A diet that is
local, unfrozen and unprocessed, seasonal, organic or near-organic, has no
packaging and is based on mostly grain and vegetables, including little or no
beef or dairy
Production has
its impact by water use, land use, energy use, and herbicide and pesticide use:
Eat organic or close to it—to cut down on the chemicals.
Eating seasonally—avoids carbon emissions produced by oil-guzzling boilers used to heat greenhouses and by power plants used to keep things frozen.
If you’re veggie, eat more eggs than cheese—one pound of cheese takes ten pounds of milk to make. It has about the same impact as a pound of beef. I’ve read that far-away beans as a protein source may be better than local cheese.
Eat fresh and seasonal—freezing and keeping food frozen is not so low impact.
Bring your own cloth shopping bags and buy loose produce.
Distribution
means transportation and the average piece of American food has traveled 1500
Miles to get to your plate. I emphasize local because:
A regional and local food system would release five to seventeen times less carbon dioxide into the atmosphere than our current national and international model (according to this Leopold Center for Sustainable Agriculture study).