conscious eating


manmade greenhouse gas emissions,” says nutritionist and climate activist Jane Richards, of GreenEatz, in Mountain View, California. “You can reduce your footprint by a quarter by cutting down on red meats such as beef and lamb.” An exception is the vegetarian staple


Good Food Choices Enable Global Health by Judith Fertig


Changing Our Diet to Cool the Climate


T


hree years ago, the New York Times added a new word to the world’s food vocabulary:


Climatarian (n.) A diet whose primary


goal is to reverse climate change. Tis includes eating locally produced food (to reduce energy spent in transportation), choosing pork and poultry instead of beef and lamb (to limit gas emissions), and us- ing every part of ingredients (apple cores, cheese rinds, etc.) to limit food waste. Changing our food choices to support


this model can have a ripple effect. Research- ers at the University of California, Santa Bar- bara, in a 2017 study published in the journal Climatic Change, looked at how diets impact personal health, the healthcare system and climate. Tey found that adopting a more plant-based diet reduces the relative risk of coronary heart disease, colorectal cancer and Type 2 diabetes by 20 to 40 percent. National annual health care costs could drop from $93 billion to $77 billion. Direct greenhouse gas emissions could annually drop 489 to 1,821 pounds per person. Such an approach involves consider-


ing the related water usage, greenhouse gas emissions and carbon footprint—the energy required to cultivate, harvest and


30 Greater Oklahoma/OKC Edition


transport food—plus processing associated food waste. Here are some top choices.


Foods that Go Easy on Water Hydroponic greens are hands-down winners. Te Shelton Family Farm, near Whittier, North Carolina, weekly produces 10,000 to 12,000 heads of hydroponically grown Bibb lettuce. Te controlled envi- ronment and carefully engineered nutrient delivery systems maximize all resources. “It’s an enclosed system that runs


24/7, and it’s highly efficient from a water- usage standpoint because we recycle the water,” says William Shelton Jr., a fourth- generation family farmer. “Te only water that’s actually consumed is what’s taken up and transpired through the plants.” In a moderate climate, energy costs to recycle the water and keep the plants at an even temperature are moderate, as well. Dry-tilled heirloom tomatoes, okra,


melons and quinoa are drought-tolerant and only use available rainfall.


Foods that Go Easy on Greenhouse Gases Plants beat meat. “Livestock farming produces from 20 to 50 percent of all


NatualAwakeningsOKC.com


of rice. According to researchers at Project Drawdown, a climate solutions organization in Sausalito, California, rice cultivation is responsible for at least 10 percent of agricul- tural greenhouse gas emissions and up to 19 percent of global methane emissions. New farming techniques, like mid-season drain- ing of the rice paddies, could cut methane emissions by at least 35 percent. Richards notes, “Meat, cheese and


eggs have the highest carbon footprint; fruit, vegetables, beans and nuts, much lower. Te carbon footprint of a vegetarian diet is about half that of a meat-lover’s diet.” Root crops such as carrots, radishes,


potatoes and beets have a lower carbon footprint than above-ground plants due to less food waste. A beautiful beet is easier to grow than a bell pepper that blemishes more easily. Seasonal, regional fruit, vegetables,


herbs and honey have a lighter carbon im- pact because they are transported shorter distances. Usually what grows best in a region and is consumed locally is also best for the climate. Foods naturally suited to their environ-


ment grow and taste better, and are packed with more nutrients, reports Sustainable Table, an educational nonprofit that builds healthy communities through sustainable eating habits (SustainableTable.org).


Hopeful Developments New agricultural developments can also benefit our climate environment. Accord- ing to Project Drawdown research, peren- nial grains and cereals could be pivotal in reaching soil, carbon and energy targets. Te Land Institute, in Salina, Kansas,


has been working with the Rodale Insti- tute, in Berks County, Pennsylvania, to develop a perennial wheat that would not have to be planted from seed each year. Tis would save soil, carbon and both hu- man and machine energy.


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