Feb. 9: Clean Eating and the Environment

Eating Clean can affect more than the health of your family. It can make huge improvements on the health of the planet. There are many reasons that a diet free of processed foods and inhumanely farmed meats can positively affect the environment. Here are some of the things that I have noticed since we began Eating Clean in our household.

1.) We produce far less garbage! We no longer buy containers of beverages and food that comes in individual packages. The food we buy comes in large bulk bags, resulting in less packaging to throw away. We only drink water, tea, coffee and milk. We filter our water as opposed to purchasing it in plastic bottles, and our milk comes in bags. Coffee and tea are bulk purchases and are compost-able.

2.) We purchase local, organic, in-season fruits and vegetables This means less transit time, resulting in less pollution. The produce is free of chemicals and pesticides. It supports our local farmers and supports a more sustainable life-style.

3.) Our free-range meats contain no hormones or antibiotics. Better for us, better for the earth. The animals are eating the food they would naturally consume as opposed to being starved into a corn-based diet. As with our produce, we stick with locally farmed meats as well. This way we can be certain of what we are eating.

4.) We rarely have take out meals or fast food. Take out and fast food meals come individually wrapped with lots of packaging, much of it in non-recyclable containers. Further, the food must be transported from the restaurant to the house, and is generally not locally grown, resulting in even more transportation costs to bring it from the farm to your doorstep.

Consider Eating Clean a gift to the planet, as well as a gift to your health.