What is the Global Warming Diet?
How do our food choices affect global warming? That's what this website and project, named after the original title of the book, The Global Warming Diet, Cool Recipes for a Hot Planet, set out to discover.
"D-I-E-T is a four-letter word. No one likes diets. Diet foods are boring, flavorless, and unsatisfying— words that describe the global-warming diet to a tee. It’s a machine-cuisine we are eating today, and it takes about 500 gallons (1,890 l) of oil per person each year to produce it. Talk about a greasy spoon—we emit similar amounts of carbon dioxide eating as we do by driving. U. S. government research shows that our chemical fertilizer and herbicide-based food system contributes close to 20 percent of the nation’s carbon dioxide emissions."
So how do food choices affect global warming? What’s on the menu of the Global Warming Diet?
How about a Cool Cuisine?
So what would a cool cuisine look like? In determining the carbon footprint of your next meal, consider these questions:
- How far do I travel to buy food and how do I get there?
- How much food am I buying—will I eat it all?
- What kind of food am I buying—is it plant based or animal based?
- Geographically, where is my food coming from?
- Is my food organic?
- How processed is my food?
- What kind of packaging is used for my food?
- Do I buy too many processed foods that need to be frozen or refrigerated?
- How am I disposing of the food and packaging waste?
A cool cuisine would reduce your overall carbon footprint by using fewer animal products, fewer processed foods, less bottled water, and less food and packaging waste and using more fresh, organic, seasonal, and locally grown whole foods such as vegetables, fruits, and whole grains. The benefits of eating this way are nothing new, but now we realize that our planet, as well as our body, is paying the price for an industrialized food system. It is time for a new perspective on a very old problem.
Would you rather eat 3 veggie meals per week or take public transport 3 times per week?
Fri, 08/01/2008 - 17:34 — gwdadmin