Choosing Sustainable Food
When doing your grocery shopping, what’s the first thing that comes to your mind? Is it your favourite snack, the recipe you’ve always wanted to try, your guilty pleasures or all of the above? Sustainability might not be what comes at the top of your head and that’s understandable –people often make decisions based on price, quality, taste, and convenience among other factors.
But what does food sustainability really mean and why should you care?
There are different aspects to food sustainability such as its health and socio economic impact, environmental footprint, and overall resource usage. But to put it simply, food sustainability concerns itself with its end to end production from seed to harvest to handling, distribution, packaging, and consumption.
Farmers need not keep their production miniscule or low-scale in order to make profit but neither do they have to mass produce that tends to hurt the environment. According to an article by Eco and Beyond, “Sustainable farming aims to maintain or increase output, while increasing the environmental benefits. Such farming requires an understanding of the surrounding ecosystem.” This kind of trajectory not only meets the needs of the farm, the farmers, and the entire production system but also protects biodiversity.
Now those are just a couple of compelling reasons why you should care. But how do you lean towards choosing sustainable food?
Educate yourself. It all starts with a small step and you don’t necessarily have to overhaul your grocery list. But it pays to educate yourself to make more informed choices. Whether it’s reading the manufacture labels or looking for quality certifications, these could very well tell you a lot about the origin and production of a certain product.
Choose fair trade. Opt for products that focus on giving back and actually pay attention to helping their farmers grow in their field.
Look for recipes that use organic ingredients. You might have the impression that these could cost more but you’ll be surprised to find there are actually simple recipes you can whip up in the kitchen without costing you an arm and a leg.
Grow your own. Perhaps the thought of growing your own crossed your mind and why wouldn’t it, it’s such a great idea. However, if you’re unsure about the process, you can also look into having someone grow your rice or your produce for you depending on what you’re looking for.
In an era where more and more people are getting health and environment conscious thinking of living sustainably, food is just one but a huge step towards making a difference.
