Have you ever wondered what you would do without plastic wrap? I can easily see how we could survive without plastic shopping bags, or without the copious quantities of plastic packing in use today, but how would we successfully cover food so that it is safe from contaminants, would stay fresh and not spill if we didn’t have plastic wrap?
The question arose the other day when I and my neighbours were ticked off by a council inspector who took it upon himself to nosey through our recycle bins and discovered the someone was disposing of both plastic bags and plastic wrap in theirs. My first thought was, “Who would think that plastic wrap can be recycled?”
But beyond that it got me thinking, and actually not for the first time, about these two scourges of the modern world and about plastic packaging in general.
We are all aware of the environmental disaster caused by the plastic shopping bag. The mind boggles at the stats regarding usage and wastage, with the one I ‘like’ most being that the energy used to make one plastic bag would drive a car for a kilometer or something along those lines. I, as do a growing numbers of other shoppers, dutifully go off to both the farmers’ market and the supermarket with my French market baskets and feel awfully guilty if ever I forget them. The lovely young man on my favorite vegetable stall at the market however, still insists on offering me a plastic bag, which sadly is not a biodegradable one. I have been shopping at his stall for several years yet he persists. And the organic meat is, rather sadly I feel, tray packed and plastic wrapped – not the vendor’s choice I might add, but if she wants to sell meat at the market this is the requirement.
I’ve recently travelled in India, Malaysia and Thailand and was fascinated to learn that some towns in India are plastic bag free. This act alone has not necessarily reduced the mountains of other refuse that pile up everywhere but it is a positive start and shows a growing awareness. Goods are wrapped in recycled paper or a hand-made cloth drawstring bag, which apart from being reusable undoubtedly provides employment for someone.
Malaysia also has plastic carry-bag free policies, although they love to prepare takeaway food in small plastic bags – one for the broth for instance and one for the meat, vegetables or noodles to go in it. It is fun to watch as they skillfully fill them and tie them at the top with a small loop to carry them by. However I dislike the idea of hot food being stored in plastic and I can’t help but wonder what it is doing, long term, to their health.
Thailand, on the other hand, seems to have embraced non-biodegradable disposable with gusto to the point that even a cup of iced coffee or a soft drink comes in a plastic bag with a straw. Even worse is that pre-prepared market food is packaged in polystyrene clams where once they might have been artfully wrapped in a banana leaf. This does rather spoil the visual beauty of their wonderful night markets.
But getting back to plastic wrap, there simply is not the same level of concern over it. There has been the odd health report over the years proclaiming its dangers when heated, which I for one have taken serious note of, even though I have always been highly suspicious of the stuff anyway. It therefore alarms me to see professional chefs tightly wrapping food in plastic then poaching it in liquid that may often be at boiling point. As far as I can determine it’s all about the shape. A chicken breast or a fish mousse becomes a round perfectly formed log that apparently looks so much more beautiful when plated.
More importantly, I worry about the public perception of this new concept and have seen evidence of its unwise use. There is a popular method buzzing around homes where you line a small cup with plastic wrap, break in an egg and twist and knot the plastic to form a small parcel which is then lowered into boiling water. A perfectly shaped poached egg results, but what has happened to all the chemicals in the plastic when heated? There are few ways for home cooks to safely regulate the water temperature and ensure it is kept low enough to keep the plastic safe (if indeed that is possible). What’s wrong or difficult about a pan of salted simmering water with a teaspoon of vinegar in it to help set the egg white? Use a fresh egg and you’ll have a beautiful poached one in no time. The same issue exists with its use to cover food in the microwave. How often have you had the plastic melt onto the plate, or even on the food itself?
Then, the other day, on a TV show, I watched a cooking contestant wrap a perfect, freshly caught piece of fish in plastic and poach it in water, then serve it plain on the plate. Why would you do that? What’s wrong with a fry pan and a bit of butter that will give the fish both colour and good flavour?
Chef techniques such as this one are all very well, but belong (just) in the professional kitchen not the home. At home I reluctantly use plastic wrap, restricting it to its intended purpose of covering cold food to keep it fresh in the fridge. I prefer however to use reusable containers with clip on lids that last for years. Personally I don’t want to eat food that has come into contact with plastic during cooking.
I attended the Auckland launch of a really inspired initiative recently. Aptly called Conscious Consumers, the programme has been successfully happening in Wellington for a year and is now spreading its wings. Designed for cafés, it allows them to earn ‘brownie’ style badges for nine different aspects of sustainability and environmental awareness, such as recycling, organics, composting etc. These are prominently displayed so customers know exactly what practices the café supports. I wonder if they could introduce one relating to non-use of plastic wrap.
In the days before plastic wrap or plastic anything much, my mother used to have a supply of little elasticated cloth covers to stretch over dishes of food. She’d wash and reuse them over and over. They eventually came made of quite sturdy plastic and disappeared completely with the advent of plastic wrap. I remember how she struggled with the concept of using it only once before throwing it away, experimenting with washing it and hanging it to dry. Needless to say that was not very successful.
Without a doubt we need to find a better way though I don’t suggest for a minute we return to dinky little cloth bonnets. But where are the stats around plastic wrap usage and wastage and when, I wonder, will a bio-degradable version be available?
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