Everything that we do affects the Earth that we live on, which makes up your personal footprint – in other words, the mark that you make on our environment. Our foodprints, specifically, are made up of everything that comes from the food we eat every day. It ranges from the production and transportation to the disposal of your food. These parts of the food supply chain contribute greenhouse gases to our environment, which lead to increasing global temperatures. In order to combat this, here’s what you can do to reduce these emissions:
- Eating foods that are local and in season help to reduce transportation and growth costs. Eating locally has become quite convenient, thanks to farmer’s markets which are rapidly growing in popularity. Food production accounts for about 83% of our global emissions.
- Limiting meat intake is a simple step that can benefit both the Earth and your health. Beef, lamb, and chicken require a lot of feed and care, which majorly impacts production costs. Consider Meatless Monday or switching your beef with a protein that makes less of an impact on our foodprint, like fish.
- Did you know that the average household wastes 470 lbs of food annually? Reducing food waste is a simple solution that we can all take part in. Be intentional with the food portions you make and take note of how many perishables you buy. This can help cut down on cooking or buying too much food that ends up being tossed out.
Keeping ourselves updated on how food consumption can impact the Earth is a great start to reducing our overall foodprint. Compass Group USA has committed to shrinking our foodprint through programs such as Love Food Not Waste and Imperfectly Delicious Produce. Through Love Food Not Waste, we encourage our clients to focus on changing their behaviors in food waste, water, energy, and packaging. With Imperfectly Delicious Produce, we find opportunities to rescue food that would be otherwise wasted (check out our video below to learn more)!