DFY Environmentally Friendly Diet Plan
In today's world, where environmental concerns are highly important, and where "sustainable" and "environmentally friendly" are increasingly prevalent buzzwords, have you ever thought about the impact your diet has on the planet?
Imagine a diet that not only nourishes your body but also sustains a healthy environment. Your personal diet may seem small in the grand scheme of environmental concerns, yet it plays a significant role in your individual carbon footprint and overall greenhouse gas emissions.
In this comprehensive guide, we'll explore what such a diet entails — unveiling practical tips to curate a nourishing, yet sustainable diet, highlight its importance, and explore the multifaceted benefits it brings for your wellbeing and for the planet.
What Is an Environmentally Friendly Diet?
An environmentally friendly diet — often referred to as a sustainable diet — is a way of eating that aims to have a low impact on the environment while providing healthful and nutritious food that gives your body all the nutrients it needs.
The most advertised diets by the mainstream focus on less meat: a low meat Mediterranean diet, vegetarian diet and vegan diet. However, minimizing animal protein intake is not a requirement for following a sustainable diet. What is important is to choose pasture-raised beef, chicken, or pork and to buy organic, locally sourced, and seasonally available food whenever possible.
There is no restriction on meat in order to follow an environmentally friendly diet. In fact, findings show that 100% pasture-raised beef is produced with 94% green water — that is, water from natural rainfall and the same kind held in plants which requires no additional inputs from local water sources.
Moreover, meat is highly bioavailable in essential nutrients our body needs whereas plants though healthy, have anti-nutrients that make them hard to digest like phytates, tannins, lectins and oxalates, have less bioavailable forms (1, 2) of micronutrients and are generally less concentrated in micronutrients overall. Eating animal-based products ensures that you feel filled up leading to less highly processed foods intake making it easier to maintain healthy eating. Compared to meat alternatives and even plant-based dairy, pasture-raised cows can do more to reduce carbon in the atmosphere and improve the plant ecosystem.
Key Principles of an Environmentally Friendly Diet
The aim of a sustainable diet plan is to benefit individual health and preserve our planet by reducing greenhouse gas emissions, water use, and land use associated with food production. There are three key principles of an environmental sustainability diet:
Sustainable Sourcing: Choosing foods produced in ways that protect natural resources and ecosystems
Reducing Food Waste: Minimizing the amount of food that goes to waste, which, in turn, reduces the environmental burden
Minimizing Carbon Footprint: Opting for low-carbon food choices to reduce greenhouse gas emissions associated with agriculture
The Importance of Sustainable Diets
Sustainable diets are increasingly important in today's global context where climate change and food security are pressing issues. Our food choices significantly impact the environment, with some foods contributing more to greenhouse gas emissions and requiring more resources than others.
For instance, the production and transportation of international produce and meat, conventional farming and out-of-season produce tends to generate a much higher carbon footprint. Moreover, a shift towards local diets contributes to a sustainable food system, promoting biodiversity and preserving natural resources.
As such, adopting a sustainable diet is a proactive step we can all individually take to mitigate our environmental impact, contribute to a more resilient food supply chain, and promote a healthier planet for future generations. Sustainable farming practices include certified organic, biodynamic, 100% grass-fed and grass-finished meat and regenerative agriculture.
Environmental Benefits of Sustainable Diets
The benefits of adopting a sustainable diet extend beyond mere personal health advantages. They impact the environment, the global economy, and the health of the population at large.
Reduced Greenhouse Gas Emissions
Sustainable diets contribute significantly to the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions, as they favor locally sourced, seasonal foods that require less energy for transportation and preservation. By choosing regeneratively-raised meats and locally-grown produce, we can drastically decrease the carbon footprint associated with our food supply. Even better, regenerative agriculture sequesters carbon, and fixes the farming business model. It produces more nutritious food, helps protect our health, and generates profits. Adopting regen ag globally would displace all the carbon we now emit.
Further, reducing and ideally eliminating ultra-processed foods from your diet is better for the planet and your health. Results showed that UPF represented 19% of the diet, but contributed 24% to the diet's greenhouse gas emissions, 23% to water use, 23% to land use and 26% to energy demand.
Conservation of Water Resources
Switching to 100% grass finished beef is also a step in the right direction. Since pasture-raised cows primarily rely on green water or water from natural rainfall for their water supply, it is a choice that supports more sustainable water usage and helps to preserve our water resources.
Promotion of Biodiversity
Regenerative agriculture methodology includes moving animals strategically around in their fields (rotational grazing). The cows don't overeat any particular area and they efficiently compost the pasture. Compost is a desirable soil amendment; it increases soil biodiversity and microbial biomass. This diversity is key to healthy ecosystems and can help prevent the extinction of certain plant and animal species.
Fruit and vegetable farmers practicing regenerative agricultural land focus on creating creates healthy soil, and thus, strong crops, and resilient natural systems that don’t require chemical intervention to manage pests and diseases.
Enhanced Public Health
Environmentally friendly diets prioritize healthy food. In particular, this means locally sourced and in-season fruits, vegetables, legumes, whole grains, and pasture-raised beef, pork, and poultry and wild-caught fish and seafood that also include sustainability practices to reduce bycatch and overfishing. Healthy foods are associated with lower risks of chronic diseases like heart disease, obesity, and type 2 diabetes. A shift towards this type of diet can contribute to improved public health outcomes.
Economic Benefits
Shifting to sustainable food systems could bring economic benefits such as increased job opportunities in sustainable farming and reduced healthcare costs linked to diet-related diseases. Furthermore, consumers could save money by purchasing locally-sourced, in-season food.
Personal Benefits of Sustainable Diets
Embracing a sustainable diet not only contributes to sustainable food systems but also offers immense health benefits. Let's dive into how making environmentally-friendly dietary choices can significantly impact your health while also contributing to the sustainability of our planet.
Savings on Food Budget
Adopting a sustainable diet can lead to significant savings on your food budget. By prioritizing locally sourced, seasonal foods, you can take advantage of lower prices. Additionally, choosing foods that are in line with sustainable practices can be more cost-effective in the long run than relying heavily on processed foodstuff that causes preventable modern diseases.
Promote Weight Loss
Sustainable diets can significantly contribute to weight loss and the maintenance of a healthy weight, contributing to a reduced risk of obesity. There is no need to eat a strict plant-based diet to lose weight, either. While high-fiber foods help with digestion, especially soluble fiber, which can also promote a healthy gut and help reduce belly fat, at the same time, pasture-raised red meats and free-range poultry and eggs supply you with plenty of protein to feel full for longer, preventing overeating and snacking between meals.
Building Meaningful Connections With the Local Community
Sustainable eating encourages people to buy food from local farmers and producers, which supports the local economy and fosters a sense of community. By shopping at farmers' markets, participating in community-supported agriculture programs (CSAs), or buying 1/4, half or full animals (cows, pigs, etc.) from local ranchers you can form meaningful connections with those who grow and produce your food.
How To Make a Sustainable Diet Plan
Preparing an environmentally friendly or sustainable diet plan requires a conscientious approach to food selection and consumption.
This approach involves eating in a way that prioritizes sustainability, human health and ethics. This involves considering factors such as the environmental impact of food production, transportation, and waste. It also calls for a shift in dietary habits to favor foods that are not only nutritious but also have less environmental impact. It involves choosing foods and meal practices that minimize harm to the environment while promoting well-being.
Here are some tips to consider:
Eat local fruits and vegetables: Food transportation contributes to carbon emissions. By choosing locally-grown and in-season foods, you reduce these emissions. Locally grown produce will also make you buy foods that are also in season which also happen to be the freshest and taste the best!
Source meat and dairy carefully: Sustainable diets are not automatically vegan or vegetarian. The key is to source locally and from regenerative farms. We’ve all heard that beef is a water hog, often enough that it’s considered common knowledge. Review the source - a UNESCO study - to see what we can unpack about that claim. Holes are poked, rants are ranted, and nuance is added.
Take note that plant-based foods like meat and dairy alternatives are also highly processed and are not better for your health or environmental footprint because of their heavily reliance on GMOs (soy and/or corn). Lab grown meat is worse than regular meat.
Opt for organic foods: Organic farming practices are generally more sustainable and better for the environment as they use fewer synthetic chemicals. Organic farming now matches conventional farming yields. The cost of the Organic seal can to expensive for most small farmers to obtain so an alternative are biodynamic and regenerative farms.
These are arguably even better for the environment as they go beyond organics, in a number of directions, ultimately seeking a more holistic approach to agriculture. They protect natural resources and ecosystems such as with cover crops, drip irrigation, composting and rotational grazing.
Minimize processed and packaged foods: These foods are often energy-intensive to produce and their packaging contributes to waste. Buy in bulk, bring your own bottles and produce bags and get body products without added water like bar shampoo, toothpaste tablets, laundry soap sheets, etc. Here is a great example of a local company that embodies this method.
Reduce food waste: Plan your meals, use leftovers creatively or freeze them, and compost food scraps to reduce waste. You can also participate in ugly produce programs like Imperfect Foods or Misfits Market that sell produce with cosmetic defects but with no other issues.
Grow your own food: If possible, start a small garden at home, even in containers. This can be a fun activity, and it reduces the need for transportation of food.
Stay hydrated with tap water: Bottled water generates plastic waste and requires energy to produce and transport. Tap water — when it’s safe to drink — is a more environmentally friendly choice stored in glass or stainless steel water bottles.
If you are already following a good diet that follows national dietary guidelines, you can adapt it to become more sustainable. Take the protein-rich Atkins diet for instance. Although the diet is high in protein and animal foods, you can adapt it by choosing organic, free-range meats and minimally processed foods.
Final Thoughts
Eating with the environment in mind doesn’t have to be complicated or expensive — it’s possible to create an environmentally friendly diet plan that is relatively easy to follow and filled with tasty, nutritious foods.
There are little to no downsides in terms of your own personal health and benefits. In fact, it can support better health and overall well-being in the long run!
More importantly, though, making conscious choices about what you eat and how it's sourced isn't just good for you; it's also beneficial for the planet. Sustainable diets can help reduce your carbon footprint and promote a more sustainable food system. It is a powerful tool in combating climate change and promoting environmental health.
Let's remember that every meal presents an opportunity to make a positive impact. Your decision to embrace a sustainable diet contributes to a healthier planet and a healthier you. If you're considering going on a sustainable diet plan, our team is here to support and guide you all the way.
Contact us today for support with making these changes.