There is no magic cooking that saves our species. However, there are many ways we can sustainably feed ourselves. They are available in many kitchens around the world, and we can learn from them.

Either way, we do not have much choice. Scientists warn that we need to change the way we eat quickly to prevent the severe effects of the climate.

Food production accounts for 21% to 26% of global greenhouse gas emissions, depending on how the data is segmented; the food waste accounts for another 8%, considering that one-third of the food produced worldwide is thrown away.

Also, with climate change fueling droughts and storms, there are new risks to the food security of 800 million people around the planet who no longer have enough to eat.

Eating well does not have to be synonymous with eating weird things, deprivation, or going broke. There are three simple ideas that can help your theinternationalkitchen.com culinary tours, whether eating out or cooking at home.

• The Discreet Role Of Meat In A Cuisine

The soul of the pho is the broth, and the genius behind it is a tiny portion of meat – no need to be brilliant cuts – that yields much. I like the bovine version made with bones, tendons, and a piece of the chest. Everything cooks for at least three hours with golden onions, ginger, tropical seasonings, and the essence of all Vietnamese cuisine: fish sauce.

With chicken, it also looks good, and I tried the vegetarian version which, I admit, was surprisingly delicious. The pho lesson, to me, is one already incorporated in many traditional cuisines: meat can be the star of the meal, but discreetly. It can be used in small quantity to enrich grains and vegetables.

• Vegetables

Legumes form a universe of their own: from beans in the Middle East to the bloom of May in Mexico, from string beans in Ghana to mung beans in Bangladesh. 

The pigeon pea turns into a pancake for breakfast, the so-called dosa. Chickpea flour when boiled and mixed with mustard seeds fried in the oil turns to a fluffy yellow cake called dhokla. The mung bean is identified in the sweet halwa, which gains volume with ghee and cardamom. And of course, there is the dal, the tasty lentil stew without which no Indian meal would be complete.

• The Earth

Eating what is available in the place where you live is part of that culture, but it is not just that. Sometimes it also means treating food as medicine. But it always means eating in a way that does not pollute the place where food is grown and not end it all.