FOOD SUSTAINABILITY
In the past, food items have been produced with the goal of maximising production. This has often come at a cost to the environment and sometimes people’s health. Food sustainability isn’t only about the food itself. It’s a combination of factors including how the food is produced, how it’s distributed, how it’s packaged and how it’s consumed.
Food sustainability aims to avoid damaging or wasting natural resources. It also minimises its contribution to climate change throughout the whole production process, including the use of energy in transportation and storage.
So what are some actions you can take to ensure food sustainability?
Buy Local Produce
Some of the food we consume may have travelled a long way to reach us, resulting in significant carbon emissions from transport and storage. Buying local produce, is an effective way to reduce your impact on the environment.
Eating local food also supports local producers and the production of crops that are appropriate to the regional environment. A great variety of this food can be found at local Farmers Markets or local grocers.
Grow Your Own
Growing food for consumption is a valuable tool in not only increasing your self-sufficiency, but also providing food sustainably, whether it is at a personal scale or at the scale of a family or a small community. A home or community vegetable garden is one way that an individual or small community can provide themselves with a steady supply of fresh vegetables throughout the year.
Not only is this a sustainable and natural way to grow your own produce, it also reduces society dependence, and can increase personal health, because fresher vegetables frequently have a greater nutritional value.
But in order to be successful, a vegetable garden must be well planned. This planning must take into account what can be grown in the area (this is influenced by the soil, climate, and other local factors), as well as what vegetable products are required. It can be difficult to produce consistent volumes and variety of produce, however with good management and experience, consistency can be achieved.
Consider these tips for success:
- Start small and select foods that you like to eat like Mushrooms
- Choose an area that has at least 6hrs of sun exposure
- Set up an irrigation system
- Select seeds along with companion plants
- Sow your seeds at the right time according to the season
- Do more organic gardening in your garden, such as home-grown compost, worm castings, or mushroom compost
- Avoid using any pesticides or fertilisers – choose organic methods
- Spent time maintaining the garden
- Join a gardening group for further advice and tips
- Limited on space? Consider container gardening.
Growing your own food is good for you, good for the planet, and helps save money.
Other Ways to Take Action
What food we choose to consume will affect how the food is produced. Below are some other things to consider to help food be more sustainable:
- Eat more organic food
- Choose local produce
- Reduce your food waste
- Eat less meat
- Eat seasonal food
- Reduce your dairy intake
- look after your own chicken and poultry
- Be mindful of plastic packaging
- Educating ourselves is important too. Knowing what is and what isn’t sustainable is the first step to leading a more sustainable lifestyle.
- Educating others through options like Ecotherapy
Learn more about food sustainability through courses online. These can be started at any time and complete at your own pace. All courses include practical exercises to help build your skills as your knowledge develops. Get in touch with our course advisors today.