Putting your Best Food Forward

Written by Rhea Pai

Edited by Prisha Jairath

What is your food footprint?

It’s likely that most of us are already somewhat aware of what we eat and what goes into our bodies. We worry that the creamy, delicious icing on the red velvet cupcake has too many calories or too much sugar. Or whether that one plate of fries is too fattening and occasionally if our beloved Kurkure is laced with plastic. But how often do we think of the effect our food has on the environment? 

Every food item we consume has a carbon footprint. It involves almost everything that goes into growing and producing the food, as well as what it takes to get said food to your local grocery store. These carbon footprints are the emissions of greenhouse gases—a major cause of climate change. Almost a quarter of these emissions are a result of food production, and most of them are from animal products. In the last few decades, our world has seen rising levels of greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide, methane and nitrous oxide. Global food production generates these gases through common agricultural practices including mass crop production and mass animal husbandry.

The popularity of red meat is only rising, worrying climate activists all over the world. While it’s true that Western diets are a large contributor of carbon to the environment, our Indian diets and current food consumption isn’t the best for the environment either. As of 2016, paddy and livestock products are the largest contributors of greenhouse gas emissions, the third being ruminant meat (cattle, sheep, goat, buffalo). In 2012, IIT Delhi calculated that methane emissions from Indian livestock were 15.3 million tonnes. Methane is potent, so emissions from India’s hefty livestock population make a marked impression on global climate change.

It’s interesting to note that our local Indian produce, consumed more scrupulously, can be largely sustainable. Yet the ease with which we choose to buy foods with a considerable carbon footprint is alarming. But let’s first talk about what exactly constitutes the “carbon footprint” of an item of food. 

In essence, a food item’s carbon footprint is the “effect of these foods on climate-warming greenhouse gas emissions and the amount of land and freshwater used across all stages of their production, including processing, packaging, and transportation, but excluding the cooking process.” (BBC 2012). This term is important because it encompasses the direct ways in which a product contributes to climate change. 

The reason our traditional Indian diets are regarded as more sustainable is because of the large proportion of Lacto-vegetarianism (this includes the consumption of dairy). However, even our consumption of dairy products is on the rise and the milk from which they are produced often comes from hormone-ised and ill-treated farmed cattle. the effects of farmed cattle are severe, not only are cattle farmed in too-tight spaces with inadequate and inappropriate feed, us humans are consuming the milk a cow produces for her calf. Our culture often worships the cow without the understanding that she shares with us what is meant for her calf. Milk and milk products, though a large part of our diets, are not as readily available as it may seem. And the demand for such products has only led to artificial methods to stimulate bovine lactation.

Eating sustainably isn’t as daunting as it may seem. You may not want to give up your meat and dairy, and you don’t have to. There are several steps one can take to start consuming more earth-consciously; it all begins with baby steps. While a largely plant-based diet is highly recommended in the sustainable world, we must take into account several other aspects of our fruits and veggies that can’t be ignored. 

The simple and most obvious way, of course, is to cut down your consumption of red meat. While some feel that this needn’t be reiterated, its impacts on the pressing global crisis of climate change are tremendous and cannot be taken lightly. 

Another important tip is to buy produce that is in season and local. The costs and transportation of exotic fruits and veggies are not just monetary --  emissions from its transport can skyrocket, especially if they’ve been flown across the world. 

Wonky carrots and misshapen tomatoes don’t mean that the veggie is bad -- it’s made up of all the same goodness as the pretty ones. It’s been found that many “ugly” looking fruits and vegetables are left on shelves and vendors’ carts only to be thrown away a few days later. They have the exact same nutritional value and are less likely to be genetically modified (that’s what those pageant-winning veggies have to thank). Picking up those ugly ducklings will help to drastically reduce food waste all over the world. 

The fact that we are all somewhat aware of what we put into our bodies is undeniable. But worrying more about calories and fat is more damaging to our psyche and our world than being aware of the origins of our nutrition. The labour does not end once the fruit is plucked, vegetables harvested, and cows are milked. The carbon used and emitted is measured the second the seed sprouts to when the fruit touches your lips. Mindfulness of how, where, and when our food is produced will go a long way in not only treating our body to the local gifts of our surrounding lands but conserving the elements that make up our earth.