As part of the Ethical Living IGTV series by Grow Club, I guest hosted an episode on sustainable food! I love this topic and you can watch this via the @growclub.co instagram page.
I've summarised the key takeaway messages here to make reviewing and accessing this info easy.
What is sustainable eating?
A sustainable diet can mean lots of different things. It includes:
Economic sustainability: How financially viable the food system is.
Ethical/Social sustainability: Human rights, fair pay, animal welfare, etc.
Health: Eating in away that allows us to be and stay healthy
Environmental sustainability: How food impacts the environment.
Here I focus on environmental sustainability. I discuss 6 tips to eat and live more sustainably which can be used as a guide to help us minimise our environmental impact. Of course I also touch on healthy eating because no diet is sustainable if it isn’t sustainable for our own well-being as well :)
1. EAT MORE PLANTS
It's that simple. We want to reduce our consumption of meat and dairy because there is so much evidence revealing the large amounts of green house gas emissions caused by animal farming.
It's a leading cause of deforestation, water usage and ocean dead zones.
It's also a very inefficient waste of land space to grow food for farmed animals, before we eat the them ourselves.
Going vegan/vegetarian is known to reduce your carbon footprint by up to half, but simply making small changes and consciously eating more plant foods allows us to naturally reduce our consumption of the more resource intensive meat and dairy foods.
Simple actions include:
Switch dairy milk to a soy/other plant milk alternative, ensuring these are calcium fortified
Filling half your plate with vegetables at meal times
Choose plant based protein options often.
Eco-friendly meal idea #1: In the video I showed you guys my cheese-free, planet friendly pasta bake recipe, which you can find here.
Small consistent changes overtime do make a difference.
2. SHOP FOR LOCAL AND IN SEASON FOODS
This is to reduce food miles. A food mile refers to how far your food has to travel before reaching your plate. The lower the food miles, the less green house gas emissions is generated during food transport and processing.
In-season produce are more likely to be local (= less food miles!) and also have less artificial processing to keep them fresh, making them more eco friendly. They also often taste better, are cheaper and can have more nutrients as they are fresher.
It’s a win-win if you ask me and you'll also be supporting your local farmers and food growers.
3. REDUCE FOOD WASTE AND PACKAGED FOOD CONSUMPTION
About 1/3 of all food on the planet is wasted. That’s a hell of a lot.
Food packaging can also be really unsustainable, often made from plastic and most of it will find its way to land fill.
Some ways to reduce your food waste:
4. LOOK FOR SUSTAINABLY SOURCED FOOD
Some food companies are starting to be conscious of their environmental footprint and put in effort to make their food as sustainable and ethical as possible. This means that the environmental and social impact of the food is considered.
For example, cacao/cocoa in foods sourced from deforested rainforests emit high amounts of greenhouse gas emissions and can be exploitive towards workers. Choosing to buy fair-trade is a much better option.
Supporting these businesses often helps them to grow and increases the demand for sustainable products in the future market.
5. DIVERSIFY YOUR DIET AS MUCH AS POSSIBLE
Regardless of your diet, some foods will be more resource intensive than others. Not relying on foods can encourage biodiversity and be better for the environment.
For example, avocados are really water intensive and in terms of environmental sustainability, probably shouldn’t be eaten at most meals. Choosing other sources of plant fats, different plant proteins and switching up your grains, fruit and vegetables often will allow you to get in a variety of nutrients and is more sustainable long term.
Eco-friendly meal idea #2: The salad. Yes it's basic idea but its always an easy meal or side dish that you can diversify every time with whatever foods you have on hand.
I usually start with a green leafy vegetable as a base (spinach, lettuce, rocket, a combination of different greens)
Add vegetables: Steamed broccoli, baked sweet potato, pumpkin, shredded carrot, steamed peas…you name it, add it.
Throw in some time of grain/carbohydrate: Quinoa, rice, buckwheat, cous-cous, potato etc.
Add a source of protein: Legumes, baked chickpeas, baked tofu, falafels, etc.
Drizzle over a delicious dressing: You can use your favourite store bought one or a simple olive oil/balsamic dressing. OR my personal favourite is to mix a nut butter/tahini with lemon juice, salt, dried herbs, sometimes apple cider vinegar, and use that.
That’s just a simple salad formula which you can change up all the time. It's nourishing, planet friendly and an easy way to diversify your diet.
6. GROW YOUR OWN FOOD
As much or as little as you can. This is about getting into the mindset of being self sufficient. It can be as simple as having a small herb garden by your window, or soaking the roots of pre purchased herbs so they can regrow (e.g. spring onion, coriander, etc.).
If you have a garden or space where you can plant fruits and vegetables, go for it.
Nothing is more sustainable than growing your own foods and being self sufficient where you can.
That's it, I hope you've found these tips useful. Remember, it's not about being perfect but rather working to be better always and making changes which you can stick to.
It's the little actions taken everyday that work for you which make a big difference in the long run.
Comments