Eating Eco- Friendly Food for a Better Planet

Eating healthy food is also good for the environment. The plant-based diet is the healthy choice of many. There are some foods such as biscuits and fizzy with high sugar drinks that have a low impact on the planet’s health. Choosing more sustainable diets is one of the ways for good health and thus protecting the environment. Are you environmentally conscious and hungry? Here are few eco-friendly questions that you may ponder upon.

Does what we eat have an effect on climate?

Yes. The food processing system of the planet-warming greenhouse gases generated by humans each year is responsible for one-quarter of the raising and harvesting of the plants, animals, and all the plant or animal products we eat from processing, packaging, and shipping globally.

How does contribute to global warming?

Upon deforestation for farms and livestock, huge amounts of carbon are released into the atmosphere which heats up the planet. The fossil fuels operating the farm machinery, production of fertilisers, and shipping of the foods around the globe contribute to the generation of emissions.

Which foods have the largest impact?

Scientific results show that beef, lamb consists of a large fraction of proteins which is roughly the same as the amounts of emissions from cars, trucks, airplanes, and ships worldwide with plants-based products being the ones contributing with the smallest effect.

What food choices I can make to reduce the climate footprint?

People in wealthy countries consuming little dairy products and red meat shrink their food footprint by at least one-third by shifting to the vegetarian diet. Without dairy consumption reduce emissions. Eating less meat and dairy can also reduce emissions.

What about chicken?

Among livestock, poultry has a lesser climate impact. The chicken bred in the modern day is converting the feed to meat thus being extremely efficient. Thus, it has prompted major concerns towards animal welfare.

Is cutting down eating meat a solution?

Not necessarily. A sustainable food system must include plenty of animals. Cows and other livestock are raised on the pasture which is otherwise unsuitable for growing crops. This not only leads to letting them eat the crop residues that go as waste but also produces manure which can be used as a fertiliser. Also, animal agriculture provides
livelihood to many billion populations worldwide.

How can meat be climate-friendly?

The advances in animal biotechnology help to shrink the livestock operations of grazing the animals, feeding quality feeds. For example, in the US, beef production is more even though the cattle number has declined to a good proportion.

What is fake meat?

Plant-based meat substitutes such as starches, oils, and other synthetic protein and protein products mimic the taste and texture of the meat. So jurisdiction on the basis of whether these products are healthier or not, do they likely have the smaller environmental effect is a promising question to answer.

Jashan Jot Kaur is a researcher at Punjab Agricultural University, Ludhiana.