How Green Is Your Taco?
Do you know where your tacos are from?
Do you know where your tacos come from? If you don't, a group of architecture students are willing to tell you.
And soon, more than just the avocado and cilantro in your taco could be green.
Future architects from the California College of the Arts developed a global Tacoshed to track where ingredients in an average taco originate. The students came up with the idea while taking a break from studying San Francisco’s food- and watersheds to enjoy tacos served by a local truck.
Foodies have become increasingly concerned with the distance food travels and the cost in energy and other resources used to produce it. "Locavores" try to eat food produced within 150 miles of their homes -- something easier to do in the Bay Area than in other regions, with diverse agricultural areas to our north, east, and south.
The students discovered that salt and cheese are locally sourced, but other ingredients like avocados, rice, and even adobo seasoning travel thousands of miles to turn into a taco.
The research could be used to create more environmentally sensitive tacos.
On Feb. 25 the group will unveil its "tacoshed" research with the help of Jessica Diaz of Cafe Gratitude's Mexican offshoot Gracias Madre.
And of course there will be black-bean tacos being served at the event. What good would your newfound taco knowledge be without some immediate hands on training?
The seminar takes place at the Studio for Urban Projects, 3579 17th St. in San Francisco at 7 p.m.
Posted Thursday, Feb 18, 2010 - 4:40 PM PST
