It is complicated. During the pandemic a local hydroponic grower’s restaurant market disappeared so they reached out to local residents with their products. We got weekly deliveries of our selections. Pandemic over they went back to supplying restaurants but still offer produce to local residents. Here’s where the carbon gets more complicated because we used to have one vehicle making deliveries and now everyone drives (we sometimes ride the bus) to their location to pick up their produce. I’ve seen their now expanded growing site, climate controlled former light industrial/retail space. Not the most energy efficient building though they use heavy transparent plastic sheeting to wall off the actual growing areas rather than hvac the entire space.
I agree but that is a problem with the scale of the system. I wrote about this a few years ago when people complained about how "In the worst scenario, a UK consumer driving six miles to buy Kenyan green beans emits more carbon per bean than flying them from Kenya to the United Kingdom." I wrote:
Ultimately, to call out the current inefficiencies of the farmers' market as a way to justify our industrialized, globalized food system is like scrapping a car at the junkyard because it needs an oil change.
It isn't just about growing our food locally and buying it at the farmers market. To really change our food system so that we are not eating fossil fuels we have to look at the way our cities are designed, how our waste system works, how the distribution system is set up, and what we do in the developing world that has become our out-of-season supplier.
But making the decision to buy local and seasonal is a start.
After the most important measures are taken (i.e. much less meat {and also cheese, which is what I miss the most}), eating seasonally seems to be the next most important measure. And then there's this whole "industrial food production" thing, 90% of which in its current form is the main problem for food being "not healthy" and having a high GWP footprint at the same time.
However, reducing the GWP in this sector by, say, 50% would not be too much of a challenge.
Delivery: I think this is a very (yes, very, very) clever approach (about my own experience in a separate post). It would help reduce a lot of traffic - as you wrote. I think it's a contribution to reducing stress in our lives - regardless of the GWP issue.
Interesting comments - but I don't see any comment about supporting the local economy and producers by buying locally (vs. asparagus from Peru). On the other hand, should we rich folks in Canada deprive the Peruvian asparagus farmer of a market?
If (in Calgary) I buy tomatoes from the 'waste-heated' greenhouse providing employment in Medicine Hat, am I doing a 'better thing' than buying hydroponic tomatoes trucked in from California?
Depends on who it is that makes these profits :-). It could be that the very same people get richer and richer - as long as there is no legislation in favor of small and medium-sized businesses.
To the debate: I keep repeating: the whole local/transportation issue isn't going to have that much of an impact; We can solve (most) problems by prioritizing: (1) (far) less meat, (2) slightly less cheese, (3) a more efficient cold chain and more sustainable agricultural practices. Then, would be nice to have more local supplies, creating attractive local jobs, as well as some local production (also has to be sustainable, but that's possible), but also some imports to give these "Peruvian farmers" the time to get started on sustainable methods.
Fresh asparagus from Peru is over the top, but based on research I did in grad school, too much can be made of a local diet. Most of the carbon output in food transportation comes from us driving back and forth to the grocery store.
I wrote about this in greater detail, quoting other studies, eating my words after writing about an Our World in Data post that said food miles don't matter.
Terrific! Thanks so much for this. It's so funny of how we go back and forth on this. I had been a local food advocate for a long time. I changed my mind over ten years ago, when I read up on transport efficiencies and miles. Now, I'm changing my mind again.
I plan on making a mention of this sometime soon with my Substack.
That's very easy to calculate through. Going local with still a lot of meat and cheese just can never solve the problems. But: reducing meat and also cheese a little bit will do it - combined with improved farming methods and better refrigeration and transport efficiency. The impact of such improvements IS much higher than a 'ban of tomatoes or asparagus' in winter. And: It won't hurt anybody (well, may be the fossil fuel industry; we can't avoid that, can we?).
Good article, although I disagree with some of it. "if a tomato grown in California’s Central Valley is shipped by train across the country, the CO2 released by that transportation would be less than if you drove four miles to your local Whole Foods to pick it up for dinner." There is much to debate here.
1) almost all of the studies of food miles ignore refrigerant loss and other losses in the cold chain. They also tended to average out transport emissions, which are a very different percentage when you are shipping meat or shipping lettuce. And I believe most goes by transport truck, not train.
2) The system is designed to force people to drive 4 miles to the whole foods, that should not be the comparative standard. In much of the world people pick it up while walking home.
But that can be changed: better insulation (a factor 3 is possible in most cases) and better compressors (e.g.: R290 or CO2 as refrigerant - also solves the GWP problem of these materials). Overall: Efficiency can be increased by more than a factor of 5; and the remaining 20% of energy requirements can (then!) easily be covered by renewable energies. This leads to near “zero” emissions (not: 'net zero', which is a lie, but “realistically close to zero” = (10^-4) emissions. (By the way: we don’t need “exact zero” and that is also not possible; we all breathe out CO2).
A really good example of “What efficiency can do” – it can do this without forcing us to “grow tomatoes” in unsuitable areas, at inappropriate times OR restricting the availability of tomatoes too much. (I agree that today's very high so-called "demand" is exaggerated; also in the sense that this abundance already devalues enjoyment. But: We don't have to "ban" the import of some tomatoes in winter for enjoyment. Every now and then a fresh salad!)
Some may not like this: But this is another example of why “efficiency first” is a reliable approach to solving the problems.
For sure we need to change the way we grow things, for example: As transportation becomes more expensive our seasonal and local food web becomes more affordable and nutritious. Greenhouses and well insulated farm infrastructure can become seasonal also, requiring very little heat to function on a seasonal basis, indeed all latitudes can use the very same types of greenhouse infrastructure to support multiple types of protected and growing environments, everything from netting for birds and replace pesticides to limiting insects, to annual moisture control or frost protection early spring and shade in summer Greenhouses can capture local waste water nutrients and sequester carbon while maintaining the ability adequately to purify your local drinking water. When it comes to hydrocarbons, carbohydrates biomass fertilizer and biofuels are multidimensional.
One square foot of polyethylene costs little, contains few BTU’s, yet as a greenhouse glazing (or as an insulation) can effectively produce; 40W/sq.ft. hour after hour… day after day… week after week…and year after year…
The 'heating' - as you mentioned, that can be reduced in the same way as we do with passive housing (even better; no need for 21°VC; 12 will do, heatpumps will work very well as does passive solar). No need for high GWP at all.
Also: Refrigeration! High efficiency wall cooling racks reduce el-use by 75% (we have done that in regional food markets ''M-Preis" in Tirol built or refurbished to passive house standard; it may be that Lloyd has visited one of these during the conference).
So (@Lloyd): I would strongly advice to separate the cooling chain issue from the other food related stuff - because it is so easy to improve efficiency within the whole cooling chain by a factor of at least five AND change to low-GWP-refrigerants at the same time (CO2 and R290) AND produce the 1/5 rest-el by mostly renewable sources. So: I do not agree that we have to avoid cooled transport at any costs, the high efficiency solution can be an option for products we 'really need' or 'really enjoy'. ('really enjoy' in my view of the world includes that this is 'exeptional luxury stuff' - like 10 times in a year on Christmas and birthdays :-).
@Lloyd again: We may not agree on every detail. I suggest allowing things to be fun too. At least form time to time. For example: Would you like strawberries with cream for Christmas? Okay, that's a small sin, but this is not on a planet-destroying scale (< 1kg CO2/person/year if not via air freight). However: burning 3000 liters of heating oil per year (>2500 kg CO2 per person per year) does that (Always keep in mind that this is a habit “almost everyone has”; so it adds up 600 Million times in North America only.).
If many people would simply change the proven unhealthiest dietary sins a little, a lot would be gained for the GWP:
- Reduce meat consumption, especially beef.
- Also be a little more cautious with dairy products.
- Much more fresh vegetables; there is such a huge, tasty variety.
- And if something has to be transported over 400 km (oranges?) - that can also be 'limited' a little, I don't have to eat mainly strawberries and asparagus in winter; but if the 'craving is great', that is almost meaningless for the GWP in quantitative terms as long as it is not 'flown in'.
In order to motivate people to actually put this into practice, I believe it is not unimportant that a sustainable lifestyle is above all one thing: enjoyable.
<sarcasm> I can pretty much say that eating asparagus, steaks and caviar for a whole year is NOT particularly enjoyable. An abundance of goodies devalues pleasure - a well-known fact since time immemorial.</sarcasm>
A 70% reduction in the 25% of protein sources with the highest greenhouse effect results in a reduction of at least 50% in greenhouse gases from food; Another 50% of the remainder can be realized through more sustainable farming methods. 1/2 * 1/2 of 1/4 of the GWP = 1/16 – we and the planet can handle that. )
Yes, this is a cultural landscape. But ecologically quite well tolerated - and there is a certain yield of dairy products - and also (not too much, but...) beef.
This has particularly high regional implications for small and medium-sized farms. I actually want to see that preserved (just like my colleagues at BUND: transform to even better sustainabilty).
Consequence: We can then continue to enjoy our cheese from time to time (the same applies here again: not in excess - but with excess the enjoyment would also be destroyed.)
Again: Sustainable living can be much more pleasant than, for example, industrial processed cheese slices in plastic packaging and with a plastic taste; In contrast, such a “mountain cheese” has a real taste; I only need 1/3 of the amount. We enjoy this every Sunday for brunch.
Since the pandemic, we (a family of 3) have started cooking at home again - and it's a wonderful habit. I enjoy cooking from time to time - and I enjoy eating in company.
In itself, it wouldn't have that much of an impact on the GWP footprint (if you always ate something like "steak", melted cheese or frozen ready meals). But: It gives us the opportunity to do it differently:
* We are very lucky: there is a local farmer who delivers every fortnight; almost anything you want - I think ~80% is home-grown vegetables (and eggs too). That part is automatically local AND seasonal. But they'll also pick up oranges for us if we want, as well as exotic herbs for seasoning.
* The seasonal menu here: "Winter" (Nov-March) is the dark and cold time here. In all other months: there's plenty of variety, asparagus (as of now) is just one of dozens. Now, what about winter? We always have: fresh cabbage (that's why they call the Germans "die Krauts"?): Cauliflower until mid-December, kale Dec+Jan, Brussels sprouts almost all winter, kohlrabi (even a bit sweet, we eat it uncooked, in very thin slices, with a bit of salt - always delicious), radishes, carrots. Pumpkin and celery too, of course. Did I mention that I love potatoes (anyway) prepared in >10 different ways...? Combined with easy-to-store nuts and lentils, there was never a moment when we didn't enjoy the meal.
* Now: We've made "swizz fondue" twice for Chistmess eve and New Year's Eve. We also enjoy tomatoes and oranges (both non-local in winter). I love a bit of chocolate now and again. And we use eggs (from the farmer I mentioned). Yes, if we reduced these "little sins" too, our carbon footprint from food would be reduced by another ~30%.
(Another separate comment with 'opinion' and 'assessment' on this).
But as far as cabbage is concerned, I have dozens of recipes with completely different flavor results:
1) I enjoy the "cabbage roulade" the most: Traditional with onion+minced meat filling; we switched to onion+green spelt+soy (reduce GWP), tasts even better to me.
2) Cut into strips and pickled with lemon juice (so-called "sour cabbage", in the Chinese version). I prefer to eat this cold and uncooked as a side dish - you can store it for a very long time and can replace or supplement salad (lots of vitamin C).
3) Red cabbage with apples (we tend to make this as "apples with red cabbage" and then add a few slices of citrus fruit). You can boil it up again x times (X=3,4,..) and it tastes even better each time because the flavor really goes into the cabbage.
4) Add to the soup in small leaves (gives the vegetable, Peking or Szechuan soup a certain bite).
5) :-) I could just go on...
What I recently learned: All types of cabbage (including Brussels sprouts) were bred from wild mustard. Hence the mustard glycosides - we once sown a few kohlrabi in the garden and didn't harvest them. The plant has been thriving for many years now and is currently blooming in a magnificent mustard yellow: all fresh parts of the plant can be eaten.
It’s interesting that the best strawberries I’ve ever eaten were from a farm stand in California - still local and seasonal.
This is what I was thinking! Local strawberries are amazing, confusing for those of us whose locale is California!
Those are the seconds from commercial farms. far too ripe to ship
It is complicated. During the pandemic a local hydroponic grower’s restaurant market disappeared so they reached out to local residents with their products. We got weekly deliveries of our selections. Pandemic over they went back to supplying restaurants but still offer produce to local residents. Here’s where the carbon gets more complicated because we used to have one vehicle making deliveries and now everyone drives (we sometimes ride the bus) to their location to pick up their produce. I’ve seen their now expanded growing site, climate controlled former light industrial/retail space. Not the most energy efficient building though they use heavy transparent plastic sheeting to wall off the actual growing areas rather than hvac the entire space.
I agree but that is a problem with the scale of the system. I wrote about this a few years ago when people complained about how "In the worst scenario, a UK consumer driving six miles to buy Kenyan green beans emits more carbon per bean than flying them from Kenya to the United Kingdom." I wrote:
Ultimately, to call out the current inefficiencies of the farmers' market as a way to justify our industrialized, globalized food system is like scrapping a car at the junkyard because it needs an oil change.
It isn't just about growing our food locally and buying it at the farmers market. To really change our food system so that we are not eating fossil fuels we have to look at the way our cities are designed, how our waste system works, how the distribution system is set up, and what we do in the developing world that has become our out-of-season supplier.
But making the decision to buy local and seasonal is a start.
https://web.archive.org/web/20210730125903/https://www.treehugger.com/stop-eating-fossil-fuels-start-eating-food-4852425
Really interesting and helpful:
After the most important measures are taken (i.e. much less meat {and also cheese, which is what I miss the most}), eating seasonally seems to be the next most important measure. And then there's this whole "industrial food production" thing, 90% of which in its current form is the main problem for food being "not healthy" and having a high GWP footprint at the same time.
However, reducing the GWP in this sector by, say, 50% would not be too much of a challenge.
Delivery: I think this is a very (yes, very, very) clever approach (about my own experience in a separate post). It would help reduce a lot of traffic - as you wrote. I think it's a contribution to reducing stress in our lives - regardless of the GWP issue.
Interesting comments - but I don't see any comment about supporting the local economy and producers by buying locally (vs. asparagus from Peru). On the other hand, should we rich folks in Canada deprive the Peruvian asparagus farmer of a market?
If (in Calgary) I buy tomatoes from the 'waste-heated' greenhouse providing employment in Medicine Hat, am I doing a 'better thing' than buying hydroponic tomatoes trucked in from California?
Thoughts for consideration.
Yes, since the money stays there, at least the profits.
Regarding this last statement:
Depends on who it is that makes these profits :-). It could be that the very same people get richer and richer - as long as there is no legislation in favor of small and medium-sized businesses.
To the debate: I keep repeating: the whole local/transportation issue isn't going to have that much of an impact; We can solve (most) problems by prioritizing: (1) (far) less meat, (2) slightly less cheese, (3) a more efficient cold chain and more sustainable agricultural practices. Then, would be nice to have more local supplies, creating attractive local jobs, as well as some local production (also has to be sustainable, but that's possible), but also some imports to give these "Peruvian farmers" the time to get started on sustainable methods.
Fresh asparagus from Peru is over the top, but based on research I did in grad school, too much can be made of a local diet. Most of the carbon output in food transportation comes from us driving back and forth to the grocery store.
https://greendispatch.substack.com/p/you-dont-have-to-be-a-locavore?utm_source=publication-search
I wrote about this in greater detail, quoting other studies, eating my words after writing about an Our World in Data post that said food miles don't matter.
https://www.treehugger.com/food-miles-carbon-emissions-study-5496327
and https://www.treehugger.com/why-eating-local-makes-a-difference-in-your-carbon-footprint-5179551
Terrific! Thanks so much for this. It's so funny of how we go back and forth on this. I had been a local food advocate for a long time. I changed my mind over ten years ago, when I read up on transport efficiencies and miles. Now, I'm changing my mind again.
I plan on making a mention of this sometime soon with my Substack.
I am like a fucking yo yo on this but as Keynes said, "When the facts change, I change my mind. What do you do, sir?”
Well, Lloyd,
Hannah Ritchie is right on this one. ( Peace! )
That's very easy to calculate through. Going local with still a lot of meat and cheese just can never solve the problems. But: reducing meat and also cheese a little bit will do it - combined with improved farming methods and better refrigeration and transport efficiency. The impact of such improvements IS much higher than a 'ban of tomatoes or asparagus' in winter. And: It won't hurt anybody (well, may be the fossil fuel industry; we can't avoid that, can we?).
Good article, although I disagree with some of it. "if a tomato grown in California’s Central Valley is shipped by train across the country, the CO2 released by that transportation would be less than if you drove four miles to your local Whole Foods to pick it up for dinner." There is much to debate here.
1) almost all of the studies of food miles ignore refrigerant loss and other losses in the cold chain. They also tended to average out transport emissions, which are a very different percentage when you are shipping meat or shipping lettuce. And I believe most goes by transport truck, not train.
2) The system is designed to force people to drive 4 miles to the whole foods, that should not be the comparative standard. In much of the world people pick it up while walking home.
Yes! Refrigeration is a BIG energy drain and carbon source, plus the problem with the refrigerants.
But that can be changed: better insulation (a factor 3 is possible in most cases) and better compressors (e.g.: R290 or CO2 as refrigerant - also solves the GWP problem of these materials). Overall: Efficiency can be increased by more than a factor of 5; and the remaining 20% of energy requirements can (then!) easily be covered by renewable energies. This leads to near “zero” emissions (not: 'net zero', which is a lie, but “realistically close to zero” = (10^-4) emissions. (By the way: we don’t need “exact zero” and that is also not possible; we all breathe out CO2).
A really good example of “What efficiency can do” – it can do this without forcing us to “grow tomatoes” in unsuitable areas, at inappropriate times OR restricting the availability of tomatoes too much. (I agree that today's very high so-called "demand" is exaggerated; also in the sense that this abundance already devalues enjoyment. But: We don't have to "ban" the import of some tomatoes in winter for enjoyment. Every now and then a fresh salad!)
Some may not like this: But this is another example of why “efficiency first” is a reliable approach to solving the problems.
For sure we need to change the way we grow things, for example: As transportation becomes more expensive our seasonal and local food web becomes more affordable and nutritious. Greenhouses and well insulated farm infrastructure can become seasonal also, requiring very little heat to function on a seasonal basis, indeed all latitudes can use the very same types of greenhouse infrastructure to support multiple types of protected and growing environments, everything from netting for birds and replace pesticides to limiting insects, to annual moisture control or frost protection early spring and shade in summer Greenhouses can capture local waste water nutrients and sequester carbon while maintaining the ability adequately to purify your local drinking water. When it comes to hydrocarbons, carbohydrates biomass fertilizer and biofuels are multidimensional.
One square foot of polyethylene costs little, contains few BTU’s, yet as a greenhouse glazing (or as an insulation) can effectively produce; 40W/sq.ft. hour after hour… day after day… week after week…and year after year…
The 'heating' - as you mentioned, that can be reduced in the same way as we do with passive housing (even better; no need for 21°VC; 12 will do, heatpumps will work very well as does passive solar). No need for high GWP at all.
Also: Refrigeration! High efficiency wall cooling racks reduce el-use by 75% (we have done that in regional food markets ''M-Preis" in Tirol built or refurbished to passive house standard; it may be that Lloyd has visited one of these during the conference).
So (@Lloyd): I would strongly advice to separate the cooling chain issue from the other food related stuff - because it is so easy to improve efficiency within the whole cooling chain by a factor of at least five AND change to low-GWP-refrigerants at the same time (CO2 and R290) AND produce the 1/5 rest-el by mostly renewable sources. So: I do not agree that we have to avoid cooled transport at any costs, the high efficiency solution can be an option for products we 'really need' or 'really enjoy'. ('really enjoy' in my view of the world includes that this is 'exeptional luxury stuff' - like 10 times in a year on Christmas and birthdays :-).
@Lloyd again: We may not agree on every detail. I suggest allowing things to be fun too. At least form time to time. For example: Would you like strawberries with cream for Christmas? Okay, that's a small sin, but this is not on a planet-destroying scale (< 1kg CO2/person/year if not via air freight). However: burning 3000 liters of heating oil per year (>2500 kg CO2 per person per year) does that (Always keep in mind that this is a habit “almost everyone has”; so it adds up 600 Million times in North America only.).
Opinion and evaluation:
If many people would simply change the proven unhealthiest dietary sins a little, a lot would be gained for the GWP:
- Reduce meat consumption, especially beef.
- Also be a little more cautious with dairy products.
- Much more fresh vegetables; there is such a huge, tasty variety.
- And if something has to be transported over 400 km (oranges?) - that can also be 'limited' a little, I don't have to eat mainly strawberries and asparagus in winter; but if the 'craving is great', that is almost meaningless for the GWP in quantitative terms as long as it is not 'flown in'.
In order to motivate people to actually put this into practice, I believe it is not unimportant that a sustainable lifestyle is above all one thing: enjoyable.
<sarcasm> I can pretty much say that eating asparagus, steaks and caviar for a whole year is NOT particularly enjoyable. An abundance of goodies devalues pleasure - a well-known fact since time immemorial.</sarcasm>
Peace!
Dairy products do us in, my daughter is a cheesemonger and we are surrounded by the best of the stuff. giving up beef was much easier.
I admit that I do have the same 'problem'.
>>> The good news: We could just reduce cheese a bit (...50%?). <<<<
(Source: https://ourworldindata.org/less-meat-or-sustainable-meat
A 70% reduction in the 25% of protein sources with the highest greenhouse effect results in a reduction of at least 50% in greenhouse gases from food; Another 50% of the remainder can be realized through more sustainable farming methods. 1/2 * 1/2 of 1/4 of the GWP = 1/16 – we and the planet can handle that. )
Ecological background: There is quite some traditional land use as "Almen" (pasture in the mountains) (https://www.bund-naturschutz.de/pressemitteilungen/zukunft-fuer-die-almwirtschaft).
Yes, this is a cultural landscape. But ecologically quite well tolerated - and there is a certain yield of dairy products - and also (not too much, but...) beef.
This has particularly high regional implications for small and medium-sized farms. I actually want to see that preserved (just like my colleagues at BUND: transform to even better sustainabilty).
Consequence: We can then continue to enjoy our cheese from time to time (the same applies here again: not in excess - but with excess the enjoyment would also be destroyed.)
Again: Sustainable living can be much more pleasant than, for example, industrial processed cheese slices in plastic packaging and with a plastic taste; In contrast, such a “mountain cheese” has a real taste; I only need 1/3 of the amount. We enjoy this every Sunday for brunch.
Some of our own experiences:
Since the pandemic, we (a family of 3) have started cooking at home again - and it's a wonderful habit. I enjoy cooking from time to time - and I enjoy eating in company.
In itself, it wouldn't have that much of an impact on the GWP footprint (if you always ate something like "steak", melted cheese or frozen ready meals). But: It gives us the opportunity to do it differently:
* We are very lucky: there is a local farmer who delivers every fortnight; almost anything you want - I think ~80% is home-grown vegetables (and eggs too). That part is automatically local AND seasonal. But they'll also pick up oranges for us if we want, as well as exotic herbs for seasoning.
* The seasonal menu here: "Winter" (Nov-March) is the dark and cold time here. In all other months: there's plenty of variety, asparagus (as of now) is just one of dozens. Now, what about winter? We always have: fresh cabbage (that's why they call the Germans "die Krauts"?): Cauliflower until mid-December, kale Dec+Jan, Brussels sprouts almost all winter, kohlrabi (even a bit sweet, we eat it uncooked, in very thin slices, with a bit of salt - always delicious), radishes, carrots. Pumpkin and celery too, of course. Did I mention that I love potatoes (anyway) prepared in >10 different ways...? Combined with easy-to-store nuts and lentils, there was never a moment when we didn't enjoy the meal.
* Now: We've made "swizz fondue" twice for Chistmess eve and New Year's Eve. We also enjoy tomatoes and oranges (both non-local in winter). I love a bit of chocolate now and again. And we use eggs (from the farmer I mentioned). Yes, if we reduced these "little sins" too, our carbon footprint from food would be reduced by another ~30%.
(Another separate comment with 'opinion' and 'assessment' on this).
I agree! there are so many ways to cook winter foods, and I love brussels sprouts. never crazy about cabbage though.
Taste can vary greatly from person to person.
But as far as cabbage is concerned, I have dozens of recipes with completely different flavor results:
1) I enjoy the "cabbage roulade" the most: Traditional with onion+minced meat filling; we switched to onion+green spelt+soy (reduce GWP), tasts even better to me.
2) Cut into strips and pickled with lemon juice (so-called "sour cabbage", in the Chinese version). I prefer to eat this cold and uncooked as a side dish - you can store it for a very long time and can replace or supplement salad (lots of vitamin C).
3) Red cabbage with apples (we tend to make this as "apples with red cabbage" and then add a few slices of citrus fruit). You can boil it up again x times (X=3,4,..) and it tastes even better each time because the flavor really goes into the cabbage.
4) Add to the soup in small leaves (gives the vegetable, Peking or Szechuan soup a certain bite).
5) :-) I could just go on...
What I recently learned: All types of cabbage (including Brussels sprouts) were bred from wild mustard. Hence the mustard glycosides - we once sown a few kohlrabi in the garden and didn't harvest them. The plant has been thriving for many years now and is currently blooming in a magnificent mustard yellow: all fresh parts of the plant can be eaten.