The carbon footprint of the food we eat

Mostly our eating patterns are habitual and unconscious, in part also determined by iniquitous commercial influences exposing us to unique blends of fat and sugar that ignite our pleasure centres fueling unhealthy, repetitive and ultimately destructive habits.  We’ve transitioned from traditional plant-based diets that contained some animal products to carnivorous diets that are rich in calories and processed foods, teaming with fat and sugar.  Aside from corroding our wellbeing and spawning a host of medical ailments this is also anathema to our universe.   The way the food we eat is currently cultivated and produced is unsustainable driving deforestation, species extinction, pollution and climate change, the end product being a ravaged planet that is no longer habitable.

 As the below diagram indicates diets that are animal rather than plant based and are centred around meat and dairy consumption lead to excessive greenhouse gas emissions, land use and fresh water depletion.

To produce significant change and restore our planet’s natural resources we would need to half our consumption of meat and sugar while doubling our consumption of fruits, nuts, vegetables and legumes.  If you want to find out about the environmental impact of your daily diet take the following short quiz to discover if there are any modifiable habits that would benefit both you and the natural environment. 

. https://harvard-foodprint-calculator.github.io/

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