From guest writer: FoodPrint
Whether it’s a salad, a hamburger, or your morning egg sandwich, any meal has an impact on the environment and the welfare of animals, people, and the planet. Industrial food production—factory farms that produce animal products, for example, or vast fields where acres of corn, soy, and wheat are treated with chemical fertilizers and pesticides—takes a tremendous toll on our soil, air, and water, as well as on workers and surrounding communities. And baked into this system is a tremendous amount of waste. But the full picture of what it takes to get food to our plates is often invisible.
The impact of all those processes and the waste associated with the entire system can be thought of as a “foodprint.” Foodprint.org has teamed up with Food Forward to share actionable steps you can take to reduce your foodprint.
Cook with less waste
Food rotting in landfills creates enough methane to account for 6 to 8 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions. And believe it or not, most U.S. food waste is produced at the household level—meaning this is one area where consumer-level actions can make all the difference.
- Learn more about the problem of food waste.
- Buy only what you know you’ll use, whether that means meal-planning in advance or making many grocery trips over the course of a week.
- Get creative to salvage ingredients while they’re still edible or preserve them for later. Use odds and ends that might otherwise end up in the trash: kale stems, leek tops, pea pods, carrot greens, apple cores, and more.
- Compost whatever you absolutely can’t use. If you don’t have curbside compost pickup where you live, you can look for community composting sites or build your own backyard bin.
- Donate your surplus to a community fridge or food pantry (but if you’re donating perishables, make sure they’ll take them first). If you’re a gardener with excess produce, look for options like Ample Harvest or Food Forward’s Backyard Harvest Program.
Eat less meat but better meat (or no meat at all)
Research shows that meat production is responsible for 10 to 20 percent of greenhouse gas emissions and that reducing global meat intake is increasingly urgent. When cutting back, you can also make sure that the meat you’re buying is better meat: raised not on conventional factory farms but with alternative systems that avoid many of the problems with industrial animal agriculture.
- Learn more about the foodprints of beef, pork, and chicken.
- Cook with less meat and incorporate plant-based meat alternatives and protein sources like beans.
- Participate in Meatless Monday: eat vegetarian one day a week, every week. You can also check out tools for implementing Meatless Monday at your school or office.
- For what meat you do buy, look for pasture-raised or grassfed products and learn what different labels and certifications can tell you about sustainability and animal welfare.
Buy less plastic and packaging
Consider making some simple swaps in your shopping and cooking to stop accumulating soft plastics and single-use servingware. Remember, though, that the issue of plastic pollution and single-use packaging will require decisive action from governments and companies—so it’s also important to think big.
- Learn more about the environmental impact of food packaging or check out our podcast episode ”Unwrapping Food’s Plastic Problem.”
- Reusable is best—bring canvas totes and reusable produce bags to the grocery store, for example, and carry a water bottle or a coffee thermos in your work bag. At home, try products like beeswax wrap or homemade covers to cut down on zip-top bags and plastic film.
- Go for foods packaged in aluminum or glass and loose, unwrapped fruits and vegetables, and buy nonperishable foods in bulk for less overall packaging.
- When ordering in or taking food to go, look for restaurants that use reusable containers—or even ask your favorite spots if they’d consider joining a program.
- Support organizations pushing for anti-plastic legislation, like Beyond Plastics and the Plastic Pollution Coalition.
Support more robust local food systems
Small local producers need to make a living in order to thrive. If you’re able, spend some of your grocery budget with them. This goes for any level where food is purchased: Governments and institutions can buy local, too, while also instituting programs and policies that boost small-scale farms.
- Learn more about the importance of strong local and regional food systems.
- Eat seasonally by shopping at your local farmers’ market or signing up for a CSA (Community Supported Agriculture membership program).
- Support other businesses that offer local, sustainable food products, whether that’s a restaurant or a local co-op or natural foods store. Learn more on our podcast episode “Keeping It Local: Avoiding Bix Box Stores.”
- Join a food policy council or advocate for more purchasing of local food at the institutional and government level through organizations like the National Farm to School Network or the Good Food Purchasing Program.
Do more for food and farmworkers
Farmworkers face many issues in the food system both abroad and here at home. Changes must happen at a systemic level, and there are ways to prioritize worker well-being when shopping and to incorporate labor into our idea of sustainability. Food Forward works directly with farmers as a sustainable produce recovery solution.
- Learn more about labor and workers in the food system.
- Read up on different labels and certifications and what they can tell you about worker welfare.
- Prioritize products with transparent, traceable supply chains, and be aware of industries where forced or child labor is a concern. The Department of Labor keeps a list of goods produced by child labor or forced labor.
- Pressure your representatives to make much-needed policy changes, like farmworker heat protections.
Grow more of your own food
Perhaps the most effective way to know that your food was grown locally and responsibly is to do it yourself—and it doesn’t have to be a solitary pursuit. Around the country, communities are embracing community vegetable gardens and urban farming to support self-sufficiency, grow culturally important crops, or help people, especially young people, connect more directly to what they eat.
- Learn more about how to get your own garden off the ground.
- Promote biodiversity with heirloom seeds from small, sustainable companies like Seed Savers Exchange or the Alliance of Native Seedkeepers.
- Join or establish a community garden—the American Community Gardening Association has plenty of resources to get started.
- Advocate for government support and funding for urban agriculture and garden education at schools, and look for organizations in your area promoting food sovereignty through farming and gardening.
Want more structure?
- Sign up for FoodPrint’s 4-week Reduce Your Foodprint Challenge to get a month’s worth of small but concrete lifestyle shifts to help you shop smarter, eat more sustainably, and do what you can to shape the food system for the better.
- Sign up for Food Forward’s Fresh Juice News for the latest on health and sustainability.
About Foodprint.org
At FoodPrint.org, we want to help people understand their own. We also enable readers to take action that makes that foodprint smaller, providing tools to put their food habits in alignment with their social and environmental values, but also educating them about the larger food system—and why systemic problems require systemic change in local and federal policy, corporate governance, and beyond.
If you’re interested in reducing your foodprint but not sure where to start, keep reading for some guiding principles and sustainable habits you can adopt yourself, plus concrete steps you can take to try to make a broader impact in your community. Rather than thinking of this as a report card, choose a few that are compelling and try to incorporate them into your routine.