how to prepare a sustainable diet at home (and the best online options to eat sustainably)
what exactly is a sustainable diet?
A sustainable diet is one that is focused on eating healthy food that also has little impact on the environment and has a low carbon footprint. It’s a diet that even if it promotes a healthy living style, it does focus a lot more on the environmental impact our food choices have and plans to reduce them to a minimum improving the overall life of our society and future generations.
That is because the current food industry is producing around 20% of the world’s greenhouse gas emissions and uses about two-thirds of the water usage worldwide, which is a tremendous amount even if we take into consideration how big of an industry this is (We all got to eat right?).
This is the reason so many people are beginning to stand up against it, promoting a sustainable diet plan that plans to combat this environmental footprint the food industry has at the moment, but it is not as easy as one may think at first. There are many diet plans that aim to be sustainable, and we will talk about them right now. Having said that, here are the best sustainable diet plans that will reduce your carbon footprint in our world:
- Vegetarian and plant-based diets, this is a very popular diet choice that is based on the principle that growing crops is more sustainable than feeding livestock for human consumption. This is a very debated topic that takes into consideration water usage and land among other things. However, it is noted that a plant-based diet does not automatically equal a sustainable diet, as a vegan choosing highly processed and packaged foods has a much larger environmental impact than a person who chooses to eat meat.
- Local Food diets, this is a great choice for the conscious consumer, as they don’t need to drastically change their diet in order to eat more sustainably. This is based on the principle that locally grown food, even animal products, is much more sustainable and ethical than imported foods from large companies. When buying local foods you not only reduce the carbon footprint of transporting those foods but you also support the local economies and small farmers, who also grow crops and care for their livestock in a much more sustainable way.
- Flexitarian diets, this is a good choice for people who want to consume fewer animal products but don’t want to go fully plant-based. It is a good sustainable diet choice because it aims to eat more plant-based foods while also being flexible and eating some animal products every now and then, reducing the potential health risks associated with a plant-based diet executed the wrong way. It’s also based on the principle of a diversified diet that cares for our health and most importantly for the environment.
This should make it clear what a sustainable diet is and some examples of it. If you want to learn more about how to eat more sustainably and the science behind it, we encourage you to read the article on Medical News Today about this subject.
why does having a sustainable diet matter?
We have already explained why people want to follow a diet that is sustainable, environmentally friendly, and healthy, but does it really matter that much? Why is it such a big deal? Well, we will tell you in a second:
In the last decades, we have learned that our society needs to change if we want to preserve our planet and let other future generations thrive because if we don’t do anything about the footprint we are living on this planet humanity as a whole will not have a bright future ahead. One of the ways to reduce our environmental footprint on this planet is by changing our diet because that way we can reduce our impact on the planet a lot.
A sustainable diet also promotes a healthy diet, and with a healthy diet also comes a healthy mind. This is also important in our personal lives because with a healthy body and mind we can take better decisions, become less stressed, and overall become happier. By doing so we will also be predisposed to take more environmentally conscious choices and reduce our carbon footprint even further.
Overall, a sustainable diet plan is not only a great and necessary option to care for our environment, our world as a whole, and the future generations to come, but it is also a great choice for improving your overall health and mental wellbeing, so it is definitely an option to consider.
how to eat more sustainably at home
You have already seen why people are eating more sustainably and why it matters so much, but right now you may be a little lost, you may be thinking about how you can begin to eat more sustainably from the comfort of your home, do not worry, luckily for you we have some tips so you can begin changing your environmentally unfriendly diet to an environmentally friendly and healthy one. Having said this, here are some tips so you can begin to eat a sustainable diet at home:
- Eat more fruits and veggies, these are not only healthy options that should be in everyone’s diet, but they are also one of the best environmentally friendly options out there. These produce much lower gas emissions and require fewer resources than other types of foods, so, feel free to eat as many fruits and vegetables as you want! Now you know why you should have listened to your mom when she told you to eat your vegetables when you were little.
- Avoid highly processed foods, these are not only very bad for your health but their production and transportation have a big environmental footprint that you want to avoid taking part in. Always prioritize foods that are natural and unprocessed, you don’t have to exaggerate though (Don’t go out there eating vegetables directly out of the dirt).
- Try to buy locally, as we said earlier, this is a great option because generally, it doesn’t matter as much what you eat because it is produced locally, on small farms, which always has a less environmental footprint than conventional supermarkets imported industrial foods, it also saves the carbon footprint transportation leaves. Plus, you are supporting small businesses from your local town or city, which is always a great thing.
- Choose sustainable seafood, marine life is a great choice for our diets, it has many great nutrients that improve our health and lifespan overall, however, you should be careful when choosing seafood. Overexploitation is a very big problem for marine life as a whole, so you should try to buy seafood grown with aquaculture or captured artisanally, which is a sustainable and conscious way of consuming seafood.
- Reduce your waste, buy only what you will eat and never throw out any food (this is a no-brainer), you should also compost the organic waste and avoid using plastics and single-use materials to package and store your food. This is a whole subject to talk about in itself, so if you want to learn more about it feel free to check the United Nation’s article on how to reduce your food waste.
These five tips on how to have a sustainable diet at home should work out fine, there are many other tips but as always we have presented you with the most important ones. Now that you know what you can begin doing at home to eat more sustainably, it is time to take action!
the best online options for eating sustainably
You now know how you can begin eating a sustainable diet at home, which is great, but you may also be interested in knowing how you can order food online to be delivered at home to complement your sustainable diet. This is definitely a life-saver for many people that may be working all the time and doesn’t have that much time to constantly prepare sustainable foods every day, people who may, unfortunately, resort to unhealthy and environmentally unfriendly fast food.
Luckily for you, we now have your back! Here are the best online options for eating a sustainable diet that delivers straight to your door in no time:
(US) Giant Food Grocery Delivery
This online service is a great option to buy your sustainable groceries and have them delivered to your door to complement your sustainable diet. This is a great option because it offers a great amount of flexibility and it lets you get the best deals on the groceries you buy. You can check this service from this link.
(UK) Simply Cook
This is a very creative service that sends you the ingredients of the food you order, and then you make it yourself at home. It is a great option for the DIY people, but also for the ones who don’t have enough time to completely prepare their own foods. You can order healthy and sustainable diet options, as well as fully vegan foods. Click here to check it out now.
(US) Gobble
This is one of our favorite options for the busy conscious consumer. With this service, you can pick the best sustainable diet option you want (they have really good gourmet options) and their team of professional chefs begin to make the food for you, then they deliver it and you have a delicious fresh-made sustainable meal! Learn how exactly this service works here.
(CA) Chefs Plate
This service lets you plan all the meals you will have weekly, while also putting an emphasis on healthy and sustainable diet meals, which is what you are going for. You can simply select your meal preferences and how many times you want it to be delivered to your home and that’s it, you can enjoy sustainable meals every day at a very affordable price. You can check this service out from this link.
(CA) Hello Fresh
The last online service we will be recommending to you is Hello Fresh, a service similar to Chefs Plate, with great sustainable diet options and a system where they will deliver the number of meals you want every week. They also have a group of qualified chefs preparing each meal, and they are offering a juicy promotion for conscious consumers like you right now. Click here to check it out.
As you may see, there are quite a few options for the conscious consumer to choose from when it comes to a sustainable diet, unfortunately, not all of the options presented are available in every country, but if you live in the countries mentioned you are free to go.
We also want to present you with another great online service that although it does not deliver food, focuses on making you exercise, which is a crucial part of your general physical and mental wellbeing. It’s called Aaptiv Fitness Program, and it is the way to go when it comes to fitness. You can check it out for Desktop or for IOS (US), or in other parts of the world.
*The content presented before contains affiliate links, which could also come with promotional offers that benefit you. The list is completely unbiased and does not present any fraudulent or fake information.
summary
We hope you have learned a lot today about how to achieve a sustainable lifestyle by following an environmentally friendly sustainable diet plan. Now you should take that information into good practice so that everything we taught you today will be worth anything. We also advise you to check our articles about sustainable fashion, something as important if not more than a sustainable diet to achieve a lower environmental footprint for our society.
We are thrilled to teach people all around the world 🙂 Also, did you really know what Fast Fashion really is and its terrible consequences for the environment, the planet, the workers, society, and the economy? Do you know exactly what the Slow Fashion or Sustainable Fashion movement is? You should really take a look at these articles about this forgotten and unknown but very urgent and important subject, click here to read „Can Fashion Ever Be Sustainable?”, Sustainable Fashion, Ethical Fashion, Slow Fashion or Fast Fashion 101 | How It’s Destroying Our Planet because knowledge is one of the most powerful strengths you can have, while ignorance is your worst weakness.
We also have a big surprise for you! Because we want to give you the right to know us better, we have prepared a carefully dedicated About Us page where we will tell you who we are, what our mission is, what we do, a closer look at our team, and many more things! Do not miss this opportunity and click here to check it out. Also, we invite you to take a look at our Pinterest, where we will pin everyday sustainable fashion-related content, clothing designs, and other things that you will surely love!
