
of our daily environmental impact.

If we want to translate it to an index,
we can talk about environmental footprint.

It affects much more than what
we decide to order in a restaurant,

more than, maybe, the way
we dress or get around in the city.

For this reason,

I believe it's important

to be fully aware of the choices
you make every day,

and to maybe try something different

and begin a small revolution, if possible.

My code word is a very simple one,

a common sense word:

optimize.

I guess that's not a word usually used
to refer to economy in the home,

but is more often used
to refer to environmental impact.

But I think it's a very simple concept
that we can apply in daily life,

especially in our relationship with food.

Optimizing means, for example,
in the way we go shopping -

how much we decide to buy,

what is essential,
what do we really need -

all this can help us try to reduce waste.

Then we could try to use
100% of the raw food materials.

The concept of optimizing consumption

is, above all, about the way
we compose our meals every day,

in what we really bring to our table.

Waste.

At the end of this project
that began with an artichoke,

I was left with the end of the chain -
the waste - what we usually throw away.

Here we have a small example
of waste versus noble raw materials.

Every day, we all do
what I'm doing right now.

We clean vegetables,
and we separate them -

on one side is the noble part that we use,
and on the other is the waste.

The waste - the less noble part -
is on average at least 50%.

In winter, we can get even 70% waste

because many vegetables
have more protective parts.

What does it mean
to optimize in the kitchen?

I want to say that to change
our approach to food,

use 100% of the raw materials.

But not simply by taking them
out of the garbage.

It means having a different approach,

to see all these parts as a whole.

As an example, let's use an apple.

I can see the apple as, okay, an apple,

but I can also see it
as a set of four ingredients.

For example, the pulp.

For simplicity, I made some chips,

but I could have eaten it
or baked it in a cake.

The peel -

maybe I eat it as it is, or I dry it,

or I make a fantastic
rejuvenating herbal tea

that I'd pay much more for
if I bought it at an herbalist's.

The core.

I centrifuge it and
let it ferment in its own juice,

and it becomes a delicious apple vinegar,

because vinegar
can be made from apple cores.

The seeds I can use as a gelling agent.

This is just an example
with a familiar product,

but it's a concept we should apply
to every single ingredient.

Another example:

this is one of the vegetables
it took me some time to love,

to love 100%:

the pumpkin.

I really like it because
the peel is the truly noble part,

the part with the greatest
amount of fiber.

It is less sweet than pulp,

so maybe if you don't like
the strong sweetness of the pulp,

you can focus on the peel,

which also contains more fiber
and certainly has health benefits.

But not only that - with all the inner
filaments, I can prepare a wafer.

The seeds can be toasted,
or I can simply let them sprout.

I think to let something sprout
is a practical example

of an easy technique

that allows you to transform
and find value in something

we all have at home

and that we usually don't even look at -

we just throw it away.

To optimize in the kitchen
is for me especially this:

to change a little bit
of your way of thinking

and to see vegetables and all food
with a different eye,

to waste them less
and use them to their fullest.

To optimize also means optimizing
consumption of water and energy.

For example, every time
that I cook pasta or vegetables,

I can simultaneously cook other things,
maybe other vegetables.

Just get a basket -
you don't need anything complicated.

Or every time that I use
a household appliance,

such as the dishwasher,

I could also use it for cooking.

This is not a joke.

I'm sure some of you
are turning up your nose,

but it is an outstanding
cooking technique using low temperatures.

So you do not need to buy
a professional tool that cost 2000 euros;

you can just use the dishwasher
every time you wash the dishes.

How can you do that?

A very practical example
is to take a jar like this -

it has to be hermetically sealed -

and put, for example, an egg inside,

cover the egg with water, close it tight,

and store it in the dishwasher
when it is full of dirty dishes.

And use whatever wash setting you want,

choosing the setting based
on what the dishes need, not the egg.

When the washing is complete,
your egg will be boiled,

soft-boiled or hard-boiled,
according to the setting you chose.

It will be great because
it will be cooked at a low temperature -

with an incredible texture,
better than the classic hard-boiled egg.

And you did it at zero impact, zero cost,

and getting a result that would be hard
to get using traditional techniques.

So, optimizing the use
of a household appliance

may give some interesting benefits.

Let's see another example of optimization.

This time, I come into your home
even more, into your recipes.

When we were at war, okay,
there were a lot of food shortages.

We had only a few proteins,
so we ate a lot of potatoes and polenta.

When you could put meat on the table -

a course with protein -

it was a feast and it was great.

But now the problem is the opposite.

Now we have abundance,

and we have a tendency
to use twice the protein we need.

Why is it a problem?

It's a problem because if we eat
too much polenta or potatoes,

yes, we might put on weight,

but too many proteins in the pot
can tire our kidney and liver,

and it increases the risk
of developing certain diseases.

So it's something that's no good for us.

The classic restaurant portion
that we have at the table -

such as vegetables, meat, fish -

is too much.

Actually, if we eat lots of vegetables,

we'll cover a large part
of our daily protein needs.

Why did I put this concept in my talk?

Because to eat more than what we need

is a waste of resources.

It's definitely something
we could improve upon.

Furthermore,

if these proteins are animal proteins
with a high environmental impact,

reducing them also means
to lessen our environmental impact.

So, I think it is important that we all
put a little less protein on our plate.

It would be enough -

just with a small effort from all of you -

to have an important
environmental benefit,

not only to our health,
but to the health of our entire country.

It would create even more benefits
if we did it worldwide,

in terms of public spending on health.

It is beneficial for both individuals
and the entire society.

I believe it is more effective

to try to convince you
to use less protein,

than to try to convince all of you
to abandon animal products.

I would persuade one of you

while I hope these ideas
will remain impressed in your mind.

You don't have to worry
about eating enough protein,

but about eating too much.

This is the problem with protein.

And above all, try to eat
proteins of good quality,

and, if possible, choose animal products
with a low environmental impact.

"Which ones?" you probably wonder.

The Expo will be next year,

and many people are talking
about the food of the future.

I have heard so much talk
about eating insects.

Personally, I don't think
that this will fit in our culture.

I don't know if you agree with me,

but we are not insect-eaters,
and I doubt we will become them.

But there is a food protein
that has zero impact,

and we can produce it
by ourselves in our own homes,

nourishing it with vegetable waste,

maybe not the vegetables
that we will eat tonight,

but the things
that we are not able to use.

What am I talking about?

I'm talking about the surprise guests
that are with me on the stage tonight -

snails - that have suffered
from the harsh climate of Trentino,

and so they have decided
to go into hibernation.

However, I have here
a representation of them.

Why do I like snails?

Because anyone can self-produce them,

and they are a gourmet product
of Italian tradition.

Who among you have ever eaten snails?

Who wouldn't eat them ever?

Very good.

Probably ten years ago,
this number would have been lower

with more people eating snails.

About 35 years ago, a law
prevented us from collecting them.

We were snail harvesters,

but we could also procure them
from professional producers.

This has fostered a great development
of snail producers in Italy,

producing at the highest
quality levels in the world.

There are thousands of producers in Italy,

and not only for food use,
but also for makeup and other uses.

It is also a food that -
even asking my chef friends -

has a great potential:

it's extremely versatile
and tastes very delicate.

But you need to know how to do it.

To breed your snails at home,

you just need a small balcony
or a vegetable garden with loam,

a small net to prevent them from escaping.

Snails arrive on their own,
it's enough to just plant lettuce.

Or you can take eggs
and feed them with vegetable waste,

thus reducing food waste even more.

You will have a twice-a-year harvest,

once in autumn and once in spring,
like a vegetable.

They will need one hour cooking time,
and then you can use them as you want,

in bourguignon, French escargot
or in your own recipe.

They can give a sense of satisfaction.

It's a low-fat meat
which has a lot of benefits.

I think it can become
not only the food of the future,

but also the food of the present.

I hope that if I ask you again next year,

there will be more people who eat them

and less people who
wouldn't eat them ever.

It's certain that a mental switch
is needed to do this,

but also overcoming prejudices.

So, sustainable revolution!

I'm sure that it can reach all of you,

and it requires just a little change,

certainly a change in thought
and overcoming of prejudices.

I know that to ask you
to cook in the dishwasher,

to eat all the peels,
to start eating snails,

is not a simple thing.

But I'm a very optimistic person,

so I hope I have at least
aroused your curiosity.

Less proteins on your plate,
changing the way you see ingredients -

there are truly so many benefits.

So join with me and become revolutionaries

because the benefits are so many:

for our health, for our well-being,

and most of all for our happiness
and that of our planet.

Thank you.

(Applause)