12 Days of Underconsumption is a special series from one5c laying out everything you need to know to celebrate more sustainably.
12 Days of Underconsumption is a special series from one5c laying out everything you need to know to celebrate more sustainably.
With the rush to remember everyone on our holiday shopping lists, it’s easy to forget that bad gifts often lead to something even worse: garbage. That’s why we’ve filled up a cornucopia of consumable goodies, each designed to appeal to a particular gourmand in your life.
In addition to being outright delish—and therefore way less likely to end up in the bin—each of these recommendations is shelf-stable or freezable and comes in minimal or recyclable packaging. Plus: You can find most of them in brick-and-mortar stores around the country, which means you can avoid shipping unless it’s absolutely necessary.
For the chocolate lover grasping for protein goals
JCoCo Prism Gift Box ($42 for 10 bars)
We’re a little obsessed with roasted edamame as a high-protein snack, so we were super psyched to discover the Crunch-bar equivalent in the form of an Edamame Sea Salt bar from Seattle-based chocolatier JCoCo. That bar, along with a similarly crispy Quinoa Sesame version, comes in the brand’s gift box of 10 unexpected flavor-and-texture combos, all of which are made with Rainforest Alliance Certified cocoa.
For the indiscriminate snacker
Rancho Meladuco No Date Left Behind “Grinders” ($28 for a 5-pound box)
Rancho Meladuco’s fat, succulent dates are beloved by food pros and fressers alike as killer snacks or alternative sweeteners in smoothies and baked goods. But you can help someone stock up on a freezer-full of what Bon Appetit has dubbed “the world’s best dates” at a hefty discount. Grinders are imperfect by Rancho’s standards, but they still leave supermarket dates in the dust.
For the sweet tooth who likes a twist
Salt & Straw The Best Sellers Pack: Dairy-Free ($75 for 5 pints)
The dairy-free bundle from Portland-born ice cream shop Salt & Straw includes five of its most scrumptious concoctions like Peanut Butter Brittle Caramel Fudge and Freckled Mint Chocolate Chip. The selection of pints also features the shop’s flavor of the month: December’s is appropriately dubbed the Great Cookie Swap, featuring flecks of four perennial holiday treats. If you’re feeling super generous, you can spring for a subscription ($67.50/month).
For your trendiest, cheffiest friend
Zero Acre Farms Cultured Oil ($30 for a 16-ounce bottle)
Fancy olive oil is a go-to gourmand gift, but Zero Acre Farms Cultured Oil offers cooks a unique flex. This neutral oil is made from sugar cane via an up-and-coming process called precision fermentation—think of it like brewing oil instead of beer—which avoids many of the environmental impacts of conventional cooking fats. The oil’s already catching on in professional kitchens including a few Shake Shack locations and San Francisco’s Michelin-starred State Bird Provisions.
For the salty snacker who eats the whole bowl
BjornQorn Fine Popcorn Kernels ($34 for an 8-pound 4-pack)
For those who prefer to DIY their crunchy munchies, a fan-favorite specialty popcorn now comes in 2-pound boxes of kernels. Hailing from Bjorn’s family farm in Minnesota or from one of their partners in New York’s Hudson Valley, the popcorn yields crunchier and smaller-than-usual puffs (or “flakes,” as they say in the industry). The kernels balloon into beautiful butterfly shapes whose “wings” seem designed by nature to trap your favorite toppings.
For the friend who enjoys the finer things
Zeroe Caviar ($42 for a 50-gram tin, or 2 tins for $70)
Nothing screams luxury like a dollop of briny black orbs that pop on the tongue and pair perfectly with Champagne. But production of traditional caviar—the salt-cured, unfertilized eggs of sturgeon—is less than savory. Enter Zeroe Caviar, which delivers the same experience but is made from seaweed. Zeroe is shelf-stable and affordable, and it’s already proved its mettle at Four Seasons Hotels and Michelin-starred restaurant Daniel.
For the person who’s always down for a marg
Astral Tequila Blanco ($35 for a 750-ml bottle)
Astral Tequila Blanco’s notes of tropical fruit, white pepper, and honey make it smooth enough to sip straight, but it also makes a particularly delicious marg. And, as it happens, houses, too. Producing tequila results in a waste product called bagasse, or spent agave fibers. Some brands use it as compost in their fields, but Astral works with a company called Green Loop to upcycle its bagasse into adobe-like bricks that are used in various construction projects, including Habitat for Humanity homes in Jalisco, Mexico.
For the N/A lovers
Figlia N/A Aperitivo ($43 for a 750-ml bottle)
Figlia’s nonalcoholic ruby elixir showcases a sophisticated blend of rose, bitter orange, and clove—a complexity that beguiles as well as many of its potent aperitivo counterparts. Portions of company profits go to the Partnership to End Addiction and also to environmental organizations via 1% for the Planet.
For the mixologist with too many mixers
Meliora Forever Holiday Cocktails Variety Pack ($42 for 24 cubes)
Cocktail creators who like to experiment often end up with dozens of partially full bottles collecting dust in a cupboard. Instant Cocktail Cubes are amped-up sugar cubes that contain bitters, extracts, and other natural flavors, and, with a splash of water and a liquor of choice, they dissolve into a range of specialty drinks. The Holiday Pack contains three winter-wonderland flavors like Christmas, which has notes of plum, vanilla, and coffee, and Holiday Mimosa, a cranberry- and rosemary-infused mix.
For the person who says food’s never hot enough
Homesweet Homegrown Farm-to-Bottle Microdose Hot Sauce Kit ($45 for 4 7.5-ml bottles)
Hot-sauce freaks will relish the opportunity to tinker with this curated quartet of chile extracts made from rare, single-strain peppers like the infamous Carolina Reaper. The set includes four little dropper bottles of liquid fire, along with a history and flavor profile of the chiles, which are among 50 varieties grown on a family-run Pennsylvania farm. They’ll add a dash of heat to a taco or a beer—or let any mad scientist doctor up their favorite hot sauce.