Greening your diet, tasty tips from a Morristown student

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By Nayna Shah

Although it may be hard to believe, there are many ways to “go green” with your diet and eating habits.  Even wackier is the fact that many of these tips can help you eat healthier!  Maybe our country can finally shed its “obese” label and save the planet while we’re at it.

Here are some quick tips to get you started on a greener and healthier diet:

urban farm lafayette morristown
The Urban Farm at Lafayette in Morristown. Photo: GrowItGreenMorristown.org

First, eat locally grown foods or buy food from a local farmer’s market.  All food comes with an emissions price tag– the amount of carbon dioxide used in transporting it.  It takes 17 percent of the fossil fuel consumed in the United States to produce the food we eat, and this still does not include the fuel used to get the food to the market.

Because food travels an average of 1,500 miles before it’s bought and eaten, it is imperative for you to make an effort to buy locally grown foods.  Even better, ditch the hunter-gatherer lifestyle Americans have today, and switch to farming! Grow some of your own vegetables and herbs in a garden to save energy and fuel.  Spend a little less money in a store and a little more time outside, admiring the environment you are trying to save.

Next, avoid heavily processed or packaged food. These products require more energy to make than fresh foods and will also cause more trash in landfills.  Also, consider reducing the amount of take-out or fast food you order.  These meals add a significant amount of garbage into the landfills as well, even if it’s just a meal for one person.

Should you order take out, bring your own containers to use instead of wasting more non-recyclable plastic, or simply reuse the containers from the restaurant.  This is not by any means suggesting you never go out to a restaurant or get take out, but instead limit your orders to about once or twice a month.  Even this small step will cause a profound reduction of garbage entering the landfills.

Additionally, limit the amount of meat you eat.  Meat contains essential nutrients like protein, but protein can be consumed from foods such as beans, eggs, and yogurt.  The average meat eater causes a ton and a half more carbon dioxide to enter the atmosphere from food production than the average vegetarian.

If you want to eliminate just one type of meat from your diet, beef would be the best choice; beef requires the most energy for production.  To go along with your new semi-vegetarian diet, purchase organic foods. Organic food is produced without pesticides and other fertilizers and is the greener choice, overall.

Finally, make an effort to drink fresh water. Fresh water is probably one of the most undervalued resources on the planet.  Water is more precious than any gem or metal on earth because it is necessary for life, so take advantage of the gift.

Drink a glass of water before reaching for a can of soda.  It took much less energy to produce and package and is definitely the healthier choice.  After all, water is the only beverage your body actually needs.  If you’re in an extremely green mood, purchase an aluminum or stainless steel, BPA-free water bottle.  These bottles are durable, do not produce toxins, and can keep your water cold.

So before you grab the phone to order takeout or open the fridge to pull out a soda, think of the greener choices you could be making.  Remember that in this case greener means healthier, but most importantly, remember the planet that produces all the food you absentmindedly munch on everyday.  That in itself should be a good enough reason to turn over a new, and greener, leaf with your diet.

Nayna Shah is a sophomore at Morristown High School.

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