Food for Thought

Out of the many personal choices I make concerning the impact of my lifestyle on myself and the world around me I consider the food I consume to be among the most important. I have been conscious of my diet since reading Fast Food Nation a number of years ago and have made great efforts to expand my knowledge of the impact food has on our planet. I try to follow a number of self imposed foods when I eat...

Eat Local: Although it is not always possible, I try to eat food produced locally as often as I can. This means trip to farmers markets (although this becomes difficult during the winter) and purchasing food at the super market that is labeled as local. This has a number of benefits, the largest being reduced fossil fuel consumption due to shorter transportation times. It also tends to support local economies and small farmers/businesses. Additionally local tends to mean fresh, which has obvious benefits to health and flavor.

Eat Organic: This one can be risky since the market is flooded with faux organic products and the government guidelines are very lax. However, purchasing truly organic food has hugely positive environmental effects. Petro-chemical based fertilizers and pesticides are a huge source of our oil consumption and thus carbon emissions.

Don't Eat Processed: Processed food has many negative effects on both personal health and the environment. Ingredients like high-fructose corn syrup, unbleached wheat flour and the many other multi-syllabic ingredients out there are tied closely to the increasing rates of obesity, and diabetes. They are also a direct result of the over subsidization of corn and food chemicals. Each of these are big contributors to the environmental damage caused by our food production.

To Do: Vegetarianism is an excellent personal decision that can halve the impact of ones diet (meat is by far the most damaging food to produce) and improve health. I have dabbled in vegetarianism before, especially when I was living with three other vegetarians. I did not find reducing my consumption of meat to be difficult, in fact I enjoyed trying new types of food to substitute protein in my diet. I am sorry to say that I did not continue my experiment in vegetarianism, I wrong I hope to right in the near future.

Following these rules can be very beneficial to the world. However it's hard to live perfectly. This last weekend would be a perfect example. My diet was, to say the least, atrocious this weekend. I broke all my rules and I splurged. My meals all included meat, many of the ingredients were processed and nothing was organic. By far the worst would have to be a chicken hoogie I pruchased as a Wawa on the way home, which included white bread, meat and vegetables probably grown half way around the world. Splurging is okay once in awhile, but it's definitely a good idea to avoid making it a habit as it is neither sustainable nor good for the planet.