Earth Focused Eating
- Oct 3, 2024
- 5 min read
Happy belated Earth Day!! (it was Monday) As I continue this month’s newsletters with a focus on our environmental impact and our health, I want to talk about the idea of “earth focused eating”. What do I mean by this? Everything we eat has an environmental impact, from the box of cereal for breakfast to the nice juicy bacon cheeseburger for dinner, or the strawberries we eat in December in Wisconsin.
We may not think of it, but the choices we make of the foods we eat has a great impact on our environment. When we consider these are are earth focused eating. A study shows that one-third of greenhouse gases produced by humans is from our food production. How, you ask? According to the United Nations, most greenhouse gas emission related to food comes from agriculture and land use. This is from an article on their website:
“[Agriculture and land use] includes, for instance:
methane from cattle’s digestive process,
nitrous oxide from fertilizers used for crop production,
carbon dioxide from cutting down forests for the expansion of farmland, [and mangroves that are removed to make room for shrimp farms]
A much smaller share of the greenhouse gas emissions of food are caused by:
refrigeration and transport of food,
industrial processes such as the production of paper and aluminum for packaging,
the management of food waste.” (United Nations)
How can we reduce our carbon footprint with what we eat?
eat more whole foods in season and from local sources
This is the goal. I know from my own experience that this is not easy or even possible sometimes. Especially living in the Midwest where we have winters where nothing grows. Remember it’s not about being perfect; its first being aware of the consequences of our choices, then knowing this, make better choices when we can.
1. Less meat & more veggies
Let’s start with what may be the easiest one: eat less meat and eat more vegetables. I am an omnivore. I like meat and believe animal proteins are necessary for good overall health. My husband is an avid hunter and fisherman. When I started to cook less meat for dinner, I got some pushback from him, as maybe many of you have or will as well. Or maybe you feel this way too. “Where’s the meat?”, he’d say. It wasn’t until he started to get in tune with how his body felt when he ate a steak that he didn’t object as much.
The resources it takes to grow cattle are astounding and devastating to the planet. Most of the meat produced in America comes from concentrated animal feeding operations (AFOs/CAFOs). There are many issues with these very large operations (USDA N.D; Hribar, C. 2010):
Soil and ground water contamination from large amounts of animal waste
Air pollution
Large quantity of animals in confined space = need for bacterial and infection control with antibiotics = you consuming those too
Animals don’t live a normal life – fed grains instead of grass, confined to a building or small area of land
CAFO with 800,000 pigs = over 1.6 million tons of waste a year. That's 1 1/2 times more than annual sanitary waste produced in Philadelphia
Annually, livestock animals in U.S. produce between 3 and 20 times more manure than people in the U.S. produce, or as much as 1.2–1.37 billion tons of waste
Though sewage treatment plants are required for human waste, no such treatment facility exists for livestock waste.
The chart below shows the environmental impact of foods. It’s quite interesting. After looking at this, try to aim for the foods with the lower scores. Just start with eating a vegetarian meal once per week; try “Meatless Monday”. And then go from there, maybe it’s 3 times per week. Then load your plate with lots of yummy vegetables! Eat the rainbow – include lots of different colors. To get a complete protein for that meal, combine legumes (peas, beans, lentils) with grains or legumes with nuts or seeds. You can check out these recipes to get your started! easy-vegetarian-dinners.pdf
2. Consider the source
When choosing any of your food, consider the source. I especially stress this when it comes to animal foods. The quality of that animal protein is key to our nutrition. I like this quote by Elizabeth Lipski: “We are what we eat eats.” This is so very true. So, if you’re not interested in reducing the amount of meat or animal products you eat, make sure it’s from a small farm where the animals live the way they are meant to live: outside, eating grass, bugs, etc. Not kept in a confined space eating processed foods. When those animals live a good life and eating healthy, that creates nutrient dense foods for us: Omega-3 rich dairy, eggs (you can tell by the color of the yolks – you want BRIGHT yellow), and meat. Omega-3 is the essential fatty acid that we need and typically don’t get enough of to help protect our heart, brain, and all organs against inflammation, which is the main cause for diseases.
Where do you buy these items:
Local farmers markets
Do a Google search for “[Wisconsin or where ever you live] meat/dairy CSAs”
Some grocery stores (or if you’re lucky to live near a co-op) will carry them
Look for grass-fed/finished or pastured (organic and free range doesn’t mean much anymore)
3. Eat in season and locally
For us living in Wisconsin or somewhere where food doesn’t grow all year, this can be tough or impossible if we want to eat fresh, whole foods. Why should we try to eat in season and locally? As shown above, some of the greenhouse gas emissions come from transportation of foods. You know those delicious strawberries we eat in December…those travel a long way to get to us; many of the fruits come from Chile and Mexico. Another reason is due to the taste and nutritional value of foods grown and picked when not ripe or in season. A great example are tomatoes: if you don’t like tomatoes, it could be because you’ve only eaten restaurant tomatoes that are pink and tasteless. A fresh garden tomato ripened on the vine does not even compare.
How can you eat in season and locally:
Shop local farmers markets (Wisconsin Farmers Markets)
Join a CSA (community supported agriculture) - some have fall and early spring shares
Grow them yourself – if you don’t have a lot of land or any at all, try container gardening or see if your local community has a community garden where you can rent a plot – or ask a friend if they have space
Some grocery stores will highlight which produce is from local farms
Freeze or can your local and in season foods for winter use
This is a great seasonal cookbook: Eating Pure in a Processed Foods World, by Farm Girl Fresh – I met these lovely Minnesota ladies a few years ago at the Garden Expo in Madison.
Trying to focus on eating as seasonally as possible when the food grows in your area is the key. We still want to eat fresh whole foods during the winter and due to where we live those foods have to travel to us. So maybe just being aware of how far the food travels and choose ones that are closest.
Remember, it’s never about perfection! It’s about being aware and making the best choices we can make. We all start somewhere – just doing our best – one step at a time!
References
United Nations. Food and Climate Change: Healthy diets for a healthier planet. Retrieved from https://www.un.org/en/climatechange/science/climate-issues/food
Hribar, C. “Understanding Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations and Their Impact on Communities”. National Association of Local Boards of Health. 2010.
United State Department of Agriculture. Natural Resources Conservation Service. (N.D.) Animal Feeding Operations. Retrieved from https://www.nrcs.usda.gov/wps/portal/nrcs/main/national/plantsanimals/livestock/afo/