Recently, there has been an abundance of posts online from people advocating the 'save the planet' movement. In truth, the Earth has withstood much higher CO2 levels than are present today (now over 400ppm) and as that number rises, the concern is not on the planet but the living things that are so accustomed to living on it. Humans have evolved on a planet which has never been above 300ppm until now, and in truth we are unsure as to how we as a species will cope in the future.
Although advocacy of this movement is excellent and has really pushed the climate change motion forward, I cannot help but want to clarify that we are not saving the planet, the planet will be fine. We are saving the many species which have evolved to live on it, and this includes us.
25% of the global greenhouse gas emissions come from the global food system with food production being one of the largest contributors to our carbon footprint. Food production emits 50% of our global methane (A greenhouse gas 30 times more potent than CO2) into the atmosphere. With this, deforestation is the primary source of new land in the tropics and therefore there is no opportunity for the atmosphere to recover as both deforestation and food production drive CO2 up.
It is not just growing the food which is a problem. Problems include ...
Increased meat consumption - As the world has become increasingly wealthy, meat consumption has increased dramatically. This is bad news for the environment as rudiments (cattle and sheep in particular) emit huge amounts of methane into the environment.
Inefficient use of food - Much of our food is grown for animal feed which is a huge waste as at each trophic level energy is lost.
Fertilizer use - excessive use of cheap Nitrogen fertilizer causes high Nitrous oxide emissions (N2O) which is a potent greenhouse gas.
Food wastage - one third of all food is wasted and in developing countries the most food waste is post harvest.
Transportation - an increased demand of access to all fruit and vegetables at all times has meant food which is not in season needs to be imported internationally, increasing the negative effects on the environment through fossil fuel use.
Eating an unhealthy diet - wealthier people are beginning to eat many more processed foods which tend to contain 'empty calories' leading to over consumption and inefficient use of food.
What can we do?
Here are some simple steps we can undertake to keep our use of food in check and environmentally sustainable.
1. Eat a healthy, balanced diet (avoid overeating)
2. Reduce meat (flexitarian, vegetarian, vegan)
3. Eat chicken rather than beef
4. Eat seasonal, field grown fruit and vegetables
5. Avoid airfreighted/hothoused fruit and veg
6. Accept reduced choice
7. Do not overbuy food (avoid waste by eating it)
To test out some of the ways we can help the environment one choice at a time, me and Emily will be undertaking various challenges each month to assess just how easy it is to actually live a sustainable life.
In the month of February we will be going VEGAN, reducing our overall meat and dairy consumption to see just how easy and accessible it is to completely cut out these foods in the UK. We will be reporting back throughout.
Thank you for reading.
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