ABOUT THE WEBSITE

There is a common misconception that ecologically friendly foods are expensive. I wanted to demonstrate that eating sustainably can be affordable to the average person. With my background knowledge about the impacts of agriculture on the environment, I knew that many of my family recipes would not have a large negative ecological impact. But how could I claim that my Mediterranean recipes are both affordable and ecological if there is nothing to compare them to? The words ecological and affordable could mean anything if you don’t put them into context. 

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A Big Mac was used as a means of comparison. With this famous fast food burger as my guide, I defined ecological and affordable to guarantee that the recipes included on this website adhered to strict criteria. To be considered affordable, a single serving of each recipe could not cost more than 15% of the price of a Big Mac. A recipe would be defined as ecological if it adhered to criteria for both the carbon and water footprints. The carbon footprint of a serving had to be below 25% of that of a Big Mac, meaning that the burger emits four time (4x) more carbon. A single serving's water footprint could not exceed 35% of that of a Big Mac.