The Importance of Eating as if the Planet Mattered

Giving Compass’ Take:

• FoodTank shares with us ways to eat what to eat that will more sustainable for the environment whilst having a positive impact on one’s health. 

• How can we change eating behaviors to be geared towards environmental sustainability?

• Read an interview with Lynsi Burton, a journalist committed to a meat-free lifestyle while writing about how eating habits affect the environment. 

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Eating as if the planet matters means eating more healthful foods, wasting less, helping reverse climate change, and reducing the rates of overfishing and overexploitation of soils. These changes can also help consumers save money and build more resilient communities.

In honor of Earth Day, Food Tank is highlighting five high-impact actions each person can take to eat as if the planet mattered:

• Tailor your portion sizes- Overeating hurts more than just our bodies. The environmental impacts of industrialized food production and consumption cost the global economy trillions of dollars through water pollution, habitat destruction, antimicrobial resistance, and other avenues.
• Waste less: Some 1.3 billion tons of edible food go to waste every year globally. This is equal to more than two tons (4,000 pounds) of wasted food per hungry person per year. National, international, and industry initiatives are making significant gains in increasing consumer awareness of the environmental impacts of food waste.
• Eat a more plant-based diet: Americans eat more meat than residents of any other country, according to the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). Eating a plant-based diet means rethinking the way meals are organized and, instead, making plant foods the focal point of the plate.
• Eat Low on the Marine Food Chain: When choosing which seafood products to incorporate into meal plans, an easy way to keep environmental impacts low is to aim low on the food chain.
• Eat Forgotten and Endangered Foods: Globally, agrobiodiversity is in rapid decline. Ninety percent of crop varieties have disappeared from farmers’ fields and only 12 plant species account for 75 percent of the world’s total food supply, according to the FAO.

Read the full article about eating like the planet mattered by Danielle Nierenberg at Food Tank