Recently, I came across a new piece of information that I want to share with my Tunza friends through this report. It is about Foodprint.

 Foodprint is the amount of the effect food makes on our environment, in connection to the way it is grown, produced, transported and stored. Throughout the process of food production, there is a heavy consumption of natural resources and it accounts for more than a quarter of greenhouse gas emissions of which approximately 80% are linked to livestock production. Our food production and consumption is pushing our earth to the brink of devastation. Like reduction in carbon footprint reduces the pollution and greenhouse gas emission, similarly by reducing our foodprint, we can save the over consumption of our natural resources, reduce wastage of food and hence reduce greenhouse gas emissions too.

Food diet cannot be same for everyone but while eating we have to be mindful of what we are eating and how much we can eat so that unfinished food does not go to the landfill. Our food habits are very much responsible for our foodprints. There are many factors, including affordability, accessibility, location, health and culture that influences our decisions about what we eat.  We should work on ways to improve the global food system especially meat production that is largely responsible for high foodprints.

I learnt about few tips to manage our diet habits. Few of them are

1)    Reduce your portion size while eating meat.

2)   Do not overfill your plate.

3)   Substitute the half portion of your beef/chicken burger with pulses or mushroom.

4)   Have a meatless day at least once a week.  Celebrate it as Meatless Monday or Tuesday.

5)   Make your diet plant-based as much as possible. Start with two days a week.

6)   Try vegan restaurants.

7)   Try vegan diets from different culture.

8)   Do not over fill your shelves. Check the expiry date so that you do not have to throw it even before you consume it.

9)   Have seasonal and local fresh vegetables and fruits. If it is local it will save on the transportation cost as well as reduce carbon emissions in the delivery of vegetables to different countries.

To conclude, in order to sustain our environment we need to take immediate action by changing our food diet. In my last article I wrote about animal agriculture and how it is affecting our eco-system. We can reduce the animal farming by including plant-based food in our diet. Need of the hour is to fight climate change with diet change.