In addition to some personal New Year's resolutions, I have a couple that have to do with lowering my impact on the earth and shrinking my carbon "foodprint."

I am pretty proud of my low-impact ways: I eat locally, I car share, I recycle, and I buy bulk from the co-op. In short, I live a lot of my life taking the environment and my impact on the environment into consideration.

But I've known for a while that I could do more, and have tailored a couple of resolutions to that end.

Resolution #1: Cut my food waste.

We've all heard the statistics: one-third to one-half of all food in the United States goes to waste. Now, there's a lot of that waste that happens way before the food gets to me: it spoiled at the farm or factory, or was thrown away during processing, or was otherwise wasted before it ever reaches the consumer. But what I do have control over is what happens to the food once it gets to me. As a single person who loves to cook and shop, I tend to over cook. I would be quite mortified if any of you saw what I throw away some weeks. I know I'm not alone, but it's still quite shameful. Even if I can compost it, I need to get into the habit of not buying this food, or using it all up when it's purchased.

This Sustainablog article has great pointers for other ways to cut down on food waste, and I'll be using their pointers as I go through the year.

Resolution #2: Meatless Mondays

Nearly all studies show that a meatless diet is better for the environment than an omnivore diet due to the amount of energy it takes to raise our cows and pigs and chickens. A 2007 article from Grist suggests that "If every American had one meat-free day per week, it would reduce emissions as much as taking 8 million cars off the roads." I don't eat meat at every meal, but it is novel for me to intentionally go completely meatless one day a week. I'm going to try to keep it up through 2008.

These resolutions mean that I am going to have to more planning of my meals. I don't think I will ever be someone who plans my meals for the week like I am planning an international trip. If I can even plan on a notecard like you see above and stick to the plan, I will have succeeded in working toward my resolution goals, I believe. I'd love to hear any menu planning tips that have worked for you.

Last year I didn't make much progress with my resolutions. But I think I know why. It's not enough to just have good intentions, you need a plan and you need a goal that is easy to follow through on. This year, I have it all figured out.

For 2008 I plan to celebrate deliciousness. I will eat as many delicious things as I can, foresaking all that is not delicious. I will pay more attention to how everything I eat tastes. I will try terribly hard not to get caught up in the food fights of the day--you know the ones, organic, sustainable, local, blah, blah, blah. I will pay attention to all of the politics, but in a secondary way as it relates to deliciousness, not virtue or trendiness or political correctness.

My hope is that by focusing on taste I can get back to why I love food in the first place, because it is my connection to people, to places, to experiences.

Last year I wanted to try to eat more whole grains, so I purchased lots of them. But I didn't cook with them. This year I will seek out tasty recipes to make using them a breeze, instead of a chore. Since food is about relationships, I will also try to learn more about where the most flavorful food comes from. Usually those who create great food are passionate about what they do, and that passion is infectious and exciting.

Last year I tried not to take food too seriously, but everywhere I turned food was the source of great debate. I'm going to try to stay out of the debate, I'll watch from the sidelines perhaps, but I don't want to let the debate get in the way of the deliciousness. I promise not to let my fear of the scientific ingredients in molecular gastronomy, or any scary bits of offal distract me from anything that tastes good. It's a resolution I think I can live with.