Quote:
|
Originally Posted by cotonpal
Yes, I forgot to add the claim of saving the planet, a trifecta of self-righteous egotistical thinking.
|
The following article from the same newspaper as the previous article, is a prime example:
Quote:
The disturbing truth about avocados – and other food swaps you need to make now
Your lunch... or the planet? We do a deep dive on the diet that can save the planet – and shrink your waistband
For climatarian Donna Collins, 38, it was a documentary that made her change the way she ate for ever. ‘It just highlighted how damaging modern farming is in so many ways,’ says Donna, an architect and owner of online interiors store Domo.
'Areas that used to have ancient forests and beautiful, diverse wild plants are now just depressing squares of grazing pastures, and I simply couldn’t continue to turn a blind eye.’
In the six years since, she’s cut out meat entirely, swapped dairy for oat milk, and focused more on buying organic to reduce the impact of pesticides on the land. As well as being more content about her place in the world, she says she’s never felt better.
It’s billed as the diet that will help save the planet – and also turn around your own health. And the climate-friendly way of eating has gone so mainstream that everyone from health experts to fast-food chains is leaning into it. So what is climatarian eating, and why is it bad news if you like avocados?
It’s not just another way to say ‘vegetarian’ or ‘vegan’ – although that may be part of it. ‘It means eating to reduce all elements that contribute to a food’s carbon footprint – which also means considering the amount of processing involved, how far it’s transported and how much of it you buy or waste,’ says Dr Alona Pulde from nutrition app Lifesum, which is increasing the climatarian advice offered to its users.
If you’re eating to save the planet, local, seasonal, unprocessed and plant-based foods are in; meat, dairy and water-intensive crops like avocados are likely out.
It’s estimated that 34 per cent of the world’s man-made greenhouse-gas emissions are linked in some way to the food we eat. ‘It’s astonishing that there is not massive discussion on this,’ says Timothy Lang, emeritus professor of food policy at London’s City University.
‘It was barely even discussed at COP26. That’s not to say coal and deforestation aren’t important, but what drives deforestation is food production and if we want to have any chance of meeting net-zero targets by 2050, it’s an issue we need to address.’
The climate-friendliness of a food can be determined by analysing a huge range of factors, such as how much power is used in making or storing it, and how much water is used growing a crop or, in the case of meat, cleaning a factory or farm.
It considers the potential pollutant impact from pesticides and the loss of biodiversity when wild land is converted to a single crop or grazing pasture.
Then add the energy used getting the food from the farm to your plate – in transportation, packaging, refrigeration and store lighting, ‘and even that used by you driving to pick it up and cooking it’, says Dr Pulde. Suddenly, you can see why the contribution to climate change of the food you eat might be so large.
The good news is that while politicians might not be talking about it much yet, companies are – and 2022 is going to see the link between climate change and our diet highlighted more than ever before. In the US, chain restaurants Chipotle and Just Salad already mark climatarian options on their menus.
In the UK, noting that avocados have a large carbon footprint, Mexican chain Wahaca has created an avo-free alternative to guacamole (according to Carbon Footprint Ltd, a pack of two avocados has almost twice the emissions footprint of a kilo of bananas).
Carbon-footprint labelling on food bought in shops is also coming. Already, Quorn and Oatly packaging shows a measure called ‘C02e’, which converts all the greenhouse gases emitted while making a product into the equivalent amount of CO2.
It’s a complex equation, so we’re not quite at the stage of counting carbon like calories (although if you want to try, the WWF suggests a daily C02e budget of 4.77kg from food – we’re currently averaging about 5.17kg in the UK). It’s more so you can compare brands and products to help you make better choices.
To streamline things further, an organisation called Foundation Earth is currently trialling a carbon traffic-light system on foods, like the one used for sugar and saturated fat, while Unilever suggests we might soon see carbon-neutral aisles in supermarkets, similar to the free-from ones we have now.
Even the canapés at your next conference might get a green makeover as more corporations focus on their carbon profile. ‘Our clients are asking for more transparency and so we’re starting to work with a company called Foodsteps to analyse our recipes and actually provide a carbon score on the menu,’ says Holly Congdon from luxury events company Lettice.
What used to be a lifestyle on the eco-fringes of society is becoming more and more established – so how can you get in on it?
The first and most important thing is to cut back on your meat and dairy consumption. ‘Animal products account for 58 per cent of the greenhouse gases emitted [in producing food] – and of that, beef and lamb account for 50 per cent,’ says Professor Lang.
If you can’t bear to give up meat altogether, try the ‘Veggie 5:2’ – where you cut out meat for five days a week. Waitrose predicts this will be one of the biggest food trends of 2022.
Then start making small, specific swaps. Giving your whole diet an eco-overhaul in one go is overwhelming, so Emily Buchanan from Climate Change Coaches suggests focusing on one item a week. ‘Take avocados: it’s a very thirsty plant and you can’t change that, but perhaps you decide only to buy avocados grown in Spain, as opposed to South America – that reduces the food miles.’
Something else we can all embrace is reducing portion sizes and limiting food waste. ‘Our grandparents would have a chicken on a Sunday and make it last two to three more days with leftovers and using the carcass for stock – we need to go back to this mentality rather than just throwing food away,’ says Professor Lang.
For good ideas on how to make your fridge go further, have a look at the new book The Zero-Waste Kitchen by Charmaine Yabsley (out 13 January).
If your motivation slips, consider this: going climatarian might even see you drop a few pounds. ‘Much of planet-friendly eating also reflects healthy eating behaviour,’ says Professor Lang.
‘It’s been suggested that if we just followed healthy eating guidelines like cutting back on red meat, particularly processed meals, and reducing sugars and fats, greenhouse-gas emissions would go down – along with the cost to public health.’
And yes, each of us really can make a difference. ‘I love the saying, “We don’t need a handful of people doing zero-waste perfectly, we need millions doing it imperfectly,”’ says Donna Collins. ‘And the same applies to eating in a more ethical way.’
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/food-an...-need-make-now/
|
 |