It’s a new year and that has us thinking about the choices we make for the betterment of our health and also our community. As we turn over a new leaf, we’re launching A Shared Table: Delicious, Climate-Friendly Recipes from King County, a cookbook filled with family recipes contributed by people in our local communities. Community navigators who work with Public Health – Seattle & King County helped recruit home cooks who generously shared treasured dishes, like a beautiful eggplant curry and a hearty “fisherman stew.”
“The joy and challenges of organizing and documenting recipes for a community cookbook are truly rewarding,” added Mercedes Hakim, a community navigator who contributed her recipe for rajas with eggplant and corn. “They foster a sense of connection, purpose, and belonging.”
The recipes in the book are vegetarian or low-meat, selected to spotlight how vegetable and plant-focused food choices have a lower environmental impact, in addition to being good for our health.
Sampling delicious food traditions
One of the delights about putting this book together was connecting with people in King County over food and trying out recipes from families from so many traditions. Meera Forespring, a community navigator with United Indians of All Tribes Foundation, helped recruit cooks to share their food heritage.
“Food is one of the most beautiful universal expressions of love, and I was so happy to highlight typically underrepresented cuisines through this book,” Meera said.
Recipes in the cookbook include bolaani, an Afghan flatbread stuffed with vegetables, a fiery cream poblano soup, and vegan white chocolate macadamia nut cookies.
Zoe, a vivacious 7-year-old, shared her recipe for avocado cucumber salad, showing that vegetarian eating can be fun and enticing to kids. She also helped her grandfather, Pastor Derek Lane, invite others to share recipes.
“We got recipes by asking people we know—church friends, neighbors, and family. And then they told us more people, so it was like a cooking treasure hunt!” explained Zoe. “When I saw the cookbook I yelled, ‘WE MADE A REAL BOOK!’ I wanted to show everybody and cook everything.”
What’s the connection between food and climate change?
The production of food involves activities that are drivers of climate change. For example, when forests are cleared for grazing livestock, fewer trees are left to help reduce the greenhouse gases that lead to climate change. Cattle and other livestock also emit sizeable amounts of these gases. Transporting livestock and food across long distances requires fossil fuels that contribute to the greenhouse gas problem. Even food waste in landfills produces greenhouse gases.
But sustainable food practices can help decrease greenhouse gases. That’s why more people are choosing climate-friendly approaches to food, like eating less meat and dairy and cooking with more local ingredients.
Many organizations and people in King County are reducing climate change in the ways we get our food, like the White Center Food Bank and Cascadia Produce in Auburn. In fact, making fresh, local food for everyone is one of the aims of the King County Strategic Climate Action Plan. We feature stories and photograph in A Shared Table about some of the farmers, fishers, volunteers and workers making locally grown produce accessible to more people, educating others about sustainable and healthy foods, and reducing the amount of food waste in King County.
Try out the recipes!
We hope you will enjoy cooking from our cookbook and be inspired by the stories it contains! Download the cookbook: A Shared Table: Delicious, Climate-Friendly Recipes from King County or view below.
Learn more about the Climate Health Equity Initiative: kingcounty.gov/climateandhealth
Learn more about about the King County Strategic Climate Action Plan: kingcounty.gov/SCAP
Recognizing our cooks and partners
This was a project of the Climate & Health Equity Initiative at Public Health – Seattle & King County.
Thank you to the community members and King County staff who shared their recipes, expertise and experiences with us:
Recipe contributors: Lina, Meera, Derek, Mercedes, Roberto, Michael, Zoe, Parniyan, Pakiza, Patra, Faisal, Cat, Khadija, Chamila, Meredith, Sal, Shafiullah, Gabriela, Val, Wendy
Interviews: Noé Cáceres, Ray Hilborn, Michael Lufkin, Carmen Smith, Sean Stratman, Heather Trim, and Jeremy and Jillian Vrablik
Writers, graphic design, photography/videography, illustrations, and project management: Rolando Avila, Jen Dev, Agueda Flores, Lilly Fowler, Cat Hartwell, Elizabeth Kimball, Brad Kramer, Meredith Li-Vollmer, Lori Panico, and Erica Zucco
Originally posted on January 15, 2026.