What we eat has an impact on climate change!
Earth’s current environmental crisis is largely caused by carbon emissions into the atmosphere. It has reached alarming levels and sadly the USA is by far the leading contributor to this problem with 16.24 tons per capita in 2017.
Trimming the environmental CO2 and methane will take a long-term strategy involving changes in humans’ lifestyles. Our food supply chain is a major contributor of carbon emissions. For starters, let’s consider actions we can take now, starting today with the food we eat. Paul Greenberg, in The Climate Diet (2021) recommends that we:
- ease up on meat and cheese
- eat more plants grown in season and fish
- be a picky plant eater – avoid processed and locally out-of-season
- do not eat products air-freighted into local stores
- frozen foods: easier to ship slowly, equal in nutritional value & often cheaper
As Michael Pollan asserts – “Eat Food-Mostly Plants-Not Too Much”