Eating your way to a cooler planet

It turns out that facebook might actually be useful for something after all (other than the inevitable "how many 'friends' can you collect" competition).

A (real) friend in the US posted a link to this article in Saturday's New Your Times.

It seems she reads the Times on weekends too, not just to avoid ease my way into work weekday mornings, like me.

While I don't entirely agree with his argument, Mr Bittman raises some valid points, and it's good to see a declared non-vegetarian tackling the issues raised by the intersection of meat production and the environment.


Industrial farming (whether it be for meat or vegetables) is unsustainable. There is no argument to be had here, the facts speak for themselves. Even the (somewhat) less intensive factory farming practices in Australia has dire environmental consequences.

Anyone professing a concern for our planet's future (and that's everyone these days isn't it? It's a cause celeb and people toss phrases like "carbon offsetting" and "global warming" into every day conversations with reckless abandon) should stop and think about what they consume and how it got to be on their plate.

Not a day goes by without me hearing someone make some kind of declaration about the state of the environment. Don't get me wrong, this is a good thing, but if these declarers (and the rest of us) are going to implement the ideals they espouse (practice what they preach, so to speak), the first segment of their lives they should examine is their diet.

It's great to have a short shower (or no shower at all) and switch lights off when you don't need them, but sitting in the dark with slightly stinky armpits while guzzling down a factory farmed steak and three (monocultured) vege isn't making the workd a better place.

If we are going to get serious about global warming there is no time like the present (in fact, if we don't get serious about it soon, in future there may not be a present at all). And the first thing we should all do is a quick impact assessment of our eating habits.

It's not so hard:

In general, the less distance food has travelled from the farm to your plate the better. I say "in general" because you should make an exception for organically produced processed foods which are better than their non-organically produced counterparts - even if they have travelled half way around the world to get to you.

This leads neatly to the next point: eat organic where ever possible (especially processed foods). Organic farming methods enhance - rather than degrade - soils, produce healthier foods, and are far more sustainable.

Eat less processed foods. The shorter the ingredients list on the packet the better. No packaging is even better (farmers markets and co-ops are great places to avoid packaging - just remember to bring a few recycled bags with you)

Minimise your intake of meat. Obviously eliminating it altogether is far better, but one step at a time. Vegetarian (and vegan) foods are amazing if you make a small effort in the preparation. If you would like to try the vegie option (even just one meal a week makes a huge difference) there are plenty of easy and tasty options right here on this blog (or collated at our other blog - the political kitchen).

That turned into more of a rant than intended. Funny what can happen when you randomly log into facebook over breakfast (not something I make a habit of doing).