Low-impact Diets – food from the forest garden

Alan Carter cultivates a lush food forest in his 200-square-meter allotment, thriving with fresh produce during spring and early summer, just when the annual garden experiences its hungry gap. In this piece, Alan reveals top culinary methods for these delicious forest-garden shoots.

While often queried about self-sufficiency from his forest garden, Alan clarifies that his goal isn't self-reliance per se, but to minimize his ecological footprint in food sourcing. The environmental impact of various foods varies greatly. Some, like beans, grains, and certain root vegetables, are environmentally low-impact, requiring minimal preservation or transport efforts. In contrast, others demand refrigerated logistics, excessive packaging, and even air freight. Interestingly, Alan points out that local isn't always the more eco-friendly option, exemplified by bananas with their natural packaging and suitability for sea freight, as opposed to high-impact supermarket strawberries.

Alan references Rob Hopkins' 'cake analogy' from The Transition Handbook, explaining that 'cake' signifies staple items traditionally grown locally, while the 'icing' represents imported luxuries. Nowadays, this scenario is often reversed, with staples being imported cheaply, and only artisanal luxuries produced locally. He advocates for a balanced approach, focusing on local production for the 'cake' and reserving international transport for the 'icing.' In his cooking, Alan minimizes vegetable purchases but doesn't hesitate to use imported condiments like soy sauce.

For those adopting plant-based diets, Alan emphasizes that a forest garden can significantly diversify their food sources without relying on imported, processed foods.

He then delves into various cooking techniques suitable for garden ingredients, prioritizing diversity, leaf-heavy compositions, and balancing flavors. Stir-frying, for example, is ideal for using small amounts of various ingredients. Preparation is key, and the cooking order often depends on personal preference. Liquid ingredients added at the end provide different flavor profiles, like a Chinese twist with wine and soy sauce or a Thai flavor with stock and lime leaves.

For leafy vegetables, a method similar to cooking spinach works well, especially for plants with large, soft leaves. This technique also reduces strong flavors in certain leaves, improving their taste.

Alan also introduces leaf sauce, suitable for a broader range of leaves and shoots, blending mild and strong-tasting varieties. Seasoned with spices and other flavorings, this sauce is versatile, nutritious, and can even alleviate migraines, as per Alan's flatmate's experience.

He also discusses soups and stews, particularly effective for autumn and winter produce. Alan encourages the integration of fruit in savory dishes, a tradition in both medieval and Eastern cuisines.

To manage strong flavors and acidity or bitterness, he suggests two strategies. One involves reducing these elements, which can start right from the garden through techniques like blanching, affecting the flavor of the produce. Kitchen techniques include coating ingredients in oil or batter to reduce acidity or bitterness.

The second strategy harmonizes strong flavors with other robust ingredients, as seen in Thai yam salads and Korean namul. Curries exemplify this approach.

Finally, Alan discusses lacto-fermentation, more for flavor than preservation. This process involves shredding and salting vegetables before fermenting them under anaerobic conditions, producing dishes like sauerkraut and kimchi. The key is to ensure freshness and the right moisture level, as well as keeping an eye on the fermenting process to achieve the desired sourness.

Overall, Alan Carter's approach in his food forest is not just about cultivating food but about nurturing a relationship with nature and cooking in a way that respects both the produce and the environment.