In Search of a Healthier (for the Planet) Fat

by Kim, February 2, 2009 at 6:32pm

This weekend I was patting myself on the back while fulfilling my food resolution (to eat more fresh vegetables). Turning the thin slices of eggplant in a pan that had been lightly coated with cooking spray, I reflected that my diet was already happily low in fat, so no major adjustments were needed in how I cook, but just what I cook.

My eyes lighting on the cooking spray bottle, I started to think about that can. While it's recyclable, it doesn't have a very favorable product-to-packaging ratio. Then there's some kind of propellant in there, none of which are particularly good for you. In 2007 Pam cooking spray stopped using nitrous oxide as a propellant because it recognized the chemical had significant carbon impact. Other than that, cooking spray (the kind without the artificial flavoring) is basically oil and lecithin, an emulsifier.

Many accounts on the web say that making your own cooking oil using a spray bottle, your oil of choice, and organic liquid lecithin (which can be purchased from natural food stores). This is definitely a move I'm going to make when this bottle comes to an end, though I did get a bit hung up on what type of bottle to use. If you're trying to avoid plastic, it's kind of hard to find a good inexpensive glass spray bottle, though that just seems like it would be cleaner. There are also aluminum "oil misters" on the market, some of which are under $10, which claim to have the right size mister to deliver a consistent coating of oil.

Olive oil is my personal preference, but looking into the carbon impact of various types of oil I found that there was a surprising variation for different cooking oils.

• Palm oil, which is an important import in parts of india and which is also present in many processed foods, has a significant climate impact, contributing to deforestation in Indonesia and Malaysia.


• Soybean oil "Soybean oil from the Midwest contributes to environmental pollution in the Gulf of Mexico and Midwest, due to the use of pesticides and fertilizers. Additionally, the soy is often genetically modified and raised as a monoculture, which reduces biodiversity."


• Even all olive oils are not created equal. "Many of the agronomic and environmental problems associated with olive productions have emerged from new systems dedicated to maximizing production. But just as traditional olive groves are replaced by more intensive systems, action is being taken to increase production of organic olive oil." (The Fat of the Land: The impact of the production and consumption of vegetable oils on the environment. )


• And basically any type of oil is a processed food. "Conventional methods for extracting oil from plant materials require enormous amounts of energy, which in turn produce significant greenhouse gas emissions. These methods also use large quantities of the solvent hexane, which, when released to the environment, degrades to produce greenhouse gases that contribute to climate change."

As in many other food categories, you can't go very far wrong by looking for the fair trade label. Fair trade olive oil is a good choice for most cooking. I've also heard about the health benefits of fair trade virgin coconut oil, which is a saturated oil and not necessariliy compatible with the flavors of, say, Italian cooking.

One thing I've realized is that health isn't just about calories. A tablespoon of vegetable oil is about 120 calories, which means coating a large pan to cook just about anything takes at least twice that.  Cooking spray is an efficient way to keep a pan coated without making your food swim in oil. The calorie savings have to be considered in terms of the larger picture: the additives and propellant in the spray, as well as the waste created by the bottle.

Fun (or not so fun) activity: search for the fat content in your favorite fast foods. You'd be amazed how many calories are hiding in that burrito.