How You Eat Affects The Environment
10/19 From The Grist
Snack and Diane An interview with sustainable-food advocate Diane Hatz
Ever dreamed of eating your way across the country? This summer, Diane Hatz did just that on the Eat Well Guided Tour of America. Convinced there was more to the sustainable-food movement than met the eye (i.e., it ain't just happening on the coasts), Hatz and her colleagues from Sustainable Table partnered with several other organizations to organize a 25-city tour that stretched from West Hollywood, Calif., to New York's Hudson Valley. Hopping aboard a biofueled bus, the group set out to discover the true tastes of American eaters.
new in Grist: An interview with sustainable-food advocate Diane Hatz
How you eat affects the environment at least as much as how you drive your vehicle.
The following are points to consider when shopping, cooking, eating out, and eating the meal.
1) Quantity.
A woman whould eat no more than 1200 calories a day and a man should eat no more than 2000 calories a day. Most Americans eat far more than their recommended dietary limits. This affects more than just your body fat content.
It takes energy to produce any food. And since we are no longer the true hunter gatherers our bodies are designed to be, it takes far more energy than the sun to produce our grains and vegetables as well as the grasses eaten by our meat sources.
It takes petroleum fuels to plant, water and harvest our grains and vegetables. Then it takes petroleum fuels and electricity to transport these to processing plants. It takes petroleum fuels and electricity to process the foods, package the foods, deliver the foods and store the foods until we use petroleum products to pick the foods up. That's all before we even prepare it for ourselves.
If we eat less, we are using less fuels overall to sustain us and our lifestyle, thus helping our environment.
2) Where we eat makes an enormous difference. Americans eat out an average of 20% of the time. 1 out of 5 meals - or just over 4 meals a week.
When you take into account the amount of fuel used to get to the restaurant, then the amount of electricity and natural gas it takes to create your meal, there is a huge environmental impact. Now factor in the amount of fuel it takes to get all of the workers to the restaurant, the fuel it takes to remove the packaging and uneaten foodstuffs from the property. And finally, factor in all of the items from #1.
By eating at home, you have better portion control, use far less energy per serving, and far less petroleum fuels per serving from farm to plate. You also save an incredible amount of TIME - something we all need more of these days.
3) Where you shop has several implications. Driving around for bargains to save a dollar here or there ends up not being much of a bargain when you look at the amount of fuel wasted in the process. Considering the price of gas and the future of its price, shopping at only one or two stores begins to make far more sense.
When in season, shop your farmer's markets. Most small farmers are virtually organic (for economic reasons as much as environmental), so what you buy from them has far less impact on the environment than produce found in your large grocery store. Also, the amount of fuel consumed to bring it from farm to market is substantially less than that from grocery stores. Check the labeling on your produce at the store. CA, WA, OR, TX are samples.
Check the labeling on your seafood. China, Thailand, and other countries are common. Buy seafood produces in the US - the amount of fuel used to get it here in a fresh state from half way around the world is enormous!
4) #3 works right into #4. Eat for the season. Yes, strawberries in December are a wonderful treat, but consider where they had to come from - the southern hemisphere! Think of the energy impact of such a journey for a half a pint of fresh strawberries that don't even taste like your local strawberries.
Freeze some when they are in season locally for that December taste of June.
Buy and eat squash and apples - fruits and vegetables that store through the winter months.
5) How you shop is also a great segue from #3. Rather than making frequent trips to the store, make only 1 or 2 throughout the week. It takes a bit of planning and a bit of storing, but unless you can walk to your store, the amount of energy you save (not to mention TIME), will be substantial. Why waste all of that empty space in your refrigerator when you can use it - which will consume less energy than the empty space does? - an empty fridge uses more electricity than a full one.
6) Reduce your red meat. I like a good cut of beef as much as the next person. So I'm not advocating removing it entirely from your diet. That's foolish and unrealistic. But cutting down isn't. The amount of energy it takes to raise beef cattle far outweighs the amount of energy returned from the cattle in the form of meat and other products retrieved from the carcass.
Raising goats, chickens, fish, pigs, etc. is far more efficient than beef.
Also reduce your consumption of overfished species. Fishermen must take their boats out ever further to harvest the same amount as even just 10 years ago. Cod has taken an incredible hit in the fishing industry. Help the environment by eating fish that are either farmed by sustainable methods, or wild fish that are more plentiful and more sensibly harvested.
7) How you cook has a very large impact on the environment.
Cook in quantity. Rather than cooking a single serving for 5 minutes, cook 5 servings for 5 minutes. You use only slightly more fuel to cook all 5 at once than just a single serving.
Use your microwave to start the cooking process. I know no one who likes a full meal cooked in the microwave. Meat has got to be the worst tasting in the world. But by starting your vegetables, your oven-cooked meals and your reheating in the microwave can save 75% in fuel consumption.
If you make pies - use pyrex and start the pie in the microwave. 5 minutes in the microwave saves at least 20 minutes in the oven.
8) Recycle. It sounds foolish, but so many people don't. Compost your vegetable scraps and egg shells. Recycle your plastic, glass and metal containers that your food came in. Reuse your glass containers to store foods in the refrigerator. This helps cut down on the amount of plastics consumed in the way of bags and plastic wrap.
Snack and Diane An interview with sustainable-food advocate Diane Hatz
Ever dreamed of eating your way across the country? This summer, Diane Hatz did just that on the Eat Well Guided Tour of America. Convinced there was more to the sustainable-food movement than met the eye (i.e., it ain't just happening on the coasts), Hatz and her colleagues from Sustainable Table partnered with several other organizations to organize a 25-city tour that stretched from West Hollywood, Calif., to New York's Hudson Valley. Hopping aboard a biofueled bus, the group set out to discover the true tastes of American eaters.
new in Grist: An interview with sustainable-food advocate Diane Hatz
How you eat affects the environment at least as much as how you drive your vehicle.
The following are points to consider when shopping, cooking, eating out, and eating the meal.
1) Quantity.
A woman whould eat no more than 1200 calories a day and a man should eat no more than 2000 calories a day. Most Americans eat far more than their recommended dietary limits. This affects more than just your body fat content.
It takes energy to produce any food. And since we are no longer the true hunter gatherers our bodies are designed to be, it takes far more energy than the sun to produce our grains and vegetables as well as the grasses eaten by our meat sources.
It takes petroleum fuels to plant, water and harvest our grains and vegetables. Then it takes petroleum fuels and electricity to transport these to processing plants. It takes petroleum fuels and electricity to process the foods, package the foods, deliver the foods and store the foods until we use petroleum products to pick the foods up. That's all before we even prepare it for ourselves.
If we eat less, we are using less fuels overall to sustain us and our lifestyle, thus helping our environment.
2) Where we eat makes an enormous difference. Americans eat out an average of 20% of the time. 1 out of 5 meals - or just over 4 meals a week.
When you take into account the amount of fuel used to get to the restaurant, then the amount of electricity and natural gas it takes to create your meal, there is a huge environmental impact. Now factor in the amount of fuel it takes to get all of the workers to the restaurant, the fuel it takes to remove the packaging and uneaten foodstuffs from the property. And finally, factor in all of the items from #1.
By eating at home, you have better portion control, use far less energy per serving, and far less petroleum fuels per serving from farm to plate. You also save an incredible amount of TIME - something we all need more of these days.
3) Where you shop has several implications. Driving around for bargains to save a dollar here or there ends up not being much of a bargain when you look at the amount of fuel wasted in the process. Considering the price of gas and the future of its price, shopping at only one or two stores begins to make far more sense.
When in season, shop your farmer's markets. Most small farmers are virtually organic (for economic reasons as much as environmental), so what you buy from them has far less impact on the environment than produce found in your large grocery store. Also, the amount of fuel consumed to bring it from farm to market is substantially less than that from grocery stores. Check the labeling on your produce at the store. CA, WA, OR, TX are samples.
Check the labeling on your seafood. China, Thailand, and other countries are common. Buy seafood produces in the US - the amount of fuel used to get it here in a fresh state from half way around the world is enormous!
4) #3 works right into #4. Eat for the season. Yes, strawberries in December are a wonderful treat, but consider where they had to come from - the southern hemisphere! Think of the energy impact of such a journey for a half a pint of fresh strawberries that don't even taste like your local strawberries.
Freeze some when they are in season locally for that December taste of June.
Buy and eat squash and apples - fruits and vegetables that store through the winter months.
5) How you shop is also a great segue from #3. Rather than making frequent trips to the store, make only 1 or 2 throughout the week. It takes a bit of planning and a bit of storing, but unless you can walk to your store, the amount of energy you save (not to mention TIME), will be substantial. Why waste all of that empty space in your refrigerator when you can use it - which will consume less energy than the empty space does? - an empty fridge uses more electricity than a full one.
6) Reduce your red meat. I like a good cut of beef as much as the next person. So I'm not advocating removing it entirely from your diet. That's foolish and unrealistic. But cutting down isn't. The amount of energy it takes to raise beef cattle far outweighs the amount of energy returned from the cattle in the form of meat and other products retrieved from the carcass.
Raising goats, chickens, fish, pigs, etc. is far more efficient than beef.
Also reduce your consumption of overfished species. Fishermen must take their boats out ever further to harvest the same amount as even just 10 years ago. Cod has taken an incredible hit in the fishing industry. Help the environment by eating fish that are either farmed by sustainable methods, or wild fish that are more plentiful and more sensibly harvested.
7) How you cook has a very large impact on the environment.
Cook in quantity. Rather than cooking a single serving for 5 minutes, cook 5 servings for 5 minutes. You use only slightly more fuel to cook all 5 at once than just a single serving.
Use your microwave to start the cooking process. I know no one who likes a full meal cooked in the microwave. Meat has got to be the worst tasting in the world. But by starting your vegetables, your oven-cooked meals and your reheating in the microwave can save 75% in fuel consumption.
If you make pies - use pyrex and start the pie in the microwave. 5 minutes in the microwave saves at least 20 minutes in the oven.
8) Recycle. It sounds foolish, but so many people don't. Compost your vegetable scraps and egg shells. Recycle your plastic, glass and metal containers that your food came in. Reuse your glass containers to store foods in the refrigerator. This helps cut down on the amount of plastics consumed in the way of bags and plastic wrap.
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8:51 AM
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