Food not only impacts human health, but the health of our beautiful planet.🌏🍀
When it comes to climate change, our global food system is actually a major contributor. In fact, it’s responsible for approximately a third of all greenhouse gas emissions (GHGs) across the planet (manufacturing, processing, and transportation as well as the emissions from the animals that are raised for food production). Plus, there’s so many other factors to acknowledge, including unsustainable water usage, deforestation, use of inequitable labor, and pollution of air, water, and ecosystems.
While environmental eating can be complex and multi-faceted, here are just a few key concepts to keep in mind when shopping for food:
👉Opt for Plants First🌱: plant-based foods emit 10 to 50 times less GHGs than animal-based products.
👉Limit Animal-Based Products, Especially Red Meat: limiting animal-based food choices will have a hugely positive impact. A great way to reduce the impact of these food choices (red meat, dairy, chicken, eggs, or other animal-based favorites) is to look for regeneratively-raised options. Regenerative agriculture is a circular system where animals graze and then naturally fertilize pasture land with their waste. This helps that land to build healthy soil, sequester carbon, and even restore ecosystems.
👉The Less Processing, the Better: Not only processed food are going through their own manufacturing process with its own emissions but its consumption is also inextricably linked to chronic disease.
👉Invest in Local and Organic: While local and organic farming systems are not always following the gold standards for environmental farming practices, Organic agriculture avoids the use of the gnarliest chemicals within the system.
