{"id":102514,"key":"Eating","title":"Eating","latest":{"id":1261943,"timestamp":"2026-08-21T12:05:52Z"},"content_model":"wikitext","license":{"url":"https://www.appropedia.org/Appropedia:Copyrights","title":"CC-BY-SA-4.0"},"source":"[[File:Carbon footprint scale of meat eating icon.png|thumb]]\n\nNot all foods are created equal! The carbon footprint of different foods on a per-food-calorie basis varies wildly.<ref name=\"meat_eaters_guide\">{{Cite web|url=http://www.ewg.org/meateatersguide/a-meat-eaters-guide-to-climate-change-health-what-you-eat-matters/climate-and-environmental-impacts/|title=The Impacts - 2011 Meat Eater's Guide to Climate Change + Health|publisher=[[Wikipedia:Environmental Working Group|Environmental Working Group]]|year=2011|quote=Lamb, beef and cheese have the highest emissions. This is true, in part, because they come from ruminant animals that constantly generate methane through their digestive process, called enteric fermentation. Methane (CH4) – a greenhouse gas 25 times more (CH4) potent than carbon dioxide (CO2), accounts for nearly half the emissions generated in this study's Nebraska beef production model (...). Pound for pound, ruminants also require significantly more energy-intensive feed and generate more manure than pork or chicken (...).}}</ref> Plants produce more calories on the same amount of land and emit less carbon dioxide and methane than animals. Foods with the lowest associated carbon footprints include:\n\n* Grains, pulses, fruits and vegetables.\n* Anything you grow yourself without fossil fuel inputs.\n* Chicken — Not particularly low footprint but the lowest among meats.\n\nFoods with the highest carbon footprints include:\n\n* Red meat — Meat production [[Eat less meat|requires a lot of land]] for growing animal feed, which is the main driver of [[deforestation]] globally.\n* Dairy — Cattle also emits considerable amounts of methane.<ref>https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/8567486/</ref>\n* Processed foods — Requiring refrigeration and anything air-freighted or grown in most greenhouses (except Iceland where they are heated geothermally).\n\nPlanning meals ahead of time can help avoid the temptation to purchase prepared foods and take advantage of fresh, local food that is in season.\n\n== Eat less meat ==\n\n{{Excerpt|Eat less meat}}\n\n== Eat local and seasonal foods ==\n\n{{Main|Food distribution|Small scale agriculture}}\n\nA more sustainable means of acquiring food is to purchase locally. Buying food from local farmers reduces [[carbon offset]]s, caused by long-distance food transport, and stimulates the local economy.<ref name=\"Astyk2008\">Astyk, Sharon (2008)</ref> Also, in addition to buying local food, the food you buy is best seasonally grown. You can obtain seasonal food by buying the products which are now in season from farmers' markets.{{W|Farmers' market}} Seasonally grown food is grown and harvested within their suitable growing season.{{W|growing season}} Thus, seasonal food{{W|seasonal food}} farming does not require energy intensive [[greenhouse]] production, extensive irrigation, plastic packaging and long-distance transport from importing non-regional foods, and other environmental stressors.<ref name=\"Seymour, John 2003\">Seymour, John. ''The Self-Sufficient Life and How to Live It''. London: DK Publishing, 2003.</ref> Local, seasonal produce is typically fresher, unprocessed and argued to be more nutritious. Local produce also contains less to no chemical residues from applications required for long-distance shipping and handling.<ref>Princen, Thomas. ''The Logic of Sufficiency''. New York: MIT Press, 2005.</ref>\n\n== Obtaining food from farmers in short supply chains ==\n\n{{Main|Food distribution}}\n\nConventional food distribution is additionally resource and [[energy]] exhaustive. A shorter supply chain increases efficiency and so also reduces greenhouse gas emissions.\n\n== Obtaining food from organic farmers ==\n\n{{Main|Organic farming}}\n\nPurchasing and supporting organic products is another fundamental contribution to sustainable living. [[Organic farming]] is a rapidly emerging trend in the food industry and in the web of sustainability. According to the USDA{{W|USDA}} National Organic Standards Board{{W|National Organic Standards Board}} (NOSB), [[organic agriculture]] is defined as \"an ecological production management system that promotes and enhances biodiversity, biological cycles, and soil biological activity. It is based on minimal use of off-farm inputs and on management practices that restore, maintain, or enhance ecological harmony. The primary goal of organic agriculture is to optimize the health and productivity of interdependent communities of soil life, plants, animals and people.\" Upon sustaining these goals, organic agriculture uses techniques such as crop rotation{{W|crop rotation}}, [[permaculture]], [[compost]], [[green manure]] and biological pest control{{W|biological pest control}}. In addition, organic farming prohibits or strictly limits the use of manufactured fertilizers and pesticides, plant growth regulators{{W|plant growth regulators}} such as hormones{{W|hormones}}, livestock antibiotics{{W|antibiotics}}, food additives{{W|food additives}} and genetically modified organisms{{W|genetically modified organisms}}.<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20131026231030/http://extension.agron.iastate.edu/organicag/whatis.html Organic Agriculture - What is Organic Agriculture?] Iowa State University. 2008. Web. Retrieved on: 18 Nov 2010.</ref> Organically farmed products include vegetables, fruit, grains, herbs, meat, dairy, eggs, fibers, and flowers. See organic certification{{W|organic certification}} for more information.\n\n== Growing your own food ==\n\nGrowing your own vegetables isn't only a way to save a few coins, it is a way to reduce your carbon footprint. When growing your own food organically, you are reducing the number of chemicals that find their way into the environment. In addition, with your favorite herbs outside or on your windowsill, you don't have to make numerous trips to the grocery store for a supply. By reducing the time that you use your car, you are significantly reducing the number of carbon emissions to the environment. Besides having healthy foods to feed your family, you become kinder to the environment while at it.<ref>https://greenlivingguy.com/2021/07/back-to-green-basics-how-the-change-starts-with-you/</ref>{{Main|Gardening|Urban agriculture|Community-supported agriculture}}In addition to local, small-scale farms, there has been a recent emergence in growing ones own food; ie using [[community gardens]] or private home gardens. With this trend, both farmers and ordinary people are becoming involved in food production{{W|food production}}. This helps in reducing carbon offsets even more, and also increases self-sufficiency.\n\nAnother way to become involved in growing your own food is by joining a local [[community-supported agriculture]] (CSA). A CSA consists of a community of growers and consumers who pledge to support a farming operation while equally sharing the risks and benefits of food production. CSA's usually involve a system of weekly pick-ups of locally farmed vegetables and fruits, sometimes including dairy products, meat and special food items such as baked goods.<ref>Nabhan, Gary. ''Coming Home to Eat''. Berkeley, CA: W.W. Norton, 2002.</ref> Considering the previously noted rising environmental crisis, the United States and much of the world is facing immense vulnerability to famine. Local food production ensures food security if potential transportation disruptions and climatic, economical, and sociopolitical disasters were to occur.<ref name=\"Astyk2008\" />\n\n== Food preservation and storage ==\n\n{{Excerpt|Food preservation and storage}}\n\n== References ==\n\n<references />\n\n{{Page data}}"}