'Climate-Friendly Cooking' available in English

About three years ago, I launched a German food blog that featured the estimated carbon footprint of each dish alongside its recipe. You can find the original blog at klimafreundlicher-kochen.de.

I’m proud to announce that the blog is now also available in English! You can visit it at climate-friendly-cooking.com.

Considering that our food system is responsible for approximately 26% of global greenhouse gas emissions (source), my aim with this blog was to contribute to more sustainable behaviors by increasing transparency around food choices. While high-quality data from life cycle analyses is readily available, the challenge was to make this information more tangible and actionable for everyday people. It’s easy to understand that beef has a high carbon footprint, while tomatoes have a low one (see here), but grasping the combined impact of a dish like bolognese sauce, which contains both ingredients, was not as straightforward before this blog existed.

To reach a broader audience and maximize the potential for positive behavior change, I knew it was essential to create an English version. Although the German blog served as a great pilot, most online content is in English, which is why I decided to translate it. The translation itself was relatively quick, but updating links and making manual adjustments took longer than expected, partly because life happened along the way! A significant part of this transition involved using a Python script with the DeepL API, along with some custom layers to maintain a consistent structure. Toward the end of this process, I also developed an editing assistant that leverages the GPT-4o API, which helped speed up the publication process.

During this translation period, I paused creating new recipes. However, now that the transition is complete, I’m excited to get back to developing new dishes (Firecracker Ramen!, anyone?). If you’re interested in delicious recipes, sustainability, or both, feel free to explore the blog at climate-friendly-cooking.com and explore the 55+ recipes.