Appearances
Fun, Frugal and Hyper-local: Grow Microgreens
How to sprout your own microgreens at home Farmers’ markets are winding down, and so is Canada’s growing season. As we go into the winter season, people are worrying about rising grocery prices once again. Puneeta was on CHCH Morning Live on Oct 7 to discuss a fun, frugal and hyper-local way people can eat green, and grow it themselves too. Microgreens! HERE’S WHY: Many of us know that seeds like lentils, beans and many spices are nutritious powerhouses; what we may not know is that when we sprout them, we TRIPLE the benefits and make it easier on our...
When Women Gather to Talk Food and Climate: Corporate Workshop
Sometimes the most powerful conversations happen when we gather around food — not just to eat, but to explore how our everyday choices can heal both ourselves and our planet. Earlier this spring, I had the honour of speaking at the Women's Excellence Alliance Spring Networking Session, and I left feeling deeply energized by the conversation that unfolded. The room was full of engaged, motivated women proving something I've always believed: when we create space for honest discussion about sustainability, people are hungry (pun intended!) for practical ways to make a difference. The Eating with Benefits™ Framework in Action During...
Why Shopping Local Matters More Than Ever: My CHCH Morning Live Appearance
When I walked into the CHCH Morning Live studio on April 10th, 2025, initially my plan was to talk about Earth Month and how my green book, Good Food, Healthy Planet was celebrating her one — year anniversary. With US Tariffs and the threats from their Government, the conversation took a different turn. Shopping Local — A Message Whose Time Has Come For years, I've been sharing the advantages of buying local — it's one of the five guiding principles in Good Food, Healthy Planet. But recent events have made this conversation more pressing than ever. With tariffs driving up...
Community, Connection, and Makhane: Event
Saturday's FREE Neighbourhood Clothing Swap reminded me why community events fill my heart. Despite the rain and transit delays, over 100 people came together to donate, swap, repair, and connect. Thank you to Works in Progress and Tanya Murdoch for inviting me, and what a delight it was to make new friends and reconnect with familiar faces. Seeing this group of creative, artistic powerhouses come together to reduce waste with such genuine enthusiasm reminded me of the beautiful things that happen when community and environmental action meet. My younger daughter and I volunteered, she folded and sorted clothes while I...
Cook Once, Eat Thrice
Cooking in bulk offers many advantages. I was back on CTV's The Social this week to show how batch cooking helps with time, cost and energy savings, all at the same time. https://youtu.be/XGSnGmIMaY0 Batch-cooking meals and then refrigerating or freezing for later can save a lot of time and energy. In this TV segment, I offer some tips to avoid the boredom of eating the same thing over and over. The solution is simple! Cook one ingredient in bulk and turn them into three different dishes. Cook once, eat thrice! Steaming Rice? Triple batch it Cooking rice in bulk is...
Break. Up. With. Plastic.
Every year, Canadians throw away more than 3 million tonnes of plastic waste, and a mere 9% of this waste is recycled. The remaining plastic waste breaks down into smaller pieces, polluting our environment. The recent single-use plastics ban is a positive first step. But, bolder, community-supported measures, particularly regarding food packaging, are needed to make a substantial difference in protecting our planet. In a TV Segment on CHCH Morning Live Puneeta talks to Annette Hamm about some practical ways we can work together to cut out single-use plastic. Watch the replay. Achievable solutions to reducing plastic: Do a trash...
How Food Diversity Can Save The Planet
Eat something different from the day before Sounds doable, right? Diversity on the plate increases the quantity, quality, and diversity of our gut microbiota which in turn supports a healthy brain. A diverse diet also supports Earth's biodiversity, which the WHO recognizes as a key threat to human survival. According to the World Economic Forum’s 2020 Global Risks Report, 75% of the world’s food supply comes from just twelve crops and five animal species. That is bad for ecosystems. In this segment I show the audience 4 examples of how we can translate the learnings from the research and make a...
3 Affordable and Practical Ways to Reduce Food Waste
Climate-smart Practices in the Kitchen Puneeta talks to Melanie and Sid on Breakfast Television about sustainable kitchen habits that will reduce food waste and help save the planet. Climate uncertainty is here. It's time to adopt practices that help people make a difference in our kitchens and homes. Food waste in particular is one of the key drivers of greenhouse gas emissions. It's an enormous burden on the economy. In Canada, more than half the food produced never gets eaten. This is not only a waste of food but also all of the resources that go into production, distribution, and...
How to tackle those almost-empty jars
Frugal and sustainable habits in the kitchen Peanut butter is trending on Instagram, in particular it is the peanut butter that’s cruddy and left behind on the bottom of the jar. Food & Sustainability author, Puneeta Chhitwal-Varma, goes back on CTV's The Social and joins Jess Allen and Cynthia Loyst on October 20th to take this trend many steps further. In this segment, Puneeta shows how people can adapt two of the tenets of sustainability to use what we have and to reuse the rest, and regain control of their fridge, all at the same time. Creative ways to use...
Paper or Plastic? How about neither!
5 Easy ways to choose low-waste. One of the good things to come out of our home renovations is that I have been able to reorganize my kitchen to reduce what I use, and throw away as little as possible. These low-waste habits are grounded in the same spirit of use what you have and reduce what is thrown away. Start with the big step: no more single-use plastic products Now you may think, “But Puneeta I recycle….” The truth is our recycling system was never meant to handle the volume and variety of plastics that exist today. And the harsh reality...
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