Sustainable eating
As yet there is no widespread, agreed definition for ‘sustainable eating’. Sustain, the UK based alliance with around 100 member organisations, promotes better food and farming. They have developed a working definition for the term ‘sustainable food’:
Sustainable food should be produced, processed and traded in ways that:
- Contribute to thriving local economies and sustainable livelihoods – both in the UK and, in the case of imported products, in producer countries;
- Protect the diversity of both plants and animals (and the welfare of farmed and wild species), and avoid damaging natural resources and contributing to climate change;
- Provide social benefits, such as good quality food, safe and healthy products, and educational opportunities.
Part of the mission of Open to Organics is to keep concepts clear and concise for you. At Open to Organics our working definition of sustainable eating is simply that it is a way of choosing and eating foods that benefits the health and well being of the individual, of the community (both economically and socially), of the food producer and of the environment, often in a symbiotic relationship.
What does this practically mean?
- Eat more vegetarian/vegan meals. Reduce the overall amount of meat and other animal products in your diet and - when you do eat these products - choose those from sustainable sources,
- Buy local produce, and/or pay attention to where your food has been sourced and how it has travelled; Australia also has a rich tapestry of indigenous food available. Try to incorporate some bush tucker into your meals,
- Reduce non-renewable energy usage in shopping, cooking & preparing foods,
- Eat foods in season,
- Where possible, buy organically or bio-dynamically grown foods,
- Eat according to your energy needs,
- Reduce consumption of food and drink of low nutritional value (i.e. sugary foods and drinks),
- Eat more fresh foods,
- Choose fish and seafood from sustainable sources, in accordance with the Australian Marine Conservation Society,
- Reduce the amount of food you waste,
- Choose to buy foods with little to no packaging,
- Purchase food that carries the Fair trade logo where possible,
- Grow some of your own foods,
- Avoid buying foods containing Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs),
- Choose filtered tap water rather than bottled water.