Bright green advice: Choosing foods wisely to protect the planet
1. Buy fresh and stay close to home: Buying local produce when in season not only supports local farmers but it can also reduce the carbon footprint. After all, the longer a food travels, the greater the cost to the environment.
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2. Ditch conventionally grown beef (and dairy): Choose more grass-fed beef which, unlike conventionally grown meat, doesn’t come with a nice dose of antibiotics, steroids and added hormones and is less petroleum-intensive.
The same goes for other animal products: buy free-range chicken and instead of farmed fish choose wild ones caught with sustainable, restorative and regenerative practices that are not detrimental to the ocean — check out this website.
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3. Enjoy more veggies: Unlike animal products, veggies require much less energy to grow and they do not emit any greenhouse gases. Plus, plant foods are rich in health-promoting fibre, vitamins, minerals and antioxidants.
Sick of plain ‘ol steamed veggies? Try roasting them in the oven; flip them on a grill for a few minutes or sauté rapidly with a little bit of coconut or sesame oil. Add some zing to your salads with some homemade vinaigrette — chop some onions, add white vinegar, a little bit of extra-virgin olive oil, some Dijon mustard, pepper and herbs like thyme, dill, parsley or oregano; refrigerate for at least an hour before drizzling on your fresh salad.
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4. Cook at home: Not only will you be saving money, consuming fewer calories, less added sugar, sodium and fat but you’ll also be helping to save energy and reduce packaged waste.
5. Buy in bulk: This would require less processing and packaging and is also more ‘wallet friendly’.
6. Consume and waste less: Reducing calorie intake does not only lead to one less notch on the belt but it also diminishes stress on the environment. And every time you want to buy something tell yourself that buying anything you don’t really need may harm the earth.
Remember that short shopping lists and less waste greatly cut energy use and slows global warming. Reducing our calorie intake by a measly 10% would be a change we would all benefit from.
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