Sustainable food: what it is and how to achieve it

According to FAO, sustainable diets are those that generate a reduced environmental impact and that contribute to food and nutritional security and to current and future generations leading a healthy life. In addition, they protect and respect biodiversity and ecosystems, are culturally acceptable, accessible, economically just and affordable, nutritionally adequate, safe and healthy, and optimize natural and human resources.

These recommendations include, for example: having sustainable nutrition based primarily on plant-based foods, preferring local and seasonal foods, reducing food waste, consuming fish from sustainable stocks only, and reducing consumption of red and processed meat, highly processed foods, and sugary beverages.

6 examples of sustainable food

1. Eating local foods

Food and agriculture are the main drivers of biodiversity loss, which is why the search for food sustainability is an increasingly important issue for many people.

Agricultural practices must improve biodiversity, protect soil, forests and water, minimize chemical pollution of people and food, maintain ecosystems over the long term and reduce global warming.

Betting on an organic diet reduces the impact on the environment produced by the use of synthetic compounds, chemical fertilizers such as pesticides and herbicides and can also favor the remineralization of soils thanks to the use of organic fertilizers.

On the other hand, consuming proximity products, also known as km 0 products, refer to the products that are produced and/or collected in areas near their place of sale, where they are purchased by the final consumer.

The main advantage of these products of local consumption is their energy savings and the reduction of greenhouse gases, since if the product is transported from distant places, more emissions are generated.

On the other hand it strengthens the local economy, returns the markets and shops of neighborhood and the local restoration.

2.Reduce the consumption of food of animal origin

A reduction in the consumption of food of animal origin is key to fight climate change, you can bet on increasing the consumption of products of vegetable origin of good nutritional contribution such as legumes and introduce other alternative sources of vegetable protein such as tofu, heura, textured soy and innovate in the kitchen.

An example would be to consume local grass meat, in this way we know the impact our purchase has on the territory and on our health.

3.Avoid food waste
There are many aspects that can help us reduce food waste, one of the actions that we can carry out is to prepare a weekly menu at home and adjust the rations, going to buy simply the food that we need to prepare our menu can help us make the purchase intelligently simply with the food that we will need and not buy more food that is possible that they have to throw away because they get bad.

Try to give a second chance to foods that are being ugly, for example in the fruit simply remove the part that is not good, for example, sometimes there are fruits that are simply a coup, and if we see that there are vegetables that you are putting bad we can cook them directly and freeze, for example, in a cream of vegetable or vegetable ratatouille.

It is important to check the pantry to prevent food from expiring and also distinguish between expired foods and preferred consumption.

4.Consume seasonal foods
Many fruits and vegetables can be bought throughout the year, but most of the time they are imported products or that have been kept in chambers, in this way greenhouse gases are emitted.

In addition, consuming seasonal foods makes us at their optimum ripening time and also flavor.

5.Consuming bulk food
Buying in bulk can help us buy just what we need, in addition to leaving the plastic behind. Reusable cloth sachets, baskets, glass containers can be used.

We can go buy food with our own tupper, for example at the fishmonger.

6.Buy less processed foods
To contribute to maintaining the health of the planet in our shopping cart there must be more vegetables and fruits than products of animal origin.

There is no need to eliminate products of animal origin, simply include them in a more moderate way.

Meat should be consumed about two or three times a week, no more than one serving of red meat and attention should be paid to sausages and processed meats.

Processed foods besides being harmful to our health pollute a lot, most are foods packaged in supermarkets and with a multitude of ingredients and additives that increase greenhouse gas emissions.