Is our food sustainable? This is a crucial question that has become common as people start examining their eating habits and the impacts of food processing on the environment. Having a better understanding of what makes a food sustainable could help us all make more informed decisions. It would allow us to weigh up products and brands more easily. Today, food accounts for about 25% of the greenhouse emissions released into the atmosphere.

We can eat healthy, organic, low-calorie food that is above all climate-friendly! But how?

I came across some very interesting facts and examples while reading Tree by Tree book and I would like to mention those examples here. How environmentally friendly certain fruits and vegetables are, depends to a large extent on whether they are harvested during their actual growing season or not and most important than all of the kilometers traveled.

For instance, an apple from Germany is not always automatically more environmentally friendly than an apple from any other country (Chile or New Zealand). This is because the month long storage of the German apple in a cool storage facility consumes quite a bit of energy and therefore emits quite a bit of CO2 into the air. Climate friendly local apples are therefore only available during the time of their harvest, from September until May. From June until next harvest in September, however, the apples from New Zealand are better off in terms of climate protection despite the fact that they have been shipped halfway around the world.

In any case, it is always better to purchase fruit that has been freshly harvested- without the long wait in a storage facility and without the thousands of transported miles.

Another example, One kilogram of fruits or vegetable from the local region (let’s say India) emits on average 230 grams of CO2, a kilogram from another South Asian country emits on average 460 grams of CO2, if it is transported by ship, then we are already at 570 grams of CO2, and if it is transported by airplane then it reaches 11,000 grams of C02 per kilogram.

Apart from that, there are so many other factors which makes a food sustainable like, Sustainable farming practices, upholding animal welfare, protection of public health, low environmental impact, packaging, sustainable use of energy etc.

Adopting even one seemingly small and simple sustainable food habit can make a huge difference in promoting a more sustainable food system. Achieving a healthy and sustainable food future is an urgent matter that depends on global collaborative efforts.