If one of your New Year’s Resolutions, like mine, was to eat more sustainably then keep reading. And if it wasn’t, then you might just find some useful tips here to enhance your sustainable food journey!
I didn’t go so far as signing up to the annual Veganuary movement – spending the whole of January on a plant-based diet. While in theory I would love to do this, I just know I’m not quite there on my sustainable food journey yet to go the whole hog (if you’ll pardon the pun!).
I know that moving to a plant-based diet is one of the biggest ways I can reduce my carbon footprint. I used the BBC’s climate change food calculator to compare the impact of different food products and was really surprised at just how carbon intensive some foods are – and pleasantly surprised at others.
However, I’m still not ready to take the full vegan leap. So, I’ve decided to take a little bit of a longer transition, first cutting down on my meat intake, then moving to a pescatarian diet, vegetarian and lastly vegan. All the advice I hear when it comes to making any changes in our lives is that gradual change can lead to more lasting change rather than an all-out switch in one go.
So I thought I would share some of the ways I’ve been moving to a more sustainable diet, as well as some useful links to websites that may help you in your journey!
Simple swaps
Firstly, I started with some simple swaps, buying vegan butter and mayo – though the cost is one barrier that’s hard to swallow. You can’t really taste the difference at all and so this was a pretty easy one for me.
I’ve dabbled in the world of dairy-free milk products – though trying to establish which of your oats, coconut, soya or plethora of other variations is better, is still somewhat of a minefield. I’ve opted for oat milk with my porridge (made sense to me!). However, I’m really struggling with tea. I like my tea milky, and plant-based milks are just not cutting it for me at the moment. That’s one to keep working on!
I’ve swapped out my mince-beef for Quorn when making lasagne or spaghetti bolognese. I do find some of the other meat-alternatives a little harder to digest however – I’ve yet to find a veggie sausage that I can enjoy! SUeatablelife is a great project that the University was involved in. The website contains a host of sustainable meals using seasonal produce. Each recipe contains a sustainability rating, to help you make more informed choices.
Food waste
Every year, an estimated 1.3 billion tonnes of food is wasted. That’s about one-third of all food produced globally. This staggering amount of waste contributes significantly to greenhouse gas emissions as decomposing food in landfills releases methane, a potent greenhouse gas.
Conscious of this, I try to ensure I only buy what I need, and only cook as much as I know I’ll eat. I regularly check the dates on perishables to ensure I use up those items going out of date first.
The University has partnered with Too Good To Go, an app that connects customers to restaurants and shops with unsold, surplus food in a bid to fight food waste and climate change. You can collect a ‘Magic Bag’ from the University’s food outlets, with a mix of food and drink for a third of the retail value, saving fresh food from going to waste just because it hasn’t sold on time.
Take aways
I love a takeaway – Chinese and Indian are my biggest vice. But what I don’t love is the unsustainable packaging it comes in! I’ve got a cupboard full of takeaway tubs. Loathe to throw them away, I do re-use them as much as I possibly can – even for using as paint pots or to store all manner of items in. But my collection is getting a little unwieldy and so I’ve now vowed to stop on the takeaways – it might help my wallet too.
One great concept introduced at the University is the Caulibox scheme. The scheme allows you to take food away from the on-campus restaurant in a re-usable container, which you then return (without even needing to wash it!) and earn rewards points. It’s a fantastic scheme, that’s super easy to use, and means you can still take food away without the throw away packaging. I only wish all takeaway outlets would introduce this
I hope this blog has given you some inspiration and ideas to start, or continue, your sustainable food journey. Even if you only make small changes to begin with, it will all help. Good luck!
This is a postscript from Worcestershire Vegan and Vegetarians. “Worcestershire Vegan and Veggies is a small, self-funded group that actively helps people interested in transitioning to a plant-based diet and a vegan lifestyle. We do this, in the main, by setting up information displays, visiting libraries and attending events. We provide free information and recipes written by a number of the UK’s leading charities in this field and, where possible, include adult and children’s activities when we attend events.
We don’t have any of our online information but suggest if you want further general information or specific information to the appropriate charity websites”.
Browse some of our other sustainability blogs here!