How To Eat Healthier And Save The Planet

You probably heard the saying health is wealth a couple of times in your lifetime. It is the thinking that if you got an illness it will drain the finances you earned to the last centavos on test procedures, medicine maintenance, and therapy. For many years, this thought pattern had been effective in encouraging a person to eat healthier and give their health a turn around for a better life. Nowadays, health is projected to not only pertain to a person’s condition but also to the way of eating healthier and saving the planet.

How does eating healthy impact the environment you might ask? Eating healthier will not only good for your body but it will also reduce your impact on the environment by lessening your carbon footprint you emit to the environment. According to a scientist, 20-30% of total global greenhouse gas emission comes from food production of growing crops, raising livestock and transporting the food to our plates. Currently, farming methods do contribute largely to global gas emission for the reason that land expansion for agriculture is needed to contribute to the production of meat and dairy worldwide. However, by altering our diets to a much healthier one could change all that.

Cases of life-threatening chronic diseases such as diabetes, heart diseases, chronic respiratory diseases, and several types of cancer have been a leading global cause of death yearly. These diseases have been linked to poor diets. Australians food choices of discretionary food or those foods that are high in kilo joules but lacking in essential nutrients are contributing to the nation’s health dilemma and at the same time impacting the global food system. The food demand for an increasing population puts a lot of pressure on the environment. Food system accounts for an estimated 19% to 26% of green gas emissions globally and 70% of global freshwater use. Cutting all junk foods and eating more substantial foods by dietary guidelines will eventually reduce population green gas emission resulting in a healthier you and quality of life on the planet.

What are the ways to eat healthier and save the planet? This could be challenging for some but if we really understand the impact of our food choices on the environment then changes will not be that hard. Some may welcome this and some may not but for those who are contemplating as to how they can contribute to saving the planet by changing their diets, it will be a win-win situation for both people and the environment. Here’s a list of ways you can eat healthier and save the planet.

The bigger the serving portion the higher the green gas emissions. When we eat a larger portion it will also take a lot of energy in producing the food on a larger size than the normal serving size. The super-size phenomenon doesn’t do anything good for the body and to the environment. It will only create an increase in environmental footprints. It is best to reconsider the value that we get from food and the resources in which it was produced. For your corporate catering, it is best if you will look into how much food is needed for the event to avoid food excess that sometimes results in food waste.

Cattle production is the main cause of methane emissions and deforestation. By cutting down your consumption of meat by half, it would make all the difference, especially that Australia is considered as the world’s second-biggest meat eater. Australia acknowledges the fact that cutting meat like beef and lamb in one’s diet will be a good start and reducing meat consumption won’t mean going vegan or vegetarian which will be difficult for many to follow. Instead, there are climate-friendly food alternatives that are also protein-rich like veggies, legumes, nuts, seeds, whole grains, and eggs. You can swap your meat food to more sustainable vegetarian or plant-based options to your corporate catering menu. In this way, you are providing good health to your team and doing something good for the planet without compromising on good taste.

It is also important that you know where your meat comes from whether conventionally farmed or organically farmed that uses natural regenerative farming practices because the type of emissions that a conventional animal farming generates is enormous compared to those farmed using natural regenerative farming practices. Choose meats that are labeled grass-fed or organic that have undergone a natural process of farming so you can be assured that you are eating healthy and safe meat that is free from pesticides and other chemicals.

Even harvesting these kinds of food also contributes to the release of carbon to the atmosphere. It is viewed that a crop grown in one section of the land such as corn, soybeans, and wheat can deplete the soil’s nutrient that is why it is advisable to limit the intake of these crops. Instead, good sources of healthy food that grow all year round are macadamia and avocados that are above ground foods that don’t need digging up and won’t cause any carbon to be released in the asthenosphere.

Since food is an important part of our lives, looking for eco-friendly corporate caterers and food suppliers for your events, general office party or pantry supplies are a good start to implement a few eco-positive changes in your company. Supporting office caterer and food suppliers that promote the uses of sustainable materials like recyclable boxes, trays, and food containers are worth checking. Make sure also that it adheres to a single use of plastics and incorporate good recycling practices in their workplace.

This is a sure way to be healthy and the best thing that you can save the planet. Growing your own food means that you are empowering yourself to choose the right food to serve on your plate and taking the right measures to take care of the planet earth.