Some ways in which we can enjoy food without messing up our planet

WASTE NOT WANT NOT!

  • Plan meals for the week ahead
  • Write a shopping list (and remember to take it with you)
  • Try not to shop when you are hungry (the temptation to impulse buy can be overwhelming)
  • Don’t multi-buy foods that are perishable
  • Only cook the amount you are likely to eat – then you won’t have leftovers to
    throw away two weeks later!

USE YOUR LOAF

Different things are important to different people and not everyone can afford organic food for example unless they have grown it themselves, but something to aim for could be to buy food that fits some or all of these categories:

  • L ocal (see suggestions below)
  • O rganic (grown without chemicals or artificial fertilisers)
  • A nimal Friendly (eg free-range eggs, dolphin friendly tuna or go the ‘whole hog’ and be vegetarian!)
  • F airtrade (for things that can’t be grown in this country eg coffee, chocolate, oranges etc)

EATING ‘LOCAL’

  • Grow your own – you could even follow Preschool’s example and keep chickens
  • Buy food grown as close to home as is practical
  • Eat food when it is in season
  • Cook from fresh ingredients if you can (easier to find out where they’ve come from)
  • If needing to use convenience food check ‘where it’s been’ – some food has been on a world tour before it reaches your plate! It is more difficult to check up on a prepared meal with lots of ingredients.

(NB – Nothing is straightforward though eg a tomato grown in Britain in a heated greenhouse may have a larger carbon footprint that one grown in Spain in the sun and transported here! It can be hard work being ‘green’.)

FUTURE FRIENDLY FARMING

  • With the climate changing so fast this is vital. Adapting farming methods is essential to make it possible for people to feed themselves particularly in countries most affected by climate change. Most of us can’t be directly involved, but we can all support the people or organisations who are.

NAGGING POLITICIANS AND DEALING WITH COMPANIES WHO SELL YOU STUFF

  • Many things that need to be done to reduce the nasty things that are happening to our climate are beyond out direct control – but politicians are susceptible to nagging (this is generally called lobbying – emailing or writing to MPs, or even talking to them if you can find them) and if they aren’t they can be voted out. Also, try voting with your purse if a retail business behaves unethically.