A sustainable diet is a great way to go if you want to reduce your environmental impact and maintain good health. It’s so important to play your part in helping the world become safer, and this will also impact your health for the better. But what can you do to ensure that you’re allowing yourself to have a sustainable diet? Well, here is everything you need to know!
Curbing Food Waste
Food waste is one of the world’s biggest problems, and it’s a global phenomenon that cuts across income levels. It generates unnecessary greenhouse gas emissions, wastes water and land, and destroys nature. It’s all about preserving food, such as implementing proper techniques to allow it to stay fresher for longer, using the freezer, and even eating smaller portions. Since food waste is only natural, you can always get a compost bin to break down the waste properly.
Swapping Out Processed Foods
The foods you eat are a big part of your overall health. Swapping out processed foods for whole foods is an easy and effective way to make a sustainable diet. Processed food is anything that’s been altered in some way, such as by cooking, heating, freezing, or refining. While these changes are necessary to ensure a product is safe and palatable, they can also detract from the nutritional value of your food.
On the other hand, real foods vary in flavor depending on the season, variety, and how or where they were grown. Real beef, for example, doesn’t taste the same as a Big Mac, and if you want to go on something like the carnivore diet, you’ll have to consume fresh rather than over-processed meat. It’s not only about your health, but the environment too. You must remember that processed foods are riddled with waste from plastic containers, foil film, and single-use bags.
Eat More Plants
Plants tend to go bad quickly, and plants such as leafy greens can’t freeze well as other plants can. However, choosing plant-based meals as the mainstay of your diet isn’t just a smart choice for your health — it’s also good for the environment. Organic is going to be the best way to go as this helps the wildlife and the groundwater. Eating more plants translates to less pollution, which is a key part of reversing climate change. It also helps you stay healthy and lose weight, plus it’s easier on your wallet!
This doesn’t mean you have to go meatless, as there are plenty of sustainable meat options. But eating more plants or even going Meatless Monday can do a lot to help save the environment. While some greens can be expensive to buy, one thing you could always try is growing your own fresh produce if you have enough garden space.
Eat Local
If you’re concerned about the planet, eating local is one way to make a sustainable diet. Eating locally reduces the fuel needed to transport food, which helps to cut down on fossil fuel emissions. Plus, this typically means that you’re eating within a season too. During these times, crops are harvested according to their natural cycles, which means they require fewer resources to ship and grow than foods out of season. Usually, restaurants and grocery stores advertise this, but you can also check out your local farmers’ market.
Switch to Eco-Friendly Options
While this may sound fairly challenging, it’s further from the truth. Nowadays, more farms, restaurants, and food manufacturers are teaming up and looking into ways to make what we consume more eco-friendly so the environment and wildlife can improve.
One of the easiest ways to do this is by choosing foods that are grown in a more eco-friendly way. For example, look for organic fruit and vegetables that have been cultivated in a way that keeps habitats intact for migratory birds. Another way to reduce your dietary impact is to swap meat with plant-based protein sources like beans, nuts, and sustainably-caught fish.
But if you’re not a fan of doing all of this research, or you’re limited on what you can buy, you can opt for buying products that offer sustainable packaging. It sounds small, but when you’re doing this, you’re letting stores and manufacturers know that sustainable packaging is in demand and they’re making the right decision.
Thank you for reading!
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