Help the Environment with Your Food Choices

Five Things You Can Do Now to Help the Environment with Your Food Choices

While there are many things we can do to help the environment – drive less, encourage reusable bags (or no bags), and try to use less energy overall, what are things we can do to help the environment with our food choices?

While this list is not comprehensive, and there is much more than just these five things – this is a start.

Eat What You Have

Before heading to the store, make a menu or place another order for pickup or delivery.

What do you have already?

Look in the pantry, check the crisper drawer, and the bottom of the freezer for what you have.

If it is still good, use it – ideally this week—no need to buy more food if you already have plenty.

Not sure what to do with the artichoke hearts, corn, and black beans? If you don’t feel creative, then there is this fabulous thing you are using right now called the internet, and you can search for ideas.

Or you can try something new and toss the cans of artichoke hearts, corn, and black beans with some diced tomatoes, cumin, red wine vinegar, and olive oil, and you have got yourself a salad. You could also cut up and use a bell pepper hanging out in the fridge.

Don’t Toss Food Because Of A Date On The Package

The “use by” and “best by” dates are not expiration dates. These dates cause much confusion and lead to food waste. It is essential that once the food is opened, time does matter. However, if food is unopened, the food is likely still acceptable past the date.

I went into more details in the Clean Out the Fridge post on what to eat, keep, and toss. 

Make At Least 75% of Your Meal Plant-Based Foods

In the U.S., meals, and plates are often meat-centric. Instead, we want to have most of the meal be plant-based, with half of the meal consisting of fruits and vegetables and a quarter of whole grains. And don’t worry, you can still get plenty of protein.

Choose Local When You Can

There are just some foods that we cannot get local. For example, coffee is not locally grown unless you live in Hawaii.

But when it comes to some foods, like fruits, vegetables, nuts, and meats, you may find a local farmer, dairy, or meat produce by going to the grower’s market or finding a local farmer where you can get a farm box each week or on a regular schedule.

Want to find a local farm near you? Check out Local Harvest. 

Grow Your Food

Coming from me, this is almost hysterical, but it is an option. I know many people love to garden and grow their food.

I am not that kind of person. I don’t mind being outside and getting my hands dirty. Not at all.

I could make the space. And I could find the time.

I am also a person who was once given a tomato plant that yielded ONE cherry tomato—and gifted a chile plant that I could not keep alive.

I would starve if I had to grow my food. So, I am ever grateful that there are people dedicated to ensuring that I have food available and know I will pay for it.

I will also be there when friends tell me that they have bags of peaches or apples from their trees.

So if this isn’t your thing, I get it.

But if it is something you can do, do it and keep it up. Every little bit helps.

What are more tips? Share with me.