Action: Eat Vegetarian and Local for a Healthier Climate
Here are five high-impact ways to reduce the climate impact of your diet:
1. Eat Less Meat – A recent UN report revealed in November that livestock farming produces 18 percent of greenhouse gas emissions, and University of Chicago researchers recently reported that the average meat-heavy American diet produces a ton and a half more greenhouse gases per year than a vegetarian diet. Switching to a more plant-based diet reduces grazing-related deforestation, methane emissions from livestock, and many other climate-change factors associated with raising meat.
2. Grow Your Own Food – According WorldWatch, US food typically travels more than 1,500 miles from farm to plate, racking up huge climate costs through the burning of fossil fuels for transportation. Growing your own is as local as you can get, with next to zero climate impact.
3. Buy Local, Organic Food – Visit farmers' markets or join a community supported agriculture (CSA) project. Find local sources of food by searching for your city or zip code at the Local Harvest Web site.
4. Talk to Your Supermarket – As your grocer to carry more local, organic products. Fill out a comment card when you shop, or speak to the manager, and ask your family and friends to do the same.
5. Bring Local, Organic Food to Schools – Nineteen states already have established "farm to school" programs to reduce the transportation impact of school lunches and to support local economies. Get active with your state's program or help establish a new program by checking out the resources that the Farm to School Web site.
