The food that you eat contributes massively toward your individual carbon footprint, as each meal or snack can either help to save the planet or speed up its destruction. Unfortunately, there are so many popular foods that are causing a variety of different environmental issues, from deforestation to toxic waste, so it’s never been more important for you to make a positive change. If you’d like to find out more about how you can eat a more environmentally friendly diet, then simply read on to uncover an array of handy hacks and top quality tips that you can make the most of now!
Buy Local or Native Produce
One of the best ways to reduce the environmental impact of your diet is by choosing to cut down your ‘food miles’. Food miles are the total distance that your food has had to travel before reaching its final destination (your plate), as a large variety of items will have been transported via truck, ship, and plane just to get to your local grocery store. In order to work around this issue, it’s essential that you make an effort to buy produce that’s native to your home country, perhaps even from a local vendor who grows or manufactures their food nearby. Opting to cut down your food miles by eating food that hasn’t had to travel for thousands of miles will cut your carbon footprint dramatically, as very little fuel will need to be burned to drive the produce from one town or city to the next rather than sending it all overseas. It can also help you to better understand your local environment, the seasons, and how fruitful a small patch of land can really be, as you’ll get the chance to try produce that’s grown nearby within your local climate. So, if ever you’re browsing the grocery store and find produce that’s somehow made its way from the other side of the world, then put it down and move on.
Cut Down Your Meat & Dairy Intake
Another brilliant way to help reduce your impact on the environment when eating involves reducing your meat and dairy intake in favour of plant-based alternatives. The reality is that animal agriculture is extremely detrimental for our planet, as it contributes masses of greenhouse gases as well as toxic waste, and it takes so much water and energy to sustain just one cow. Arable farming is far more environmentally friendly, as you need to use a lot less water and the crops are highly unlikely to produce a comparable amount of waste product, too. You don’t need to turn totally vegetarian to make a positive impact, as even doing as little as swapping out one meal a week for something plant-based is enough to make a difference. Rather than eating a burger that’s rich in fat, salt, cholesterol, hormones, and more, opt for a healthy plant-based bean chili – both the planet and your body will thank you for it! You can even find egg and dairy-free vegan cookie dough to satisfy your sweet tooth without damaging mother nature, so there’s no time like the present to say goodbye to animal products.
