15 Eco-Friendly Food Swaps You Need to Make Now

Posted by Tamara Green on April 12, 2017

Earth day is upon us, which means it’s time to get in touch with your ecological footprint and see how you can start being more environmentally savvy — especially in the kitchen. Did you know that close to half of the food produced around the world is wasted, and that on average, your meal takes 1200-2500 km just to get to your plate! Make these 15 simple, eco-friendly food swaps to start creating a positive environmental impact right now.

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Go VFD (Vegan for a Day)

Producing meat takes a huge toll on the environment. It requires enormous amounts of water, food, land, fuel, pesticides and energy just to raise the animals we eat. This doesn’t even take into account the sheer volume of greenhouse gases produced from raising livestock. Make a difference by reducing the meat you consume and go Vegan for a Day. Check out these <a href="http://www.foodnetwork.ca/search/?q=vegan&did=4294967172" target="_blank">20 Vegan Recipes that Will Leave You Satisfied</a>.
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Grow Sprouts in Your Kitchen

Sprouts are tiny plants that offer your body a ton of nutrition and can be grown right in your kitchen. They’re a great way to eat healthy and nutritious greens during the winter, when fresh, local green produce is slim pickins’. Sprouting at home is easy and it’s a fun way to get kids involved in growing food and eating their greens. There are several at-home kits, like <a href="https://growaseed.garden/" target="_blank">Grow A Seed</a>, to help you get started sprouting right now.
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Go Raw Once a Week

When you cook, you may have the oven heating, the stove firing, maybe even the blender or food processor blitzing. Cooking requires a lot of energy, so why not give your electric and gas bill a break, and eat one meal completely raw. As an added bonus, many vital nutrients in your food are destroyed when cooked or heated, and eating raw maintains these nutrients providing your body with powerful enzymes and vitamins. Become a more energy efficient cook by making <a href="http://www.foodnetwork.ca/recipe/raw-vanilla-cheesecake-with-chocolate-almond-crust/16220/" target="_blank">Raw Vanilla Cheesecake with Chocolate Almond Crust</a>
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Become a Backyard Farmer

Growing your own food is one way to become an eco-warrior. There’s no travel involved from the time you harvest your produce to the time it reaches your kitchen. This reduces all of the pollution and energy that goes into shipping vegetables and fruits across the country and internationally, which also means that your hyper-local food won’t lose valuable nutrients. Seeds and seedlings are available at most grocery stores and garden centres, so get planting! If you don’t have your own space to grow food, join a community garden.
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Regrow Your Vegetables

There’s so much energy that goes into growing your food before it gets to your kitchen. Another way to reduce food waste is to actually regrow your produce; romaine lettuce, green onions, cilantro and basil can all be revived with a little bit of water and some sunlight. You’ll get to continue harvesting the goods when you regrow these veggies in your kitchen over and over again. Check out <a href="http://www.foodnetwork.ca/kitchen-basics/photos/vegetables-regrow-in-kitchen/" target="_blank">10 Vegetables You Can Regrow in Your Kitchen</a>.
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Toss out Toxic Cookware

You know those teflon or non-stick pans sitting in your pot drawer? Well, go toss them out now! Non-stick coating releases toxic fumes and substances into the air during cooking, and as you continue to use and heat them, the coating can flake off into your food. The safest choices for cookware are cast iron, ceramic and glass. Check out these <a href="http://www.foodnetwork.ca/everyday-cooking/photos/best-cast-iron-skillet-recipes/#!cast-iron-skillet-cornbread" target="_blank">14 Incredible Cast Iron Skillet Recipes</a>.
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Eat Local and Support Your Farmers

On average, your meal travels about 1200-2500 km just to get to your plate. Once your food is harvested, it must be transported and refrigerated to reach you; this creates transportation emissions, uses lots of energy and leads to a lot of food spoilage during the journey. The longer your food travels and sits on grocery store shelves, the more nutrients it loses. Local produce usually travels about 250 km to get to you, with minimal nutrition loses and energy expended along the way, and you’re supporting the local economy. You can find local produce at any farmer’s market. Torontonians, check out <a href="http://www.foodnetwork.ca/in-season/blog/the-best-farmers-markets-in-toronto/29518/" target="_blank">Toronto’s Best Farmer’s Markets</a> to pick up your locally grown fruits and veggies.
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Turn Food Waste Into Compost

Did you know that almost half of your household garbage is food waste? Food scraps that end up in the garbage and not in your compost bin find themselves decomposing in landfills and producing methane, a potent greenhouse gas. Instead of tossing these food scraps into your trash, throw them in the city’s designated compost bin or go a step further and start composing in your backyard.
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Eat Organic

Organically grown food doesn’t use chemical pesticides or fertilizers that are harmful for the environment, the soil or the body. Conventional farming uses a lot more energy and produces a considerable amount of greenhouse gas emissions. Eating organic is healthier for the planet and for your body, but it can be expensive and inaccessible for some. The Environmental Working Group puts out a list every year called the Clean Fifteen and Dirty Dozen. This list includes fruits and vegetables that have the least and most pesticide residue on them. If you’re looking to eat organic but don’t want to break the bank choose to buy these <a href="http://www.foodnetwork.ca/healthy-eating/blog/top-10-organic-fruits-vegetables-you-need-to-be-eating-34851/" target="_blank">top 10 organic fruits and veggies</a>.
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Wait — Don’t Toss Those Kitchen Scraps!

Did you know lots of nutrients and flavour can actually be found in the scraps of produce like onions, carrots, potatoes, lettuce, celery and lemons? Canadians waste about 47 per cent of their food, which equates to $31 billion of food waste every year. Most cooks throw away these valuable ingredients, not realizing how useful they can be. It’s time to repurpose your scraps and reduce the food waste that comes out of your kitchen. Here are <a href="http://www.foodnetwork.ca/kitchen-basics/blog/10-food-scraps-you-shouldnt-throw-away-32392/" target="_blank">10 Foods Scraps You Should Never Throw Away</a>.
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Choose Sustainable Seafood

Buying sustainable fish is one of the best ways to save the oceans. Many fish populations are being depleted due to overfishing, which also jeopardizes marine ecosystems and disrupts marine life. Fish caught or farmed sustainably preserves oceans and the diversity of species that live there. SeaChoice is a Canadian organization that guides you to make smart and safe seafood choices. You can download their <a href="http://www.seachoice.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/09/SC_alertcard_2016_5panel_web.pdf" target="_blank">pocket guide here</a> and use it the next time you’re at the grocery store. Already bought your sustainable fish? Make this delicious recipe for <a href="" target="_blank">One Skillet Trout with Green Beans and Almonds</a> for dinner tonight.
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Reduce, Reuse & Recycle

Household waste doesn’t only come in the form of food scraps. Plastic cutlery, paper napkins, water bottles and plastic storage containers are also among the waste culprits. Reduce your ecological footprint by storing food in reusable glass containers and dried goods in glass jars.
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Become a Food Prep Master

Now that you know how much of your food ends up in the garbage bin, here’s another way for you to prevent food waste: become a food prep master. You’re more likely to use fruits and vegetables if they’re already in ready-to-cook form; whipping up a roasted cauliflower dish is a cinch if the cauliflower is already chopped into florets, for example. As soon as you bring produce home, make sure you find time to prep it and store it in airtight containers in the fridge. This time-saving technique will also save you from throwing away any spoiled produce. Got your cauliflower chopped? Great, now make this <a href="http://www.foodnetwork.ca/recipe/roasted-cauliflower-with-herb-caper-sauce/19103/" target="_blank">Roasted Cauliflower with Herb Caper Sauce</a>.
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Increase the Lifespan of Your Food

Canadians waste a lot of food, often because produce spoils before you get a chance to use it. Everyone has experienced buying herbs, asparagus or lettuce, only to see them grow mouldy, wilty and sad. But there’s a way to actually extend the life of the food you buy; just put it away properly. For example, wrap a damp cloth around fresh herbs, store asparagus like a bouquet of flowers and keep greens in an airtight bag or container in the fridge. Learn these <a href="http://www.foodnetwork.ca/kitchen-basics/photos/hacks-that-will-make-food-last-longer/" target="_blank">9 Hacks That Will Make Your Food Last Longer</a>.
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Go Packaging Free

When grocery shopping, opt for food that has the least amount of packaging. Choose fruits and veggies that are unwrapped, rather than clad in plastic. Do your best to eliminate one-time use products, like plastic bags, and always bring your reusable tote bag on trips to the grocery store. Tamara Green is co-founder of <a target="_blank" href="http://livingkitchenwellness.com/">The Living Kitchen</a>, a Holistic Nutritionist and Natural Cook. <a target="_self" href="http://www.foodnetwork.ca/blog/author/tamaragreen/">More posts</a> from Tamara.
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