GUIDE TWO
Sustainable Food
Our food has a carbon (and water) footprint, and this varies depending on what we eat, where it’s grown, how processed it is, what it’s packaged in and so on.
Did
You
Know?
- Food production is responsible for a quarter of all global greenhouse gas emissions.
- More than half of food emissions come from animal products.
- Approximately 30 per cent of the food that is produced never even reaches the table.
“One that is capable of not only feeding 10 billion people (expected global population by 2050) but that would also minimise greenhouse gas emissions, prevent any species going extinct, have no expansion of farmland, and preserve water. Oh, and it had to be healthy for us humans, as well as the planet.
Vegetarians have a
much lower emission
footprint
Consider these:
Just 100g red meat and 200g of chicken a week.
250ml (a small glass) of milk a day.
200g fish a week.
1 egg a week.
The majority of our protein should come from pulses and beans – 500g a
week..
Some easy things we can all do to eat more sustainably
Meat-free Monday
Or Tuesday, or Friday. It doesn’t really matter which day of the week it is, the idea is just to have at least one meat-free day a week.
Eat seasonally
Many of us have lost touch with the seasons and what they mean for the food that should normally be available at particular times of the year. We have become so used to being able to get whatever we want, whenever we want, that we forget that if we buy tomatoes in the middle of winter, they will have been grown somewhere halfway around the world and then shipped or flown in to our local supermarket.
Cook from scratch
Yes, cooking from scratch might take you a bit more time than relying on ready meals, but it’s cheaper and healthier, you’ll massively reduce your plastic footprint
Shop local
In an ideal world, we would all shop from our independent butchers, greengrocers and fishmongers, but this is becoming increasingly difficult as these small local businesses get squeezed out by the supermarkets. Shopping locally is a great way to incorporate sustainability into your diet – money spent in the local economy is far more likely to stay within the local economy, rather than go towards lining the pockets of shareholders and CEOs.
Grow your own
It’s a brilliant way to reduce plastic packaging, ensure that you eat seasonally, and slash food miles! You don’t need an allotment or a huge garden – lots of things can be grown in pots on patios, or even in hanging baskets and window boxes.
Love your leftovers
Reducing food waste is one of the most impactful things we can ALL do to make our diets more sustainable. Getting canny with leftovers and those slightly limp veg left at the bottom of the fridge or the over-ripe bananas in the fruit bowl is a brilliant way to not only eat more sustainably, but to save money too
The Love Food Hate Waste (www.lovefoodhatewaste.com) site is a great place to look for inspiration.
Sustainable Food
July 24, 2024
