Eat sustainably by making small adjustments to your diet - Columbia Missourian

Making the decision to live eco-consciously can be difficult for many, especially when some choices may be expensive or inaccessible. The Harvard School of Public Health describes sustainable eating as a necessary change to preserve the health of the planet.

Limit meat consumptionConsuming less meat can help reduce the amount of greenhouse gasses emitted into the atmosphere daily.

According to a study from OurWorldinData.org, 26% of global greenhouse emissions stem from food production. Of that amount, 31% of emissions come from livestock.

Dedicating a day each week to abstain from eating meat could help reduce the amount of greenhouse gases released into the atmosphere.

Eat locally grown food

Columbia offers community members the opportunity to shop for local produce every Saturday in the Farmers Market near the Activity and Recreation Center. Eating produce grown locally avoids long-distance transportation, which typically entails using fossil fuel as the source of energy. According to the John Hopkins Center for a Livable Future, some produce items may be shipped up to 1,500 miles before becoming available to consumers.

Corrina Smith, executive director of the Columbia Farmers Market, ensures that vendors follow rules about selling only locally grown food.

“We require all producers to grow within a 50-mile radius of Columbia,” Smith said, “We’re keeping it as local as possible, while also keeping that carbon footprint down.”

Eating local also provides jobs for community members, from farmers and vendors to truck drivers and distributors.

Try non-dairy optionsLivestock takes up 77% of agricultural land globally, according to OurWorldinData.org. Having a large percentage of habitable land used for livestock poses risks to the lands’ natural biodiversity.

Decreasing biodiversity disrupts the natural balance of the existing area, according to the American Museum of Natural History.

Choosing non-dairy options such as cheese and milk produced from nuts reduces the need for large livestock farms to supply milk from various animals.

Buy seasonally

Eating produce out of season is a luxury many are accustomed to. When specific produce items are out of season, distributors will ship fruits and vegetables from areas where items grow year-round.

Transporting goods across the United States, as well as from other countries, adds to the 28% of greenhouse gases produced from transportation, according the the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency .

Smith believes eating in season is the most important reason she eats sustainably, primarily for the taste.

“Eating a tomato in the middle of the winter doesn’t taste good,” she said. “There’s no flavor and you know it wasn’t grown naturally.”

You can find what fruits and vegetables are in season from the U.S Department of Agriculture website.

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Eat sustainably by making small adjustments to your diet - Columbia Missourian
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