Good for You, Good for Our Earth

So you thought the best thing you could do to reduce your output of CO2 emissions was to ride your bike? Well, that’s a great start; however, if you really want to reduce the amount of CO2 we produce, you need to start with what you put in your mouth.  When you account for all the emissions from seed, to plate, to landfill, the food we eat accounts for as much as 31% of the planet’s greenhouse gas emissions. That’s a gigantic Food Footprint!

Top choices that are ‘Good for You & Good for Our Earth’

1. Eat less red meat and dairy
Research shows that a diet high in red meat increases the risk of colorectal cancer. The raising of livestock for human consumption is also responsible for18% of the world’s greenhouse gas emissions. On average, red meat is around 150% more greenhouse-gas intensive than chicken or fish.

When eating red meat and dairy:
⇒    Buy organic, local and grass-fed meat and dairy whenever possible. Choose the leanest meats and trim any visible fat before cooking
⇒    Limit the amount of red meat you eat each week to 3 servings or less. A serving is 85 grams (3 ounces) when cooked – this is smaller than   a   deck of cards
⇒    Choose low or fat-free dairy products

2. Reduce your intake of processed and packaged foods

The majority of processed foods are filled with additives, high in sugar, fat, salt, and stripped of nutrients. Processed meats have a high level of sodium nitrate (salt), considered by many to be carcinogenic (causes cancer). Not only that, packaged food is extremely resource intense. Snack foods, most juices, even veggie burgers (prepared, boxed, frozen and transported) often consume much more energy through processing and packaging than non-packaged foods.

3. Eat Local

Often we think ‘Eating Local’ is the best thing we can do for the environment. In reality 80 per cent of the energy used to get food from the farm to the table occurs during food production. Transportation accounts for 10% -15 %. The best thing about eating local is actually the quality of the food and supporting your local economy. Even when the highest post-harvest handling standards are met, foods grown far away spend significant time on the road, and therefore, have more time to lose nutrients before reaching the marketplace.  When shopping for foods that perish quickly, look for sustainable locally grown foods — your body and the earth will thank you for it.

4.  Say NO to super-size

The more food you pile on your plate, the more likely you are to eat it. Ordering larger portion sizes often causes over-consumption of food, and this can have a negative impact on weight. In addition, every time a person takes more then he or she can eat, what is left on the plate causes our landfills to also grow in size. As this wasted food rots in landfills, it generates methane gas that contributes to global warming. Worldwide, 1/2 of the food produced is wasted. Wasted food is wasted energy. Warm your heart, not the earth. Eat whole food and think twice before asking for that second helping.

5. Go Organic

Many people are unsure if buying organic food is worth the extra money, as the research has not clearly shown that you gain more vitamins and minerals in organically grown food. What is not debatable though is how much better it is for our earth and subsequently our health. Organic or bio-dynamic farming decreases the amount of energy intensive artificial pesticides and herbicides that are manufactured for farming as well as eliminates any possibility of them building up in our drinking water.