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How to Make Sustainable Food Choices

Posted on June 10, 2019July 29, 2022

Last week I published a guide on how to buy sustainable clothing. Clothes are not something you buy weekly, at least, I hope not. But there’s something I do buy every week. And that is food. Food is something we all need and so we can reduce a huge part of our negative impact on the planet in that category. It can be difficult too, making sustainable food choices. But it does not have to be! Today I’ll share how to make sustainable food choices. 

Difficult at first

The past few years I’ve learned more and more about sustainability. And so, about food. But it has been a rough path frequently. I used to know some basic things, that a plant-based diet is sustainable for instance. That was straight forward. But, there are other things which I’ve found more difficult when it comes to negative food impact. Do I buy organic in plastic or non-organic without plastic. And what about food waste?

hidden impact

Last year this maze changed for me, not only on the food aspect, but on my entire life. I’ve read the book ‘The Hidden Impact‘, which I also wrote a blogpost about. This book put so many things in perspective! You can read the post, but the book basically tells you which part of your life causes the most negative impact, in a top 10. And in this top 10, food is extremely important. So, the author dedicated a chapter to food. And that is what I want to share today. This information is not mine, it’s from the book. But, I’m sharing it since I feel like everyone should know. It’s become my guide.

There are basically five steps to consider when you want to buy sustainable food. I’ll walk you through these in chronological order. Point one is the biggest influencer on whether the food is sustainable and point five is the lowest.

1. Plant-based

If you want to make sustainable food choices, you’ll have to go for a plant-based diet. Plant-based is better for the environment than animal-based organic products, than local animal-based food, than seasonal animal-based food. If you buy a product which is animal-based, 99% of it’s impact is caused by the fact that it’s animal-based. We can’t have a sustainable future without a plant-based diet being the absolute norm. So, the first choice you make. Meat, fish, diary or eggs vs anything plant-based? Always choose plant-based. Plant-based is always more sustainable. Always.

2. Preventing food waste

Okay, so you’ve chosen any type of plant-based product. Next thing that is really important is that you save food. I know that in foreign countries dumpster diving is a thing, in the Netherlands not so much because they lock all the food which is thrown away by supermarkets or restaurants. But, there are more ways to prevent food waste. InStock for instance, is a restaurant that cooks with rescued food! Great to check out.

Also, supermarkets nowadays have a discount for products that are about to expire. Buy those! It does not matter whether it’s a coconut from the other side of the planet, flown here by plane. As long as it’s plant-based food that would otherwise be thrown away, it’s the most sustainable option. Because, otherwise all those resources would have been wasted. In the Albert Heijn they have 35% discount stickers for that. Or at a farmers market, ask if they have any food which nobody wants to buy.

3. Local and seasonal food

Next thing on the list, is local and seasonal food. So, you’ve chosen a plant-based option, but there’s no way you can prevent food waste. Then you go for the local and seasonal option. The best way to do this is go to a farmers market. These people can tell you all about what’s in season and the farmers are usually close by. If you don’t have one of those, you can look up what food grow in what season. And then buy those. And check in the supermarket whether they’re actually local. Never buy pre-sliced or chopped food. This is never barely ever local.

4. Organic

I was surprised by this one! Organic is at number 4. Which means that buying non-organic food that otherwise be wasted is better than ‘normal’ not yet to expire organic food. Same goes for local and seasonal, it’s better than organic. However, that does not mean it’s not important, at least to me. If you choose to buy local and seasonal at the farmers market, then go to the organic stand! The switch is relatively easy then. But, if you have to choose between organic coconuts from far away or local and seasonal non-organic strawberries, go with the strawberries. Are you getting it? The lower the number in this story, the bigger the impact.

5. Packaging

And then, at the very bottom, packaging. This was quite a bummer to me, since I started this whole eco-positive lifestyle with a zero waste lifestyle. But as it turns out, it’s not the biggest part of the impact from food. Let’s say you buy package free meat or vegetables in packaging. The vegetables in packaging are way better. 99% percent of the impact is in the meat and just 1% in the packaging. So, I’d say zero waste is the perfect end. If you have a plant-based, about to expire, local and seasonal and organic product. Then it would be amazing if it’s zero waste. But, it’s not where you start.

There you have it, a guide on how to buy sustainable food! If you follow these steps, you’ll be fine. I thrive to buy things that are plant-based, about to expire, local,  seasonal, organic and zero waste. But, the point I’m trying to make here is that you don’t have to be perfect to make more sustainable choices. As I said, focus on the big things. If you focus on zero waste and still eat animal-based products it’s not the best way to spend your energy. You want your energy to make a huge difference, right? I’m not saying that the lower ranked criteria (like packaging) are not important, they’re just less important. To make things more visual for you: here’s the infographic from the book (it’s in Dutch though). It’s a tree. And you have to start at the base, the fundament.

how to make sustainable food choices in 5 steps

Examples

Now, I want to add a few examples to make things clear. If you have to choose between:

Seasonal, local and organic cheese vs. a pineapple from Costa Rica, choose the pineapple.

An organic avocado in plastic vs. a unpackaged non-organic avocado, choose the organic avocado. 

A bag of non-organic coconut pieces which has a 35% discount because it’s about to expire or a local and seasonal orange, choose the coconut pieces.

I think you’re getting it by now. Let’s do this! And again, all credits for this information go to Babette Porcelijn, she author of The Hidden Impact.

Did you know how to make sustainable food choices?

Yours sincerely,
Romee

50 thoughts on “How to Make Sustainable Food Choices”

  1. Linda - Zaailingen says:
    June 11, 2019 at 3:14 pm

    Jaaa, die keuzeboom helpt mij ook enorm bij het maken van keuzes! Soms inderdaad wel anders dan je zou verwachten, maar daarom juist zo waardevol. En ook beginnen bij zero waste lijkt me prima. Ik zie dat veel mensen die dat als beginpunt hebben, snel de waarde inzien van alle dingen en dus ook minder snel voedsel verspillen.

    Reply
    1. Romee Hoeksma says:
      June 12, 2019 at 3:59 pm

      Klopt, veel zero wasters die ik volg doen al de andere dingen ook! Ik denk als je een beetje bewust eet je al die dingen wel tegenkomt. De keuzeboom is echt mijn go-to geworden want nu weet ik snel waar ik de snelste slag kan slaan! Ik kocht nooit dingen met 35% korting omdat ik dacht: shit, plastic. Nu doe ik dat dus wel 🙂

      Reply
  2. Winny Christiaanse says:
    June 12, 2019 at 11:06 am

    De app om je eigen impact te bepalen 🙂

    http://impact.babetteporcelijn.com/nl/#/

    Op 10-06-19 om 07:01 schreef When A Teen Goes Green: > WordPress.com > Romee Hoeksma posted: “Last week I published a guide on how to buy > sustainable clothing. Clothes are not something you buy weekly, at > least, I hope not. But there’s something I do buy every week. And that > is food. Food is something we all need and so we can reduce a huge > part o” >

    Reply
    1. Romee Hoeksma says:
      June 12, 2019 at 3:57 pm

      Thanks Winny, dit is de calculator voor je gehele impact, niet alleen voor je voedselimpact. Goed om te weten!

      Reply
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ABOUT ME

 

Hi! My name is Romee Hoeksma and I am on a journey to an eco-positive life. An eco-positive lifestyle is a lifestyle in which I have a more positive than negative impact on the beautiful planet earth. On this blog you can follow my journey to a life with only positive impact. At this blog you can find all sorts of things, from tips to recipes to personal experiences, but most of all fun (I hope!). I write about how I want to change the world, but don’t look at it as if I’m judging you. If anything, I like responses from my dear readers the most, so don’t hesitate to contact me or respond to any of my posts!

Yours sincerely,
Romee

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Ik ga dit jaar weer de challenge aan om de winter door te komen zonder de warming aan te zetten. Hiervoor ging mijn essential, een warmwaterkruik 💦, kapot. In deze reel laat ik je zien hoe ik een ‘nieuwe’ tweedehands kruik kocht. Vandaag te lezen op whenateengoesgreen.com: een inspirerende documentary over Greta Thunberg: I am Greta. Een documentaire over hoop, maar vooral over doorzettingsvermogen 🔥. Lees het nu via de link in mijn bio. Meer vegan producten in de schappen, yay! Gisteren probeerde ik voor het eerst de vegan lentil tikki masala saus van Patak’s 🧑🏼‍🍳. Zie in deze reel wat ik ervan vond. Vandaag verscheen er een nieuw artikel op mijn blog over: 5 dingen die ik niet koop. Want we denken vaak dat we dingen écht nodig hebben, maar vaak is dat niet zo 🧠. Check het artikel via de link in miijn bio. Vorige week verscheen er een artikel op mijn blog over alles wat ik nieuw kocht in 2022. Dat is een groot deel van mijn negatieve impact. Deze week was het tijd om te kijken naar de andere kant van de medaille. Vandaag lees je op mijn blog een artikel over al mijn positive impact in 2022 🌞. Je vind de link naar het artikel in de link in mijn bio. Afgelopen week verscheen er op mijn blog een artikel over alles wat ik nieuw heb gekocht in 2022. Eén ding op de lijst waren deze onderbroeken (een stuk of 20). En nu denk je misschien: waarom zou je in één keer zoveel onderbroeken kopen? Op 31 december, nog net op de valreep in 2022, kwam er een video online op mijn Youtube-kanaal over voedselcoöperaties. Ik denk namelijk dat voedselcoöperaties ons voedselsysteem democratischer en eerlijker kunnen maken 🥦. Elk jaar stel ik mezelf als doel om geen nieuwe spullen te kopen. Er is weer een jaar voorbij, dus het was tijd om te evalueren. Is het me gelukt om in 2022 geen nieuwe spullen te kopen? 🛒 Je leest het vandaag op m’n blog. Ook tijdens het gourmetten kan je heel makkelijk vegan eten 🌱. Zie hier wat ik at als vegan op de tweede kerstdag 🎄. Gourmetten is een topoplossing als je niet uren in de keuken wilt staan. Lekkere snacks kopen, even snijden en alles neerzetten en bakken maar!

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