The Best Foods You Need to Stock Your Pantry With if You’re Following an Eco-Friendly Diet

Climate change and food are linked in complex ways. The global food industry needs energy to grow, transport, sell, cook, and serve foods, leading to greenhouse gases, and ensures that water, forests, and land resources are degraded or destroyed. Climate change creates a vicious cycle of destructive activity leaving environmentally vulnerable countries with food insecurities. As climate change increases, agricultural potentials decline. But poor countries need food and rely on enhancing complicated food logistics and food aid. Improved adaptability and resilience is today a critical part of all global food needs. All foods are not transported, stored, cooked, and served equitably. Some foods have a massive environmental impact while others don’t. If factors influencing ecological impact are reviewed holistically, an eco-friendly diet is possible. But these benefits must be moderated. Eating meat daily, is unsustainable. Almost all foods have caveats but clear choices make diets more eco-friendly. Some foods to add to your eco-diet:

Lentils and Beans

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These humble super-foods from the legume family provide fibre, protein, and other nutrients with a very low carbon footprint (43 times less than beef, require less water to grow). They clean and fortify soils, enabling other crops to grow, besides being cheap. Lentils make great soups and are great with curry seasoning. Beans belong to the legume family, coming in many colours and sizes: black beans, pinto beans, red kidney beans, and more. Beans have very low carbon and water footprints and are full of protein, fibre, and nutrients. They ensure great soups and cold salads, but excel with rice.

Figs

Figs are actually not fruits but flowers and are the most resilient plants on the planet. There are over 750 fig varieties across the planet and are lynchpins in eco-systems and year-round growth provides critical food sources for many animals. They’re super nutritious and eaten in various ways.

Local Organic Vegetables and Fruits

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The “organic” movement increases environmental impact, as animals get more space to move around, their environmental impact increases (Eat less Meat). Crops grown far from sales destination, despite being sustainably grown, accumulate huge eco-footprints due to travel. For vegetables and fruits, organic always is environmentally beneficial. The more organic the farm, the better it is. Organic crops maintain soil health, reduce water use and clean the air. Requiring fewer chemicals to grow, they’re better for humans.  Eco-friendly fruits and vegetables include onions, potatoes, broccoli, apples and oranges.

Mussels and Local, Seasonal Fish

Many mussels are harvested through long collector ropes that are put out into oceans and filter and clean ocean water to extract carbon to create their shells with low environmental impact and a source of animal protein besides being delicious! The biggest issue facing global fish supplies is not the changing climate but blatant overfishing throughout the world.

Fair Trade Teas and Coffees

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Coffee is the second-highest traded commodity in the world, while tea is easily the most widely consumed beverage after water. Coffee and tea are often grown in unsustainable, unethical ways. Pesticide use and deforestation are rampant, plantation workers are exploited, and complex supply chains burn up oil. Amidst this bleak context, brands are trying to improve conditions. Find out fair and eco-friendly coffee and tea brands. It’s possible to create food so as to maintain environmental integrity. Though not easy, individual choices of consumers could re-shift global priorities.