The systems that bring food from production to the plate are responsible for nearly one-third of global greenhouse gas emissions, significant biodiversity losses and global land and water degradation — with clear impacts upon human health. Waste is a key stage in global food systems and one that also has a significant ecological impact.
To be clear, achieving true sustainability in food systems is a challenge for producers, distributors and all those involved in the global food system. Systemic change is needed through policy and program interventions to support the production and availability of plant-based foods alongside greater emphasis on providing sustainable choices for the consumer.
That being said, while systems-level change is critical, individuals can be powerful agents in the mitigation of ecological damage. The four steps in this article can help you live more healthily while also having a positive impact on the health of the planet.
Sustainable eating?
Sustainable eating considers all stages of the food system/cycle, from production to waste.
An estimated 20 to 50 per cent of annual food waste in Canada comes from the consumer or household level. This roughly translates to around 79 kilograms (167 pounds) of food waste per year for each Canadian household.
Perhaps most shockingly, over 60 per cent of this waste is avoidable food waste or food that could have been eaten but was thrown away for various reasons, including spoilage.
Research from 2022 showed that, on average, a Canadian household’s food waste equates to around $1,300 a year — a number that may now be much higher. Worse yet, most food waste is in the form of fruits and vegetables that contain important nutrients, like fibre and some vitamins, that most Canadians are not eating enough of as is.
Read more:
Measuring your food waste for six weeks can change your habits – new study
Strong and consistent evidence shows that a high percentage of plant-based foods in our diet is both healthier for our bodies and more environmentally sustainable. Despite all this evidence, however, changing our diets can be difficult.
There are several factors that make eating sustainably more difficult, including the cost of ingredients, issues in food availability and accessibility, lack of knowledge as to how to prepare plant-based foods and a lack of time.
With rising food prices and the growth of ultra-processed junk foods across the food sector these challenges to eating sustainably are becoming greater.
It is also worth remembering that sustainable plant-based meals can be considerably cheaper than takeout and expensive animal products and, with a little practice, can be much quicker to prepare. While preparing meals takes time, there are ways to streamline the process and make it more enjoyable. These four tips can help.
Simple steps
So how can you fit eating sustainably into your life? To help guide you, we’ve drawn on our expertise as researchers in food systems, behavioural nutrition, sustainable eating and food literacy to help you on the path to eating more sustainably.
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Plan your shopping and meals:
- Preparing meals and shopping lists takes time but is always a better option than expensive and often unhealthy takeout. Plan your meals for the week and do your food shopping with a clear idea in mind of what you need to help you avoid buying what you don’t need.
- We have developed a free meal planner that can help you keep on top of the eternal question of what’s for dinner.
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Swap meat with plant-based proteins by testing out new recipes. Below we list some of our favourite websites and recipes:
- Canada’s Food Guide
- EAT foundation
- Guelph Family Healthy Study cookbooks
- Sweet potato enchiladas that can become an enchilada soup the next day (pages 43 and 45)
- Lentil Bolognese (page 60)
- No Money No time
- Note that by “plant-based proteins” we are referring to whole vegetables or minimally process foods like tofu. While meat substitutes such as Impossible or Beyond Meat can be enjoyed in moderation, they are far from a healthy option.
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Embrace leftovers and reduce food waste:
- Our food waste cookbook can help you get creative with leftovers.
- Extra seasoning can help keep leftovers flavourful while basic methods like fried rice or stews can be endlessly versatile.
- Store your leftovers properly in airtight containers to keep them fresh and safe to eat throughout the week.
- Freeze soon to go off vegetables or boil them to create flavourful stocks to enjoy all year round.
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Let go of guilt:
- We often put a lot of pressure on ourselves. However, changing our habits takes time. Practice mindfulness and enjoy the flavours and smells of the new foods you try.
- While some of these resources and recipes are vegan, we, the authors, are not advocating that everyone adopt a fully vegan diet (none of us are vegan). Instead, we hope these resources will help you develop a habit of incorporating more plant-based meals, such as implementing meatless Mondays, and adopt a more flexitarian or vegetarian lifestyle.
In addition to systemic changes in our food systems, small, consistent individual changes — like those we’ve outlined above — can have big systemic impacts. That said, one size doesn’t fit all. Knowing where to start in trying to eat more sustainably can be challenging and anxiety-inducing. However, at its core sustainable eating is all about reducing our meat consumption and the food waste in our homes.
Read more:
We found 3 types of food wasters, which one are you?
While we all can take positive steps, no one is perfect. Consider what changes fit your lifestyle and commit to contributing wherever and whenever you can. We hope some of the recommendations and resources that we have provided here will help you enjoy eating more sustainably.
During his PhD, Amar Laila received funding from The Helderleigh Foundation to support his research on food literacy. Amar is currently a post-doctoral fellow with the EAT-Lancet 2.0 Commission.
Alicia Martin receives funding from the Social Sciences Research and Humanities Council.
Katherine Eckert receives scholarship funding from the Arrell Food Institute at the University of Guelph.
Cristina Gago does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.
