Discover which foods make least impact on the environment – and which to avoid
words ROSALIND RYAN
Eating a healthy, balanced diet is no longer just about getting the right mix of vitamins, minerals, protein and fat into your meals. Today, it can also mean balancing personal needs with the needs of the planet. So, how do you do that? You could decide to go vegan. Research shows cutting out meat and dairy is one of the best ways to reduce your impact on the planet. Or there’s the ‘flexitarian’ approach – a flexible, veg-focused diet; or plant-based – any diet centred around food from plant sources. But what does that actually look like on your plate? What foods should you eat if you want to follow a sustainable diet?
1Cereals & grains
Most of us know that cereals and grains should make up a large part of a healthy, balanced diet, but the WWF warns that “there is a pressing need to vary the types of cereals and grains grown and eaten.” That’s because relying on one or two crops has negative consequences for both the environment and our health. From an environmental perspective, monoculture (only growing one crop) has an impact on soil health, so farmers need to use extra fertilisers, increasing the risk of disease and pest outbreaks, which in turn means that large amounts of pesticides and herbicides are sprayed over the crop. Excess chemicals in our food aren’t great, plus we’re not eating a wide enough range of vitamins and minerals. Try buckwheat, teff and spelt to vary your intake.
2Pulses
Lentils, chickpeas, peas and beans are examples of pulses, deemed one of the more climate-friendly foods by the UN. They are packed with protein, low in fat, rich in soluble fibre and have been found to help reduce the risk of chronic diseases such as diabetes, obesity and heart disease. Pulses also have an incredible ability to ‘self-fertilise’ soil as their roots contain bacteria that convert nitrogen in the air into a form that can be used by plants, reducing the need for artificial fertilisers. Plus, when compared to livestock, pulses use less land relative to the protein they offer. It takes nearly 100 times more land to produce a gram of protein from lamb or beef versus peas or tofu.
3Leafy greens
The WWF calls dark leafy greens such as spinach, kale, watercress and broccoli “the most versatile and nutritious of all types of vegetables.” They’ve been shown to help lower your risk of heart disease and diabetes, and are rich in antioxidants and anti-i
