How To Approach Eating Sustainably
by Gutsy Flora
No part of our economy matters more than food, it is vital for life, but our food system is a contentious issue. Are you wanting to make the right choices but feeling paralysed?
Here at Gutsy, we feel a constant pressure that any advice we give - on what to eat and how to eat - covers a whole plethora of nutritional and environmental issues that (taken together) are almost impossible to get to grips with. Our missions are: to deliver the very best evidence-based information around gut health, and to offer up inspiring solutions to a healthier lifestyle. But - as we have quickly realised - this is a tricky task when it comes to food and sustainability. We feel pressure to not only prioritise healthy and sustainable diets, but also diets that are affordable and accessible to everyone, and also good for our planet - without causing Orthorexia Nervosa. That is a huge undertaking.
There is a lot of debate about farming practices, and how we should feed the world. For us consumers, navigating the issue of what will have the least negative environmental impact is hard. We are also constantly debating how much of a role the government should play to protect us from our “bad” dietary and environmental choices. And if we turn to the science for definitive answers, we quickly find that conclusions have not yet settled on exactly which way forward is best in the long-term.
So where does that leave us? The nation is certainly not educated enough to make perfect decisions. All the subjects on food sustainability are riddled with paradoxes which are very confusing, so how do we move forward from this?
My conclusions on where we are at.
Science has not come up with the perfect solutions.
We cant look at one solution “eat less meat” - we need to find many.
We can’t afford to wait around for policies to change.
We won’t be able to be perfect, but that does not mean we cant make progress.
The way we eat has an impact, and we have power to make changes at least three times a day. How we shop and how we eat shapes how our land and environment is treated. That prospect is equally exciting and terrifying.
I like to stay in the mindset that through making good choices around the food we eat and where it comes from, we have a very empowering opportunity to create change and we should try to keep the process simple.
Sit down for 10 minutes and ask yourself “How do I want to eat?”
Generally, sourcing produce from local farm produce reduces the distance from plant-to-plate and that covers most of the issues, and meets most of the solutions. Here are some actions you can take.
WHAT ACTION CAN YOU TAKE TO EAT MORE SUSTAINABLE FOOD?
Become aware of what food sources are in season. I share some great resources below.
Eat less meat, and from sustainable farms. Have a conversation with your butcher or read the labels.
Introduce more plant diversity into your diet. Nothing tastes as good as vegetables; they are an endless journey of texture, colour and flavour.
Get out of the supermarkets as much as possible. Do you know where your local farmers market is? Have you tried a veg box delivery yet?
Reduce Reuse Recycle. It is quite straight-forward when it comes to reducing waste!
Connect with a food source - grow a pot of herbs. Creating your own food source will help you to involve yourself in your food, reconnect with the planet and care more about food production.
All the above sounds well and good, right? And are you going to make a change today? Perhaps not. Which leads me on to my most important tip of all…
Make time to source, prepare and eat sustainable food sources. This is not something that is going to happen overnight, it is a process. It takes time to do your research and find suitable alternatives. We all lack time in our days, so you have to make time.
Start by sitting down for 10minutes and ask yourself “How do I want to eat?” - What do I want to eat? What is in season this month? How often will I eat X? How will I source it?
All change is possible when we make a plan and prepare. Are we aiming to create a flawless plan and execute it perfectly? No. Small changes and progress is the aim of the game, and never ever loose sight of the fact that food is pleasure. Do not get paralysed.
Fermenting + Community. Creating fermented foods is a communal act, a culinary revolution and a sustainable and healthy preservation method.
FERMENTATION + COMMUNITY
Flavours are exciting, cooking with your loved ones with some great music playing is the best feeling in the world, and bringing friends together around a table of food is the most joyful and rewarding experience.
Food and eating together shapes our sense of family, community and connection with food. We may struggle to look for perfect nutritional and environmental rational, but we can always keep focus on our pleasures and cultures around food.
Over the last few years, fermenting foods has become the most definitive sustainable food for me because it involves:
Getting close to our foods origin (the soil) by sourcing the very freshest seasonal plants, from diverse soils, filled with microbes.
Having an active connection with a food source, especially when making kraut as you grind the ingredients together with your hands.
Making a communal ferment with a group of people is a creative communal act.
Making fermented foods are a great way you can reduce, reuse and recycle.
Fermenting is everything I love about food and community, but could it also be one building-block that helps us towards a more sustainable future? Both a culinary revolution and a sustainable and healthy preservation method? I certainly think so…
AUTHOR CREDIT
Gutsy Flora
Ballymaloe Food Diploma, IIN Health Coach, Private Chef (10 years)
Chef and Fermenter, Flora is on a mission to share everything she loves about Gut Health. This is a topic she is desperately trying to keep up with and is dedicated to the cause of translating information for the Gutsy readers. Her expertise are in fermenting and supporting people to lead a holistic lifestyle. Her favourite topics of interest are the gut-brain-axis, whole foods and sustainability relating to the gut microbiome.
Flora runs private fermentation workshops and supports people to make sustainable adjustments towards a healthier balance that suit their lifestyle.
Written by © Flora Montgomery. All rights reserved.