Is your lunch low carbon? Find out with the diet calculator.
Lunch for most of us is a quick meal to sustain our energy throughout the day, a nutritional pit stop between breakfast and dinner. But it can be so much more. You can actually reduce global warming by the food choices you make.
The Bon Appétit Management Company Foundation has a nifty low carbon diet calculator that you can use to estimate the environmental cost of your meal choices. It offers a combination of menu items, ingredients and sample meals that you place in a virtual pan. Then you get instant feedback on the amount of carbon emissions it took to produce your meal choice.
This is not a trivial exercise. According to the Foundation, our food system is responsible for one third of the world’s greenhouse gas emissions. Environmental damage can result from how food is raised, processed and transported.
But you can make a difference by knowing the carbon impacts of the foods you select, and switching to alternatives that taste just as good but cause fewer carbon emissions. Knowledge is the key, and that’s where the carbon calculator can help.
It’s an easy-to-use tool, and the FAQs explain in detail the science behind the colorful graphics, as well as the limitations of the calculator.
But even if the science seems a bit overwhelming, the tips on how to make the transition to a low carbon diet are simple to follow.
Perhaps the easiest way to start is to consume all the food you buy, so the energy it takes to get it to you isn’t wasted. Plus, spoiled food that isn’t composted winds up in a landfill and produces methane, a very potent greenhouse gas.
Another tip is to reduce your use of processed and packaged foods, which involve a lot of energy to manufacture. Also, try and reduce your consumption of beef and cheese. According to Bon Appétit, livestock production causes 18 percent of the world’s greenhouse gas emissions.
Most importantly, know where your food comes from, and look for locally-produced foods in season. Farmers’ markets are a great place to purchase local food, and many Portland markets and food co-ops now routinely list the origin of their produce to help you make an informed choice.
So the next time you eat lunch, stop and consider that it can be more than a meal. It can also be an opportunity for you to take a small but significant step to reduce climate change.
Comments
Now that I stocked my pond last week and the peach trees are starting to bloom, I am doing what I can to grow it local.
Thanks for the message and the ideas. The CO2 calculator surprised me on some foods, I'll have to look closer.
I think I will skip all the calculations and just eat dirt. That is waht we will all end up eating if these Global Warming loonys get control of your life, which is what this is all about.
If man, which can eat high carbon food and exhales carbon dioxide on a regular basis until one dies, is the real cause of global warming, why can't the alarmists make the ultimate contribution to save the world and DROP DEAD?
Individuals CAN prevent Global Warming
I am not completely convinced CO2 has anything to do with Global Warming. That notwithstanding, I am certain that reducing our reliance on fossil fuels is both a good idea and necessary, for a large number of obvious reasons.
The good news is that we can all make a difference. It goes way beyond buying a few (polluting) low energy light bulbs, and will have a real impact if even half of those concerned about Global Warming follow the proposals. The beauty is that even if only half do this, it makes no difference what the rest do! Renewable energy will become cheaper than fossil fuels with enough investment in the technology, and everyone will move over naturally!
Firstly, buy renewable energy.
As far as I am aware, you have the choice to buy renewable electricity in all developed countries. If you cannot now, you should campaign for that inalienable right immediately. Currently our own household buys 25% of our electricity as renewable, costing us about US$33 extra per year. 100% would cost US$183)*.
Some argue that if millions of householders (and industries, I would hope) buy renewable energy, there will not be enough. If you do not buy it, there will NEVER be enough. If you do, the money will be used to INVEST in infrastructure for future renewable energy, so making the expense just as effective.
Merely by choosing to buy this, you are immediately and directly investing in the renewable energy industry, and sending a powerful and undeniable message to those who matter, the people who actually generate electricity, not environmentalists or politicians who may have different agenda.
Secondly, stop investing in 'Big Oil' and 'Big Coal'.
It comes as a shock to many ordinary citizens to be told that the huge greedy corporations actually make money for THEM, not for some faceless consortium. Sure, corporate flunkies may make millions of dollars, but WE, as investors, make billions, and even trillions. Their huge payouts and massive junkets are insignificant compared to the profits the companies make for their investors.
You may well think that you do not invest in these companies, but if you have a pension or investment fund, you almost certainly do. These funds will, quite obviously, be invested in the very companies that make the most profits and returns for their investors. All these corporations are doing is actually acting effectively YOUR instruction, ie to get the best possible return. If WE stop investing in them, they fail, and will be forced to change their practices to survive in a capitalist environment.
The answer is to choose ethical investments (there may be different names). Talk to your financial adviser and make the switch now. ONLY YOU control your investments. Make the choice and stop letting others do it for you.
The message is that YOU control the future of energy production with your wallets. The bad news is that it will cost, but nothing the environmentalists or governments will ever do about this issue will cost you less than this, and most of what they want to do will take control away from you and waste most of your expenditure in bureaucratic bungling and misguided foolishness, in my opinion. This simple two-step approach has all the potential to work and with no complex side effects that I can see immediately. It has a direct and immediate effect.
It is so rare that we are able to do something so straightforward in this complex world. If Global Warming concerns you, I urge you to put your money where your mouth is, and make an immediate difference TODAY, before the power is taken away from you.
* Based on a usage of 5,000 kWh of electricity.
Source: www.originenergy.com.au/1142/Green-energy-FAQs#extracost
www.carbonclimate.info/2009/03/individuals-can-prevent-global-warming.html
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