Sustainable Eating is complicated! Choices, challenges, and change.

In this episode of "Now, That's What I Call Green," discover the intricate world of sustainable eating. Discover the environmental impacts of popular options like oat milk (which is the best plant milk...?) and the innovative realm of lab-grown meat. I chat the issue of food waste, revealing alarming statistics and practical solutions - because it's one of the easiest things we can do to lessen our impact. Also, ever eaten an insect? Gain insights into the challenges and successes of adopting an eco-conscious diet. Whether you're a seasoned green enthusiast or just beginning your sustainable journey, this episode provides a mix of knowledge, revelations, and motivation. Remember, when aiming for a greener tomorrow, it's all about progress, not perfection.

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Transcription:

Kia ora kaitiaki and welcome back to Now That's What I Call Green. I'm Brianne West and today we're embarking on a culinary journey exploring the environmental impact of our food choices and how we can make them that little bit more sustainable. Climate change is a pressing issue if you haven't noticed and our food choices play a pivotal role.

So let's talk some facts to begin with. So nearly half of Aotearoa's emissions come from agriculture. Yep, half. Between a quarter and a third of global emissions come from food production. These vary as the inputs are different, i.e. some don't include food waste and there are some disagreements around things like deforestation rates. But regardless, that's a lot. When we're talking land use, about 50% of the world's habitable land is used for agriculture. 77% of that is used for livestock. But that only produces about 18% of the world's calories. That math does not math. In girl math, gay math, horse math, whatever it is we're up to at TikTok, that ain't mathin'. 80% of global deforestation is driven by agriculture. We're all obsessed with planting trees for climate change, but no one seems to be worried about the fact we're cutting them down faster. And in particular, beef production in the Amazon rainforest is a significant deforestation driver. About 41% of deforestation is for beef and 3% for palm oil. And yes, before someone beats me to it, some of that is for soy. But before people leap to the whole soy is the cause of deforestation, the vast, vast, vast, as in 98% of that soy is actually fed to cattle. It doesn't go into tofu. Let's talk about something a little bit more cheerful. Okay, I'm lying. Biodiversity loss. 60% of global biodiversity loss can be attributed to the food we eat. That's fucking depressing. And that is primarily due to habitat destruction for agriculture. So, if the world were to adopt a vegetarian diet, food-related emissions would drop by 63%. With a vegan diet, it would drop by 70%. Am I here to tell you all to stop eating meat? No, that is not that kind of podcast. But that is a fact calculated by much cleverer people than me. And it does show an easy way that we can all make a difference.

But I'm going to get into that. That is the whole point of this podcast. Again, this isn't a judgmental podcast. But it is worth thinking about if that makes you feel defensive, have a look at why you feel that way. And a totally interesting factoid, insects as a protein source emit just 1% of the greenhouse gas that beef production does, yet loads more protein per gram. So gym bros, start eating your crickets. OK, so let's talk the misconception of eating local or food miles. So you may have heard that eating local is the most important thing you can do for your diet. It doesn't actually matter what you eat so much as where it comes from. Well, whilst eating local has its merits, it is certainly not a silver bullet for sustainability.

Choosing what you eat has a significant impact on your dietary carbon footprint. In news that will surprise absolutely no one, beef results in much higher greenhouse gas emissions compared to most plant-based foods. Livestock farming contributes to greenhouse gas emissions in various ways. We all know about methane, there's come some ruminants, there's manure decomposition which produces more methane, feed production and more. Plant-based diets, on the other hand, especially those rich in legumes, grains, fruits, veggies, they generally have a lower carbon footprint than diets high in meat and dairy. Then you've got processed foods. Depending on the extent and method of processing, they can also have a higher carbon footprint due to energy-intensive production methods. So transporting food does contribute to its carbon footprint, but it's really important to note that that transportation actually makes up a relatively small percentage of a food item's total emissions.

Those transportation emissions are dwarfed by the emissions that come from production. But obviously the mode of transportation matters. Air freighted food have a much higher carbon footprint per kilogram than those transported by ship or rail or even truck. And eating local can have other benefits beyond carbon savings, obviously, like supporting local economies and farmers, potentially consuming fresher, more nutritious food. But the fact is that transporting beef makes up just 0.5% of beef's total carbon footprint. And apparently that is calculated at the absolute worst, i.e. the beef is produced in the Amazon and shipped to New Zealand. The production phase dominates the carbon footprint of most foods. And yeah, so while both factors are essential, i.e. composition of your diet and where it comes from, numerous studies have shown that the type of food you eat has a much more impact on your carbon emissions than where it comes from. So if you are looking to reduce your dietary carbon footprint, prioritising plant-based foods would typically have a more substantial impact than just focusing on local food. What is the takeaway here? Like so many things, focus on the bigger picture.

Consider the entire life cycle of your food, not just where it comes from. And I really think that is a principle we should apply to all of the sustainability issues that we're trying to fix. Anyway, I remember writing an article about this for a teak years and years ago and the hate we got for this was insane. So I'm going to talk plant milk versus dairy milk. Yeah, now I am not anti-pharma. I'm just simply letting these facts speak for themselves and then you can choose what it is you want to do. There is now something stupid like 37 different types of plant milk. Potato milk without question is the worst. It's vile. Don't try it. I'm not like, I would do anything for a potato. It is my favorite food. If I had lived on a desert island, I would want the lifetime supply of potatoes. But I digress.

Dairy farming, so especially from cows as opposed to say goats or sheep, has big environmental costs from land use to methane emissions. And plant milks like almond or oats, and I say almond, sorry, I know that you're all going to tease me for it, they do have a lower environmental impact, but it varies based on things like production practices and the type of plant milk. It is definitely worth noting that farmers in Aotearoa often have the lowest carbon emissions for meat and dairy products because of the way we farm. I'm going to rattle through the milk choices so you can decide what works for you. So, oat milk has significantly less water requirements than almond milk. Oats can be grown in cooler climates so you don't need so much irrigation. Almonds cannot. Greenhouse gas emissions are lower than almonds and rice milk. And oat produces less methane than dairy farming. It's often grown in rotation with other crops, which does promote soil health. Oat consistently wins LCAs. It is one of the most popular milks for a reason. It's creamy, it's delicious, it's certainly my plant milk of choice. And there are some awesome companies right here producing their own oat milk too.

Let's move on to soy milk. Probably the OG plant milk, right? Like, I remember my mum drinking soy lattes hundreds of years ago. The key with soy milk is making sure that it's locally produced. And I know I just told you that local doesn't matter, but actually there is a point where it does. And soy is one of them, because soy is of course linked to deforestation in places like the Amazon. So make sure that your soy is Australian or somewhere local to you. It definitely uses less water than almond milk. Note that almond milk is the benchmark for water usage and that's for a specific reason which we will get to. It's less land required than dairy milk and it produces less CO2 than dairy milk. As I mentioned there are concerns about deforestation, especially in the Amazon. However, most soy for milk is actually grown in the US or Canada and some in Australia and only a small fraction of the global soy production goes into plant milk. As we move to hemp milk, hemp is becoming this thing. I've had so many people tell me, why don't we just make all plastic out of hemp, that solves all the problems. I can't even begin to tell you how much that doesn't solve any problems whatsoever. But, you know what, I'll talk about that in another episode, more about plastic.

Hemp milk, never tried it, I've actually never even seen it. If anyone knows where it is in Autotahe, Christchurch, please let me know because I'm really intrigued. But hemp is drought resistant, so it typically requires soddle irrigation. As it can be grown in a variety of climates and soils, land use is good. Greenhouse gas emissions, relatively low. Hemp plants are also good for soil and they're fast growing. It seems like a pretty good win this one, I just don't know what it tastes like. And let's be honest, if it tastes horrible, it doesn't matter how good it is, people aren't going to drink it. Moving on to another cashew milk, it's not one I see particularly often. Cashew butter, now that's freaking delicious. But cashews use less water than almonds, surprises me, because cashew trees can be grown in various climates where they also have better land use. Greenhouse gas emissions are moderate due to the processing, which can be more labour intensive and there are concerns about fair wages and working conditions in some of the countries in which cashew milk is produced. So research your supply chains. Easier said than done.

And we've got to almond milk. Almonds are incredibly water intensive, especially in regions like California where, for some reason, we farm a significant proportion of the world's almonds. It requires more land to know it's in soy, moderate in greenhouse gas emissions, but it has other problems in terms of bees. Now it is worth Googling, I think it's called the bee apocalypse or something, but Google bee apocalypse and almond farming. Because farmers have to ship bees in, up to 33% of bees will die every season due to the way they're trucked around, pesticides and monoculture. So over-reliance and almond farming in certain regions has really raised concerns about water scarcity because they're using it all to feed bloody almond trees and bee health due to the need for those almond trees to be pollinated.

Rice milk. Water use. Rice paddies require a lot of water. If you've ever seen a rice paddy that will not surprise you. Rice can be grown in various regions but paddies take up a lot of space. The land use is high. Now greenhouse gas emissions are interesting for rice milk because rice cultivation releases quite a lot of methane. Methane, of course, is a more potent greenhouse gas than carbon dioxide, it's just shorter lived. There are also concerns about arsenic levels in rice and its potential transfer to rice milk. Not a great deal of information available about that yet, but I've got to be honest, I don't know anybody who drinks rice milk. It's always been a bit watery to me. Finally, we have the last one, coconut milk. Coconut trees, obviously, growing in fairly tropical areas, pretty drought resistant, so don't require a lot of water. As they are grown in tropical regions, there are concerns about monocultures. This is an interesting one, but there is such a thing as using monkeys to farm coconuts. I remember the very first time we were asked about that at Ethique, and I thought that was the most bonkers question I'd ever heard, but it turns out that actually yes this is a thing. And obviously these monkeys aren't necessarily treated or kept in fair or kind conditions. You may wish to research your coconut milk source.

Transport emissions are often high with coconut milk because simply due to the location, obviously on tropical islands, and there are some concerns about labour practices for the human labourers in coconut producing regions as well. Potato milk, as I mentioned, is new and it's gross, but it does have some really interesting sustainability benefits. Potatoes don't require an enormous amount of water, so they're generally less water-intensive than rice and almonds. They're grown in an absolute variety of climates and soils, so they're super versatile. They also have a really high yield per acre, so you can produce a lot more milk per unit compared to some other crops. They have a relatively low carbon footprint, especially when grown in optimal conditions without excessive fertilizer use. And basically the only emissions from potato milk production would largely depend on the processing and then transportation. Possibly some issues are they are a staple food in many regions. Using them for milk production would raise concerns about food security if it diverts significant amounts from direct human consumption.

But potato milk is often made from potatoes that might not be suitable for sale as whole produce anyway, so they're reducing food waste. It still grows though. If you find a good potato milk, please hit me up. I'd love to try more. So let's have a chat about a balanced approach about reducing your meat consumption. I have told you the benefits of doing so. I'm not judging you if you eat meat. I'm not judging you at all. Reducing meat doesn't mean eliminating it. If New Zealanders gave up meat just one day a week, we would reduce our dietary carbon emissions by 7%. So that's just one day a week. Meat-free Mondays everyone. So moderation can lead to really significant benefits. And you don't need to have a complete dietary overhaul. Small changes can make big impacts. And oh my god, have you tried Impossible Chicken Nuggets or Homemade Bean Burgers? If not, you've not lived. Impossible chicken nuggets, appreciating they're a processed food, fricking delicious. But let's bring that up, shall we? Processed plant-based options.

So the rise of plant-based meat alternatives has probably been nothing short of meteoric, but are they actually all they're cracked up to be, right? So Impossible Foods, probably one of the first, like, fake meats, claims its burger uses 96% 86% less land, 87% less water, and emit 89% less greenhouse gas than traditional beef burgers. So, obviously it has significant environmental benefits. And a life-cycling assessment found that the Beyond Burger, which to me is too meaty and I actually can't eat it because it's too like meat, that generates 90% less greenhouse gas emissions than a traditional beef burger. Obviously, there are also ethical considerations. I'm not talking about this in this podcast because it tends to be something people cannot discuss levelly. No animals are harmed in the production of plant-based meat alternatives. That's kind of an obvious one.

There are some interesting health benefits. There are no antibiotics or hormones, which are sometimes used in livestock farming, not so much in Aotearoa. Some plant-based meats are designed to be comparable in protein content to animal products, and sometimes they contain added vitamins and minerals. Companies have invested heavily in R&D to replicate the taste and texture of meat so they make these products as appealing as possible. If you eat meat and you haven't tried an Impossible Burger or a Beyond Burger, give it a try because you might be surprised. Cons Yes, there are a few. They are heavily processed. There are a lot of critics that argue that products like Impossible Burger and Beyond Burger are highly processed, which does not align with the whole plant-based, whole food dietary preferences. Fair. Some people have raised concerns about specific ingredients, such as soy-like haemoglobin in the Impossible Burger, although it's FDA approved and considered safe for consumption. It has been tinkered with in a lab, yet there are no scientific concerns about it.

Sometimes there is saturated fats in these plant-based products because they contain coconut oil to mimic the juiciness of meat, and they can be quite high in sodium, which is definitely a problem for those with high blood pressure or who are just watching their salt intake. They're not environmentally perfect either, so whilst these products reduce the demand for livestock farming, they might increase the demand for specific crops, potentially the demonic cultures, which we know is bad, which is detrimental to biodiversity. And as of right now, they're often a lot more expensive than conventional meat. Although, prices are expected to decrease as production scales up, and meat's not exactly cheap either. And ultimately, whilst a lot of people love them, some consumers don't think they measure up. And hey, maybe they don't yet, but maybe they will in the future. So they're a promising alternative. They're not perfect. They are certainly better when you look at the stats from an environmental and ethical standpoint. But as with everything, you should consider what is best for you, your family and your lifestyle.

Finally, though, this is the thing that annoys me about these sorts of products, is people often say, oh, but they're so unhealthy when I talk about things like plant-based burgers. And my response is, so what? Why do plant-based alternatives have to be healthy simply because they're not meat. Do you pick a burger because you want a healthy diet day? No, you don't. Sometimes vegetarians want junk food too. Now, what about lab-grown meat, so animal protein for things like meat and milk that is grown and made entirely in labs? I know, lots of you are probably conjuring up this evil scientist image cackling over a cauldron when you hear the word synthetic, but this technology is coming fast and it's fricking genius. We have several companies right here in Aotearoa using science to create protein. So Daisy Labs, for example, is a company I've worked with a bit, my investment company gave them a grant. They use precision fermentation to make dairy proteins so you can enjoy things like cheese and yogurt without the cow. It is a super interesting industry and it isn't going anywhere any time soon. Not super financially viable yet, but it will be. Whilst obviously these lab grown products have many environmental and ethical benefits, what's interesting also is food security.

So with climate change, things are changing, farming cycles are no longer the same. Talk to any farm almost anywhere in the world and they will talk about how the climate has shifted for their area and the rain they were expecting is often later or earlier or there's just no rain at all. Food security could become a little more, well, secure the more lab grown products we use because you can produce them consistently in a lab without worrying about disease outbreaks or droughts or other issues that affect livestock. They're expensive as fuck, but they won't be forever. And it's going to be interesting to see whether consumers actually accept them or not. I believe that they will, right, because there's always that big no to start with. There's always that I'm not interested in trying it, ah it's made in a lab, ah it's going to kill me. But people hate the idea of tractors. I do believe that people will come around as these things become more and more mainstream. The one thing of course is lab grown meat will require a lot of energy.

While we're making big strides towards more and more renewable energy, we're not quite there yet. The other consideration there of course is the impact on farmers. And this is where this debate becomes really horrible and sad because a lot of farmers feel like people who are trying to protect the planet are actively against them. And in most cases, that certainly isn't the case. It is a conundrum because how do you protect people who have spent their entire lives working to help us eat? How do you ensure that we protect the planet whilst protecting people? This has always been a tricky conversation. I don't have the answers for you. I'm not going to solve this massive problem for you on this podcast today. But it is a really important thing to consider. There are a lot of militant people out there who want everything changed immediately and if you're not for that, then you're a monster. Well, life isn't like that. This is their livelihood and has been probably for generations, we need to be putting an awful lot of support their way to help a transition, if there is a transition, or to help better methods, which a lot of farmers are already putting in place. It's complicated.

Now I want to go back to a slightly more light-hearted point, and that's actually one I touched on earlier. Bugs. Have you ever eaten one? Well, I haven't because, no. But I've watched Nessie my bearded dragon eat loads of them and she kinda makes them look delicious I guess. But the power of diverse diets is really interesting. So diversifying our protein sources is, well, quite nutritious and eco-friendly. Insects are a staple in many cultures around the world. It is simply us who turns our nose up against them. Insects are very efficient in converting feed into protein and require vastly fewer resources. This Western aversion we have stems from cultural norms, historical abundance of other foods and a lack of exposure. So let's be adventurous. Because it's all in our head, right? So trying insect-based dishes can be a step towards a more sustainable diet. There's a couple of companies around. So XO produces protein bars made from cricket flour. The idea that cricket flour, so ground up crickets, is less ick to people. They talk about the sustainability and nutritional benefits of crickets, which require way fewer resources, produce way less greenhouse gas, compared to the protein of traditional livestock.

There's a French startup that focuses on breeding mealworms. Now mealworms are something you often feed to lizards and frogs, and they produce high-quality protein in oil, which is often fed to both humans and is fed for fish and chickens. In Tomo Farms, based in Canada, they produce cricket and mealworm powders and whole roasted insects for human consumption. They also produce insect-based pet foods. Now that is an interesting one and I am keen to see how that goes in the future. insect-based fish food. Because often the supply chain of your fish food is very dubious. But they love it. Happy as, bright colours. Yeah, as much as you can tell a fish is happy, they seem happy. Finally, we're going to talk about food waste.

So we've talked about what to eat, where to get it from, what not to eat, and what maybe to give a try. And here is what we should all be focusing first and foremost, because this is the number one thing you can do as an individual and a household to lower your carbon emissions, and that is to stop wasting food. Food waste is a significant global issue with far, far-reaching environmental, economic and social implications. And when we discuss food waste, we're referring to food that is produced but not consumed, either because it's discarded in the supply chain before it gets to, say, a supermarket because it's too big or too ugly or not the right colour or some other stupid arbitrary reason, or it's thrown away by consumers. Brace yourself.

Globally, approximately one third of all food produced for human consumption is wasted. That is disgusting in a world where people are still starving and malnourished. That equates to about 1.3 billion tonnes of food annually. That's nearly $1 trillion worth of food. And that is responsible for roughly 8% of global greenhouse gas emissions. When food is thrown away, it ends up in landfills and it decomposes anaerobically, which means it's without oxygen. And that produces methane, which is again more potent than carbon dioxide. Wasted foods mean wasted resources like water, land, energy, people's labour, capital. Now there are a couple of really irritating reasons, as I just mentioned, why food gets wasted. So lots of supermarkets and consumers, of course, will reject fruit and vegetables that are not perfect in shape, appearance, colour or whatever. Sometimes cauliflower is simply too big to be allowed on a shelf. And what sense does that make? This leads to massive amounts of waste. I mean, there's reports where farmers have quite literally had to plough their crop back into the ground.

Overproduction, which is an interesting one. And this is the whole point about, you know, we don't have a production issue, we have a distribution issue. So sometimes more food is produced than is needed, and it simply can't be sold or used in wherever it is. So it's surplus and eventually goes to waste. An interesting one is sell by and use by date. So these are different. Sell by means it has to leave the store by that date, and use by means you should eat it by then. That's sort of obvious, right? But misunderstanding leads people to get confused, and they might throw food away by the sell by date not understanding that they actually do have a few more days. Then there is consumer behavior. So that's us. You know, we purchase too much, we store it wrong, we don't know how to prepare it, we like to only use the best bits of everything and that's massively inefficient, massively wasteful for, of course, you and your wallet. There is also loss in the supply chain.

So you do have storage issues, you have transportation issues and infrastructure which all lead again to more food waste. Now there are organisations working to help the likes of supermarkets and transportation companies solve this problem. But you as a listener, as an individual, can genuinely make a difference. Learn about how to store your food like fruits and vegetables, beta. Not everything should go in the fridge, not everything should be stored in water. Learn more about preparation. preparation, follow people on social media who show you how to use all of the parts of your food, all of your leftovers. I actually think leftovers are almost always more delicious. I don't know why, but things just taste nicer the day after, particularly pizza, but it's definitely not just pizza.

There are some interesting developments like technology like smart packaging, which helps extend the shelf life of your products. I worry though that that will just be more plastic. There are apps that are connecting consumers with unsold food from restaurants and stores. There are charities that will go around to restaurants at the end of the night and collect food for them donation. All of these things are great. Governments are getting involved. They're providing incentives for businesses to donate unsolved yet eatable food to charities. I mean, France has just banned food waste, as much as you can ban food waste. Those are the kind of things that are going to start moving the needle. But this is something, again, you can do at home.

Use your leftovers. Learn how to store it properly. And yeah, you're going to have some stuff left over. If you can, compost. It's easy to do. If you do it correctly, it doesn't smell. If we reduced food waste, not only would that lead to massive cost savings for consumers and businesses and governments, but also stop the fight against hunger. The food we waste could feed billions. It's an absolute disgrace. And then, cherry on top, is it would significantly decrease the strain on natural resources and reduce greenhouse gas emissions. So plan your meals. Buy what you are going to eat. Store properly. Learn how to store various veggies and things. Embrace the ugly. There are organisations out there who get that ugly fruit that supermarkets don't want. I actually can't think of the name of the one in New Zealand as we speak. Imperfectly Perfect, isn't it called? But they have what you call ugly fruit. There's nothing wrong with them. They might be slightly bigger. Use those. They're just as good.

I always say that ugly food tastes better because it has to make up for it. If you like cooking, you could learn to preserve things like canning and pickling, freeze stuff, compost stuff. But if you can, really have a think about how you can reduce food waste because according to Project Drawdown on a chart I shared on my social media last week, it is the single most impactful thing that we can do as individuals and households is to stop wasting so much food. And I think it's kind of a moral imperative. People are starving and we're throwing away perfectly good broccoli. It's just gross. Well I'm exhausted and that wraps up our exploration into sustainable eating. It's fucking complicated, hey? But every bite counts. We have talked about the impact of food waste, the interesting world of plant protein alternatives, and the significant difference that just one meat-free day a week can make. But it's clear, food choices do make a massive difference. So remember the power of your informed choices, and remember, as always, it is about progress, not perfection. You do not have to give up everything. But maybe just having a meat-free Monday makes a difference.

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