The concept of this book came from my knowledge of the food industry's impact on climate change. As I began researching ways in which to fix this growing problem, I came across an article by Knorr and WWF claiming that they had found the "Future 50 Foods" that are the most sustainable foods in the world to help combat climate change in the realm of food growth and production. This article helped shape the direction of my book massively, as it gave me a template for what to use and what not to use when building my recipes. As I continued my research, I learned just how bad certain foods are for the world, such as cow products and refined sugars, and opted to keep them completely out of every recipe. This was a great challenge, as many recipes (especially desserts) involve sugar, butter, and milk. I've learned an incredible amount since beginning this book and am excited to continue to grow it into a full and well rounded cookbook to help the world fight climate change by choosing what ingredients they put on their plate!
CHAPTER 1 - Notes
Guiding Principles (approx. 500 words)
- Promote Agrobiodiversity and dietary diversity
- Globally we rely on a small range of foods
negatively impacts our health and the health of the planet
- 75% of global food supply comes from only 12 plant and 5 animal species (WWF)
- Current agriculture is dominated by 12 crops and 5 animals - barley, cassava, corn, palm fruit oil, potatoes, rice, soy beans, sugar beets, sugar cane, tomatoes, and wheat - these are the crops i will not include in any of my recipes** (some exceptions for lesser known varieties of crops)
- Rice, maize, wheat make up nearly 60% of calories from plants in the entire human diet
- Dietary monotony - linked to a decline in diversity of plants and animals used in and around agriculture (agrobiodiversity)
- Since 1900 - 75% of the genetic plant diversity in agriculture has been lost
- Monoculture farming - the repeated harvesting of a single crop
can deplete nutrients and leave soil vulnerable to pests and pathogens
- Requires applications of fertilizers and pesticides that damage wildlife and leach into water systems
- Many types of birds, animals and wild plants cannot thrive in biologically degraded landscapes
- Importance of variety of fruit and vegetables
increase intake of vitamins, minerals and antioxidants
- Swapping staples like maize and white rice for fonio or spelt increases the nutrient content of a dish while contributing to greater agrobiodiversity
- Leads to more resilient food supply
- Helps safeguard these ancient variants for future generations
- Stimulate a shift towards plant based foods
- Reliance on animal-based foods is threatening food security
plant-based sources of protein to replace meat, poultry and fish, resulting in reduced negative impact on our environment
- Cut out red meat
production of red meat uses a lot of feed, water and land
- Cows themselves also give off methane emissions (a harmful greenhouse gas)
red meat can have up to 100 times the environmental impact of plant based food
eating low down the food chain as often as you can is a probably a good way to reduce your carbon footprint and stay healthy
- Vegetables, fruits, grains and beans
- For meat-lovers - swapping carbon-intensive meats like beef and lamb with chicken can make a difference
- Most greenhouse gas emissions happen during production, rather than transportation
- This book aims to promote specific foods we should be eating more of because they are nutritious, have a lower impact on our planet than animal-based foods, can be affordable, accessible and taste good
- Chosen because of things like:
ability to grow in extreme climates
ability to grow without very much water
ability to grow in very short time frame
ability to grow a lot in a small amount of space
- Good replacement for mainstream version (buckwheat in place of white flour, orange tomatoes in place of red tomatoes, etc.)
Large scale change starts with small actions!!!
Sourcing (approx. 350 words)
- What you eat is more important than where it comes from - but eating local can still make a difference
- Food production accounts for far more environmental damage than food transportation (food miles)
- Greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions associated with food are dominated by the production phase, contributing 83% of the average U.S. household’s 8.1 t CO2e/yr footprint for food consumption (ACS)
- Transportation represents 11% of life-cycle GHG emissions
final delivery from producer to retail contributes only 4%
on average, red meat is around 150% more GHG intensive than chicken or fish (ACS)
- Dietary shift - more effective way to lower food-related climate footprint than buying local
- “Shifting less than one day per week’s worth of calories from red meat and dairy products to chicken, fish, eggs, or a vegetable-based diet achieves more GHG reduction than buying all locally sourced food” (ACS)
