Eat a low carbon emission diet and reduce food waste
Eat a low carbon emission diet and reduce food waste
Everything you eat has a carbon footprint. Certain foods have a much higher carbon footprint and cause great pressure on the environment. Eating more plant-based foods and reducing your food waste can significantly reduce your carbon footprint.
Why
It is estimated that 14% of Australia's emissions come from agriculture.
Switching to a plant-based diet was identified as one of the most effective actions to reduce an individual's greenhouse gas emissions. Eating a plant-based diet saves eight times more emissions than upgrading light bulbs.
If food waste was a country, it would be the third-highest emitter of greenhouse gases after the US and China. Food waste is a serious problem, when you throw your food into household garbage, it turns into methane, a potent greenhouse gas.
But not just that, when you throw food away, you waste valuable resources. You waste energy that was used to grow, produce, package and transport it. The Australian government estimates food waste costs the Australian economy a whopping $20 billion per year!
Poore, J., & Nemecek, T. (2018)
How
Certain foods contribute to global warming more than others. Here’s a few tips on how to reduce your carbon emissions by following a few simple steps:
Eat less red meat
Switch to a plant-based diet
Reduce your portion sizes or how frequently you eat meat
Choose meats with a lower carbon footprint - i.e poultry, kangaroo, pig meat, or fish
Consume less dairy and other meats
Switch to plant-based liquids - i.e oat milk instead of dairy milk
Reduce your meat intake
Eat more plants - i.e beans, mushrooms, lentils, tofu etc.
Choose seasonal and local products
Eat seasonal fruit and veg - check your seasonal produce calendar online here. If you know of a fruit and vegetable seasonality calendar website in your own region, please refer to it instead. Australia is a vast country and seasonality will always depend on your location.
Avoid products shipped via air - don't buy fruits and veggies that are highly perishable out of season, asparagus, berries, green beans are good examples, food shipped via air emits around 50 times as much CO2 as transporting the same amount by ship
Promote local farmers - support your local community
Grow your own food if you are able to (here are some tips on how to grow regenerative https://melbournefoodhub.org.au/regenerative-growing/
Choose regenerative farmed food
Regenerative agriculture is a way to reverse or minimise the consequences of conventional agriculture. As soils store up to four times more carbon than plants and atmospheric pools, regenerative practices aim to increase soil quality and biodiversity on the farm. When you purchase from local sources, you can ask questions about how your food was grown. Look for terms like “pasture raised” or “pastured produce”.
Below we’ve listed four diets with a low carbon footprint.
Please consult your doctor or dietitian before making significant changes to your diet, such as cutting out entire food groups.
Climatarian diet
A climatarian diet involves cutting back on red meat, as well as reducing dairy and other meats, in favour of plant-based foods. A climatarian takes into consideration what goes on their plate; prevents food waste, composts food waste and considers the seasonality and locality of food, as well as its packaging. The climatarian diet focuses mainly on foods with low emissions. Want to switch to a climatarian diet? Check out GoClimatarian for handy tips on how to eat seasonally and locally and reduce food waste: https://www.instagram.com/go.climatarian/
Pescetarian diet
A pescetarian diet is similar to a vegetarian diet with one huge difference, pescetarians consume seafood such as fish and prawns! Check out this great blog for pescetarian diet inspiration and motivation. There’s a 7-day meal plan designed specifically for pescetarians: https://pescetarian.kitchen/pescetarian-diet-meal-plan/
Vegetarian diet
A vegetarian diet eliminates meat, poultry and fish in favor of plant-based foods. Vegetarians do consume other animal based products such as dairy, eggs and honey. If you’d like some advice on how to go vegetarian without too much trouble, check out this great website: www.vegvic.org.au/
Vegan diet
A vegan diet replaces all animal products with fruits, vegetables, and grains. Here’s a great website promoting a healthy and compassionate lifestyle if you want to consider going vegan: www.veganaustralia.org.au/
Tips to reduce your food waste:
Tips to reduce food waste from Ozharvest:
Look
Look to see what food you already have - before you shop. se the food you already have. Check the fridge, freezer and pantry, and make a list of things you need and continue to use what you do have.
Check the use-by dates on your products
Plan your meals
Buy
Buy only what you need
Shop with a list - there’s plenty of apps to help you.
Avoid deals - ‘Buy one, get one free’ may sound tempting, but usually leads to buying food you don’t really need.
Store
Store food in airtight containers
Keep fruit and veg in the fridge (not bananas)
Freeze food near its use-by date
Cook
Cook with what you have
Use ingredients up – google a recipe if you’re not sure what to cook
Love your leftovers
For more info, check out www.ozharvest.org/fightfoodwaste/what-to-do/
Sources:
National Inventory Report Volume 1, Australian Government Department of Industry, Science, Energy and Resources
FAO (2013) Food wastage footprint report
EC, JRC/PBL, 2012 Emission Database for Global Atmospheric Research, version 4.2
SARDI (2015) Primary Production Food Losses: Turning losses into profit. South Australian Research and Development Institute, Primary Industries and Regions South Australia
Poore, J., & Nemecek, T. (2018). Reducing food’s environmental impacts through producers and consumers. Science, 360(6392), 987-992. Hannah Ritchie (2020) - "Environmental impacts of food production". Published online at OurWorldInData.org. Retrieved from: 'www.ourworldindata.org/environmental-impacts-of-food' [Online Resource]