Eating Differently

It's all the buzz in today's environmental news; when it comes to climate change and food, it's not just about eating locally, it's about eating differently. That's because only 11% of the greenhouse gas emissions from meat and dairy comes from transportation. The rest comes from fertilizer, feed production, manure management, animal digestion (which results in some serious methane) and the food production.  So even buying locally grown meat and dairy does not cut emissions by that much. The study says that you are better off making different choices like more chicken, fish, legumes and vegetables. 

Since raising livestock contributes a whopping 18% of greenhouse gas emissions (that's more than transportation) the food choices you make can have a significant impact. Here's an experiment; go animal protein and dairy free for 2 weeks. Get your protein from combining grains and beans and your calcium from leafy greens. Keep track in a journal of how you are feeling physically and mentally. You might just find that whereas you thought your body needed all that meat, what it actually needed was a cleaner source of nutrients. And one that is better for the environment!

Here's a recipe to get you started:

Chop some broccoli, carrots, and onion. Throw the chopped vegetables in a pot with a cup of brown rice, some salt and pepper and 2 cups of water and a tablespoon of olive oil. 30 minutes later add some freshly shelled peas and some chopped swiss chard. Cook for another 10 minutes. Eat, enjoy!