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Why sustainability should be incorporated into our diets

Aleksandra B.
/
Flickr

When we think about healthy eating, many of us view it in regards to our personal health. However, we may need to view it in terms of a healthy environment as well.

This week on “Take Care,” Dr. Walter Willetttells us the dangers industrially producing food can have on the environment, and why a sustainable diet should become a necessity. Willett is the chair of the nutrition department at Harvard University School of Public Health, and the Fredrick John Stare professor of epidemiology and nutrition. He is also the chair of the Scientific and Technical Advisory Councilof the annual Menus of Change leadership summit, which analyzes issues involving public health, the environment, and the food industry.

Willett says industrially producing food was largely put into action a few decades ago, and was mainly triggered by economic factors.

“Grain, especially when fueled by cheap oil, can be produced at a relatively low cost, subsidized in many ways—directly and indirectly, fed to cattle, and will put food on the table at a low cost,” Willett said.“But the price in terms of both health and the environment is very huge.”

Although industrially producing food is beneficial economically, it is not in regards to our diet or the environment. Since food is produced at this level, much of what we eat today is either factory farmed or goes through a factory at some point before it makes it to our dinner table, according to Willett.

“Unfortunately a lot of the reason for the processing of food, refinement of grains, hydrogenation of oils, is meant to create products that can sit on the shelf for months and still be like the day they were put on the shelf,” Willett said. “But in that processing, which is part of the problem…we’ve often substantially removed nutritional factors and most vitamins.”

Willett says there may even be a connection between industrially producing food and climate change. This could be due to the cheap oil that is burned in farm factories, gasoline used for tractors and transporting food, fertilizers, and insecticides.

“We see [climate change] happening right before our eyes,” Willett said. “We’re really destroying the basis that is needed for food production.”

Willett believes, sooner rather than later, one of the biggest challenges the world will face is feeding the billions of people on the planet a healthy diet that is environmentally sustainable, if action isn’t taken soon.

Some ways Willett suggests this can change is by using less fuel and decreasing the amount of cattle raised. Willett explains that much of the grain that is industrially produced in the U.S. is used as food for cows, and therefore can even make them unhealthy for us to eat. This grain can also be used to make ethanol, which helps fuel our cars. Willett says only about 10 percent of grain produced in the U.S. is fed to humans directly.

“We could basically let half of the land in this country that’s used for grain production go back to forests and prairies, and the environment would be vastly better off and people would be much more healthy,” Willett said.

But until Willett’s advice is taken, he recommends ways we can improve our plates, both for ourselves and the environment.

·       Eat as many vegetables as possible

·       Eat foods with protein

·       Avoid red meat

·       Eat poultry and fish