Sponsored by Love Your Mother.
Food is an essential part of life—it makes up a central part of our cultural identity and plays an important role in the economy. As our population continues to expand, the inherent imbalances in society when it comes to food and essential nourishment are becoming increasingly exaggerated. While world hunger and poverty exist, it’s incredibly important for us to adopt more sustainable practices when it comes to food and consumption. People are increasingly aware of the importance of food as a factor directly affecting health, but are less aware of the impact of producing food on the world’s resources.
In addition to the transport and energy used to heat and power our lives, the food we consume has a significant impact on the environment. Greenhouse gas emissions are produced during almost all stages of the food production chain, land and water resources are exploited, pollution is emitted, minerals and natural resources are depleted and there are well documented negative impacts of chemical herbicides, pesticides and fertilizers on our environment and neighboring communities as a result of agriculture.
An increasing amount of research is being conducted which questions the long-term sustainability of our current food production levels and our habits regarding food consumption. One of the leading advisory committees working on the future of agriculture, made up of experts from the EU Member states, concluded in their latest report that:
“Many of today's food production systems compromise the capacity of Earth to produce food in the future.”—EIPRO Report
The question remains: what can we, as everyday consumers, do to reduce the impact of our food habits on the environment and society at large?
There are many actions that we can take—which are becoming increasingly well-known and publicized by NGOs, charities and health advocates—including eating less red meat, buying in bulk and choosing sustainable products. However, the abundance of tips and guides can often be overwhelming and sources questionable. For this reason, we have put together 11 actions or changes that can be made to your eating habits, that can help in the transition to a more sustainable style of consuming.
It can often feel overwhelming and insignificant to take small, positive actions, however, the power of collective action can be great—making better choices can inspire others to do the same, creating a greater difference and cultivate progress in our societies and for our shared Earth.
Photo by Mariona Gil courtesy of Ajuntament de Barcelona (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0).
11 Actions to Make Your Food Consumption More Sustainable
1. Eat Locally
Choose to shop at a local food market, where you are supporting local businesses and reducing food miles. By supporting local producers, you are investing in your community, boosting the local economy and providing support to small-scale farms.
Did you know? Often buying directly from a local market, can be more sustainable that buying “eco” products which although sustainable, have traveled great distances to reach your plate.
2. Eat Seasonally
When selecting produce, always check to see what is in season in your area. This can reduce food wastage of seasonal produce and can reduce energy consumption used to transport out-of-season goods to your shopping cart.
Not sure what is in season? Check out a seasonal food guide, here is one for Spain produced by the Spanish Government.
Photo by photo by Mariona Gil courtesy of Ajuntament de Barcelona (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0)
3. Eat More Plant-Based Foods
Changing up your menu to include more vegetarian or vegan foods is one of the most effective ways to reduce the carbon footprint from your food consumption—multiple sources of well-respected research have shown that these food types are less carbon-intensive to produce.
Need inspiration? The Healthy Eating Plate is a great guide on how to maintain a nourishing diet. It suggests allocating half of your plate to vegetables and fruits as part of an balanced healthy diet, and encourages planning your meals while considering the effects each food type has on the planet. Transitioning towards a more plant-based way of eating is also proven to help reduce water use and deforestation. Not only that, but many vegetables have great health benefits.
Did you know? Although soy products have received a bad rep in recent years and are often linked with deforestation, soy-based vegan meat alternatives are not at fault—the majority of soy being cultivated is actually used as feedstock for animals destined for meat-production, palm-oil additives in sweets and toiletries or to be used as biofuels.
4. Minimize Meat Consumption
Reducing your red meat consumption is a well-known route to follow to benefit the environment, your health, and reduce your personal carbon footprint. Scientists are increasingly suggesting to treat it as a luxury rather than a necessity. Meat production is a substantial contributor to greenhouse gas emissions, which are produced at all stages of the production process—particularly beef production. The raising, transporting and processing of livestock for meat products requires more food, water, land and energy than cultivating plants as crops for human consumption.
5. Carefully Select Your Seafood
Seafood is often a nutritious and delicious choice in a balanced (and Mediterranean) diet, however, many of the most popular species are on-route to being—or are already—endangered. This is due to overfishing, overconsumption and unsustainable sourcing practices which deeply harm our oceans and marine food-webs. To help select more sustainable options, experts have created an “avoid” list of at-risk or endangered species.
6. Cook from Scratch & Prepare Ahead!
Although it can be hard to fit cooking into a busy schedule and convenience food is, unsurprisingly, very convenient, preparing food ahead of time reduces our consumption of single-use packaging, grab-and-go food products and can often lead to economic savings and a more nutritious meal! Store your meals in reusable plastic containers, reuse takeaway boxes or try beeswax wrap as an alternative to clingfilm.
7. Try Not to Prioritize Convenience
Convenience foods require the largest amount of packaging and employ single-use plastics. If you can, select foodstuffs with minimal packaging, recycled content or 100% recycled packaging and keep in mind some packaging cannot be recycled e.g. Styrofoam. Additionally, recyclable packaging cannot be correctly processed with food residue, so always make sure to rinse your items before putting them in the recycling bin!
8. Avoid Food Waste Where Possible
Try to take stock of the items you purchase, keeping in mind expiration dates, correct storage techniques and planning meals ahead of time can all reduce food waste. Remember, a best-before-date is not a hard cut off! Food waste reduction company Too Good To Go’s initiative highlights the importance of using your senses to assess if a product is still safely edible. What you cannot eat you can compost, feed to animals or donate to local farms.
9. Avoid Artificial Additives, Pesticides & Go Organic
Choosing organic foodstuffs whenever possible benefits everyone—the farmer, farm workers, your own health and the environment—by ensuring harmful chemicals are not used and sustainable and ethical farming practices are guaranteed. Look for trusted Eco-certified products when available. Avoid artificial ingredients, corn syrup and artificial growth hormones where possible.
10. Keep In Mind the “True Cost” of Food
When filling your basket, keep in mind the unseen environmental costs and social impacts of mass food production and industrialization—examples of this are the effect of deforestation due to factory-farmed animals and the over-consumption of out-of-season products.
11. Support Fair Trade
By supporting the rights of workers and fair-trade practices, you are helping others, often in less-developed areas of the world, who are at the greatest risk of climate change and poorer living conditions. Although it cannot guarantee environmental credentials, fair-trade organizations are much more likely to follow sustainable practices and can support vulnerable workers and local communities.
Cicely Sinclair is Sustainability Manager at Love Your Mother, a brand consultancy and design studio accelerating businesses that bring progress for Mother Earth (People & Planet). Specializing in brand strategy, design, actions & sustainability consulting, Love Your Mother exists to help build a world where individuals love and act with respect for nature and humankind.
Learn more at loveyourmother.eu or reach out at hello@loveyourmother.eu with any questions, inquiries or collaborations.
Sponsored by Love Your Mother.