Foods such as whole grains, fresh or frozen fruits and vegetables, and fresh meats and fish retain their nutritional value if eaten right away, while most processed and boxed foods contain undesired preservatives and may contain fewer nutrients. Make sure that, when you purchase fresh foods, you only purchase what you can consume in a short period of time. Also consider preserving excess food at home by freezing, drying, or canning.
By freezing, drying, or canning home-grown or local foods during growing seasons, you can reduce your consumption of non-local produce in the winter. Learn more about do-it-yourself food preservation.
An estimated 90% of large fish, such as shark, swordfish, and cod, has been removed from the world’s oceans. The Monterey Bay Aquarium Seafood Watch, Blue Ocean Institute, and Marine Stewardship Council offer guidelines that help consumers and businesses make informed choices about seafood purchases. Sustainable fishing allows the consumer to purchase seafood from sources, either fished or farmed, that can exist over the long-term without compromising species' survival or the health of the surrounding ecosystem. Also check out this guide for sustainably-caught sashimi/sushi.
Check the “Country of Origin” label when you’re at the grocery store. Farm raised salmon has ten times the amount of dioxins and polychlorinated biphenyls (carcinogens) than their wild-caught counterparts. Wild salmon bear less environmental stress because they are not concentrated in a small area that has hazardous nitrogen levels and do not transfer diseases as rapidly as farmed salmon. Most Atlantic salmon is farm-raised. The best choice is wild Alaskan salmon while good alternatives are wild salmon from Washington, Oregon, and California. Check out this video on salmon choices to learn more.
Replace meat-based meals with vegetarian meals at least once a week
The benefits of eating vegetarian for just one day can be startling, especially if everyone in the U.S. does it! Collectively, the environmental benefits include saving 100 billion gallons of water, 70 million gallons of gasoline, 1.2 million tons of CO2 emissions, and much more. According to Environmental Defense, if every American skipped one meal of chicken per week and substituted vegetarian foods instead, the carbon dioxide savings would be the same as taking more than half a million cars off of U.S. roads! Other benefits include reductions in solid waste pollution and methane production related to industrial meat production. To learn more, check out this article on the effect of going vegetarian for one day, or read more about vegetarianism.
One or more household members eat a vegetarian or vegan diet
Eating a vegetarian or vegan diet helps reduce the negative impacts of industrial animal production, such as excessive energy use, animal waste pollution, methane emissions, and animal cruelty. There can also be health benefits including lower body mass indices, lower levels of cholesterol, lower blood pressure, and less incidence of heart disease, hypertension, type 2 diabetes, renal disease, osteoporosis, metabolic syndrome, and dementias such as Alzheimer’s disease. Studies have shown significant differences between vegetarians and non-vegetarians in mortality from cerebrovascular disease, stomach cancer, colorectal cancer, breast cancer, and prostate cancer. Learn more about vegetarianism.
Looking for tasty vegetarian cuisine in Frederick County? Check out VegFrederick.com for information on local vegetarian restaurants and grocery stores.
Buy organic, free-range, and/or grass-fed food at least 25% of the time
Buying organic food lessens the impact of pesticides, fertilizers, and other dangerous chemicals on the environment and the consumer. Different levels of organic certification include “100 percent organic,” “organic,” and “made with organic ingredients.” Foods labeled “100 percent organic” cannot contain any non-organic ingredients. “Organic” foods must contain at least 95% organic ingredients, and foods “made with organic ingredients” must contain at least 70% organic ingredients. To learn more, watch this video on the benefits of eating organic.
Certified organic meat and dairy products are slightly different than grass-fed and free-range animal products in that “organic” animals may be grain-fed but are also required to have access to pasture. To learn more, watch this video about the requirements for organic animal product certification.
Free-range and grass-fed (in comparison to grain-fed) animal products contain far more essential nutrients, such as omega-3s, which are vital to brain and heart health and have even been shown to reduce risk of cancer, heart attack, depression, attention deficit disorder, and Alzheimer’s disease. They also contain more beta-carotene, vitamin A, vitamin D, vitamin E, conjugated linoleic acid (CLA), alpha-linoleic acid (ALA), and essential minerals. Learn more about the health benefits of free-range and grass-fed animal products.
Purchasing free-range and grass-fed products cuts down on CO2 emissions, pesticide use, and synthetic fertilizer use related to industrial grain production. It also reduces manure run-off, disease in animals and consumers, methane gas emissions from animals, and animal cruelty. Manure from pastured animals can help build healthy soil, improving habitat for soil organisms, insects, and other native animals. In addition, the grasses and plants allowed to grow on a pasture sequester CO2. Check out these articles to learn more about the environmental benefits of free-range and grass-fed animal products: Grassfarming Benefits the Environment, In Defense of the Cow.
Comments