What is the Climatarian diet? Foods you can eat to minimize your carbon footprint in 2022
climate change, the food you eat could make a big difference.
A Climatarian diet focuses on reducing your carbon footprint with plant-based, locally sourced produce, according to nutrition app Lifesum.
Increased carbon emissions are drastically changing our planet, including rising temperatures and sea levels, which contribute to more heatwaves, drought and storms, according to the Environmental Protection Agency. A Climatarian diet has the potential to not just help the planet but also improve your health, according to Dr. Alona Pulde, a family practitioner specializing in nutrition and lifestyle medicine at Lifesum.
A major component is reducing animal food consumption, particularly beef, which contributes to higher emissions than plant foods, according to Pulde.
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3. Whole grains
These include pasta, brown rice and wheat.
“Lots of health benefits and less processing and energy requirements environmentally, which lowers our carbon footprint,” said Pulde.
Certain dishes can combine beans, veggies and whole grains into one meal.
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And here are some foods to avoid:
1. Beef and lamb
These types of meat are often primary contributors to environmental damage. In fact, beef, mutton and milk production contribute 80% of total greenhouse gas emissions among livestock, said Pulde.
2. Palm oil
Any food that contains palm oil contributes to deforestation, soil erosion and depletion, natural habitat destruction and higher carbon emissions, according to Pulde.
3. Farmed fish
Their feces contribute to water pollution, while the crowding of fish can breed bacteria and other diseases.
4. Coffee
Increased demand for coffee has resulted in production that contributes to deforestation, heavy water usage and runoff that pollutes waterways and destroys natural habitats, Pulde said.
5. Sugar
It is water-intensive, which erodes the soils and contaminates waterways, damaging sea life ecosystems, Pulde said.
Ultimately, the key to a climate-friendly diet lies in reducing waste and maintaining realistic and healthy goals, Gill and Pulde pointed out.
You can reach the author Michelle Shen @michelle_shen10 on Twitter.