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An Eco-Friendly Mother's Day Celebration

Inspiration and ideas, from recipes to table settings

Posted: 04-May-2006; Updated: 30-Apr-2007

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"Eat your greens and then you can have dessert," was my mother's dinner refrain when I was growing up. And it worked – the thought of homemade pie or cobbler was enough to make me eat my spinach or collard greens.

Many of us vividly remember our mothers' exhortations to eat right or delicious meals served. So it seems fitting to celebrate with food on Mother's Day.

Like good moms everywhere, we urge you to consider food that treads lightly on the planet. We've rounded up ideas and sources from our staff so you can treat Mom whether she lives near or far away. This list is meant to inspire and is by no means exhaustive – nor do we endorse any of the products.

Smart food choices

Choosing heart-healthy, eco-friendly fish. Rich in omega-3 fatty acids and low in fat, fish can be a healthy, delicious centerpiece of a meal. But not all fish are created equal. The fish on your plate may be from an ecologically sound fishery or from a depleted one, or it could be raised on a farm that does damage to marine ecosystems or one that is environmentally benign.

The good news is that there is a range of seafood that is farmed or caught in an ecologically responsible manner and safe to eat. "An excellent choice and a real treat would be U.S. farmed caviar from sturgeon and paddlefish," says our seafood expert Dr. Rebecca Goldburg. "Chefs have generally given U.S. farmed caviar good reviews, and it's cheaper than the wild roe from depleted Caspian Sea sturgeon." Last year, the U.S. banned imports of this prized wild roe delicacy (beluga) from the Black and Caspian seas where it's been fished to near-extinction.

Other excellent seafood choices (on our "Best Choices" list) in season now are chinook (or king) salmon and sockeye salmon both from Alaska and Pacific halibut from Alaska.

Organic Seafood:
Buyer Beware

An "organic" label on seafood might not mean what you think it does. The U.S. does not have organic standards for fish, nor does the European Union, and private-label standards vary widely. Our expert, Dr. Rebecca Goldburg, says fish sold under an organic labels might not be low in contaminants, and some standards allow pesticides to be used to kill sea lice.

Despite the varying standards, organic-labeled fish from abroad can still be sold here. The exception is in California, which recently passed a law to prevent the sale of imported organic-labeled fish until organic standards for fish are put into place in the U.S. The bottom line: read labels carefully and ask your fish seller lots of questions.

Preparing fish at home. For ideas, see our recipes from award-winning chefs who promote sustainable cuisine. Among the tantalizing dishes:

Charbroiled wild Alaskan salmon with roasted corn-lemon thyme relish
Grilled salmon with lemon-and-thyme-scented salsa veracruzana
Pan-seared Alaskan halibut with fresh asparagus and garlic and chévre-mashed potatoes
More recipes

Where to find eco-friendly food

"Green" eggs and ham, anyone? Whether you settle on seafood as the main course, sausage and eggs, pork chops or an all-vegetarian meal, you can find all manner of fare that is produced in an ecologically responsible way and fits your budget. Consumers have a wide array of choices that are better for the environment and healthy to eat, including:

environmentally responsible, safe seafood
organic and locally grown fruits and vegetables
organic meat, poultry and dairy
reduced-antibiotic meats (More on why the overuse of antibiotics in agriculture spurs antibiotic resistance and our work to reduce the use of antibiotics in meat production.)

For our climate scientist Dr. James Wang, shopping at the farmers' market near his East Village apartment in New York City is the best. "The produce, baked goods, dairy products, seafood and other items are as fresh as can be, and there is usually a good selection of organically grown produce. The products are local, which means that a minimum of energy is used in transport, and the items are in season."

Your purchases also help to support small farmers and preserve rural open space. Adds Wang, "If you're in a northern location, there should be plenty of fresh greens, asparagus, sprouts and fiddleheads available by Mother's Day."

Some sources of eco-friendly food:

Find stores, farmers' markets and restaurants in your neighborhood on the Eat Well Guide by typing in your zip code.
EcoFish provides environmentally responsible seafood to retailers and restaurants. (Full disclosure: Goldburg serves on the company's advisory board, along with experts from the Monterey Bay Aquarium and other ocean conservation organizations.) Get a list of where you can buy EcoFish products and get recipes.

Dining out with Mom

What if you are not inclined to cook or your mother loves getting out? Not to worry – restaurants across the country offer ecologically responsible cuisine. To find restaurants in your area, check out:

Seafood Choices Alliance's tool: restaurants that serve sustainable seafood in your area.
Chefs Collaborative guide to member restaurants that feature local, artisanal (and generally environmentally preferable) ingredients.

Or you can call your favorite restaurant, or one you want to try, and ask if they serve organic meats or eco-friendly seafood (check our seafood list for specific fish names). Many will advertise that they serve such food, but if not, it might help to ask – the more demand there is for earth-friendly cuisine, the more restaurants will begin to accommodate consumer wishes.

Raising a "green" glass

Okay, so you're ready to enjoy a glorious menu of healthy foods, and now that you've gone this far, you want to consume ‘sustainable' drinks too. Our Internal Communications Director Jennifer Coleman is wild about açaí fruit juice, made from Amazon palm berries. "The taste is really nice, very berry-tart and a little chocolate. For me, it conjures up the steamy rainforest and harvesters gathering berries in monkey-filled trees!"

She likes to blend it with another juice, concoct a smoothie out of it or mix it with sparkling water. Our Brazilian expert, Stephan Schwartzman comments that açaí has been sustainably harvested in Brazil for some time and could be harvested in great quantities indefinitely. As the fruit rises in popularity in the United States and local harvesters earn more money, people in the Amazon where the fruit is grown have more incentive to preserve the forest habitat (read more about sustainably produced açaí in The New York Times article "Berry Sales to U.S. Offer Security to Amazon Farmers").

If you want to serve alcoholic beverages or cocktails, there are a wide variety of organic wines and champagnes available at most liquor stores and online. You may have thought you had seen everything, but there are also organic vodkas (Treehugger has featured one new brand and shares a Martini concoction), as well as other organic hard liquors too. You can even buy certified organic cocktail mixes!

Setting the table or gifts for Mom: Think recycled

"Not only what we eat, but how we eat it is important," explains our wildlife expert Margaret McMillan. "My Depression-survivor mother always used cloth napkins, which as an ignorant child I thought impossibly old-fashioned because other moms used paper napkins. Little did I know that she was not only saving money but also paper and resources!" (Since you can throw cloth napkins in with your clothes, washing them should take no more energy, soap and water than your normal weekly laundry load.)

Besides cloth napkins, consider glassware made from recycled glass. Reusing recovered glass saves resources and lessens the load on landfills. Our fisheries researcher Tim Fitzgerald has given many a gift from Green Glass, a South African company that specializes in tumblers, goblets and vases made from recovered glass.

Mexican glassblowing artisans have long been reusing old Coca-Cola bottles and other discarded glass to fashion unique pieces. Glassblowing began there in Puebla in the 16th century, but no one knows for sure when the craft began widely using recycled glass. Growing up near Mexico, I remember drinking out of the green or blue tumblers like the ones shown.

Some sources of Mexican glassware:

Kamalico: Exporters of Mexican handcrafts
Surroundings: Folk art, hand crafts and furniture from around the world
Milagros: Columbia Road, London

What Is Organic Cotton?

When most of us think cotton, we think natural. But conventionally grown cotton consumes huge amounts of pesticides and synthetic fertilizers, and often uses growing methods that deplete the soil and require more water. Organic growing methods reduce the toll on the earth.

If a label does not say 100 percent organic cotton, it could be a blend of organically and conventionally grown cotton. Some organic is better than none, but 100 percent is best.

USDA's organic standards apply to growing cotton; there are no standards for processing. Dyes and harsh chemicals may be used even on organic cotton.

Some American producers meet the Oko-Tex Standard 100, a certification process widely used in Europe. It tests textiles for more than a hundred harmful substances.

An extra touch of luxe

If you really want to pamper Mom, our Oceans Program communications director Kathleen Goldstein suggests ensconcing her in an pure cotton organic bathrobe or nightgown. Some sources:

Hanna Andersson: Organic cotton gown
Dax Stores: Coyuchi 100 percent organic cotton robes
By Nature: Organic cotton waffle bathrobe
Other sources of organic cotton clothing

Sending goodies if Mom is far away

Unfortunately, many of us do not live close to our mothers, but fortunately there are many mail-order outfits that sell organic delicacies. Some sources: