Positive changes to promote responsible eating doesn't involve going to tortuous lengths.
Responsible eating starts at home. It means
that it’s up to you to make the right choices about the food you eat, the
amount you eat, where the food comes from, and just as important, the effect it
has on the planet. Food production and diets are linked, but if you are
wondering how you can contribute healthily and more sustainably as a family by
eating responsibly, here are some doable suggestions.
Choose
healthy food
With so many different types of diets and
diet plans out there, you're bound to be confused, especially when it's full of
dos and don'ts. An eating plan, such as the Mediterranean lifestyle with food that's
close to nature, pleasurable, and healthy, is appealing. And, if the food is
chockfull of nutrients as well, that's even more encouraging for responsible
eating. You can understand why amongst 35 fad diets, the flexible Mediterranean
eating plan was voted the best by US News and World
Report in 2019.
And the environmental impact?
According to research, the Mediterranean dietary model comes with lower environmental impacts and richness in biodiversity with positive local economic returns. Scientists also say that the Mediterranean diet can reduce greenhouse gas emissions by up to 72%, land use by up to 58%, energy consumption by up to 52%, and water consumption by up to 33%. Great potential. But to manage, it will need collective consciousness.
Eat
Seasonal Products
Another responsible eating habit to get
into is buying local vegetables fruit grown and picked in season -- you’re bound to find them tastier and more
nutritional. Foods grown out of season are often mass-produced and not allowed
to ripen naturally. Granted, post-harvest treatments such as ripening agents
allow producers to meet consumers’ demands, but these products suffer from a
lack of flavor.
Also, it's less expensive to buy local; these
are food supplies which don’t need a lot of storage and require very little
transport.
 |
| Buy Fresh and seasonal fruit and vegetables to avoid waste |
Avoid waste
Food waste refers to edible food no longer
fit for consumption, which gets dumped. Throwing food away is not
responsible eating. Admittedly, consumers cannot control food losses at a
production level, but what you can do is learn how to tackle food waste at
home.
Food waste has become a significant climate
change problem. Very often, leftover food or unopened packets of vegetables gets
forgotten at the bottom of the refrigerator. What happens? It is thrown in the
trash bin. One way to avoid this is to buy fresh as much as possible and buy
only what's needed. If you can't do that, then chop those vegetables up, boil
them and make a good old fashioned stock for soups and stews. Smart shopping
and keeping food scraps at a minimum (not putting too much on the plates) are
also ways of reducing the food waste problem.
Compost
Your Garbage
Food scraps and yard waste contribute to
more than 28% of what we throw away.
Just think organic wastes get buried, eventually producing methane, a
greenhouse gas released into the atmosphere. A practical solution is to convert
your kitchen waste into recycled organic material called
compost. Vegetable peelings, eggshells and coffee grounds, grass clippings, and leaves are excellent
material to add to your compost heap because once broken down compost becomes a
low-cost source for your garden. Composting, even on a small scale, is sustainable
and can make a difference, especially if you share with the neighbors.
Nurturing the planet is everyone’s
responsibility. Before making the switch to any diet or changes in eating
habits, think about the responsibility you have, not only to yourself but also
to the planet. Equally important, you are responsible for shaping your family's
future. The earlier children are taught
about responsible eating with the world in mind, the better.
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