Eating Green

In previous posts I’ve discussed the importance of a whole foods diet and eating in such a way that is not only healthy for you, but also for the environment. If these are topics you are interested in I recommend checking out Six Arguments for a Greener Diet. The free ebook and accompanying website have been put out by the Center for Science in the Public Interest.

As stated in the e-book, the six arguments for a greener diet are:

1. Less chronic disease and better overall health
2. Less foodborne illness
3. Better soil
4. More and cleaner water
5. Cleaner air
6. Less animal suffering

Recommendations for changing your own diet and helping to change government policies are also covered. Each chapter can be downloaded individually or the entire e-book can be downloaded as a whole.

Six Arguments for a Greener Diet also includes some eye-opening statistics. Consider Eating Green by the numbers:

• 16 percent: the decreased mortality from heart disease associated with eating one additional serving of fruit or vegetables each day;
• 24 percent: how much lower the rate of fatal heart attacks is in lacto-ovo vegetarians compared with non-vegetarians;
• 50 percent: how much less dietary fiber Americans consume than is recommended;
• 100 percent: how much fattier meat is from a typical grain-fed steer than a grass-fed steer;
• 19 percent: the proportion of all methane—a potent greenhouse gas—emitted by cattle and other livestock;
• 140 million: the number of cattle, pigs, and sheep slaughtered each year
• 14 trillion gallons: the amount of water needed to produce feed for U.S. livestock

I liked that the authors recognize that not everyone should be a vegetarian and they offer suggestions for healthier animal alternatives.

The Eating Green website is a great interactive companion for the book. You can see how your diet rates according to nutrition, the environment and animal welfare. You can also take a tour of the conventional food supply or calculate the  impact your diet has on the environment.

“Six Arguments is a great description of the links between our diet and serious environmental and health problems. I hope that readers and policy makers will implement the book’s many recommendations.”

Walter Willett, M.D.
Professor of Epidemiology and Nutrition,
Harvard School of Public Health

Have you made any changes in your diet to lessen your environmental impact? If so, what changes have you implemented?

ES8ZGD9GTTBX