No more excuses! A sustainable diet is easier than you think.

Food is a very important aspect of our lives. Beyond providing the fuel needed for our body to function, it connects us with the ones we love and can provide us comfort in difficult times. For most of us, food is a daily source of pleasure and we have a special relationship with what we eat. What is on our plate is part of us. After all, don’t we say that we are what we eat?

Let’s face it, most of us know that our diet has a big impact on the planet (see our previous blog post, Change your diet, change the world). So what really keeps us from improving our diet for the better? Let’s have a look at 5 excuses we tell ourselves to keep our bad habits.

I like my food as it is and I don’t want that tasteless tofu.

Taste! That is the main problem isn’t it? Why would I stop eating delicious cheese when alternatives taste awful. Although being vegan is one of the most efficient ways to drastically reduce the carbon footprint of your food, we do not need to go all the way to improve our impact on the planet. We can have middle ground solutions that can also have a significant impact. Chicken, fish and even bacon all have way less impact than beef. Mmmm… bacon...

Sustainable products are expensive, I just don’t have the money!

Sure, organic and local products can be more expensive but who says you have to eat organic and local? I have some news for you, organic or local does not necessarily mean better for the planet [1]. Local vegetables can be grown with harmful fertilizers and organic beef can take just as much land and water as regular beef… sometimes more! In reality, eating more sustainably can save you money. Have you tried cooking your bolognese with beetroots and mushrooms? So good, and so cheap! 

I don’t want to be the annoying one when I am at the restaurant or eating with friends and family.

Imagine you have decided not to eat beef anymore but here comes your friend with a cheese plate, what do you do? Be rude and refuse the cheese or put your beliefs aside and eat it? This is a tricky situation and it is up to you to decide but one thing is certain: it can be the opportunity to inform your friends and family and even challenge them to change their habits for the planet. Remember, it doesn’t have to be all or nothing. You can try to eat sustainably when cooking for yourself and splurge a little when out with friends or family. Those daily cheeseburgers have a way bigger impact than that one time a year you eat your grandma’s brisket.

Health, environment, animals, workers... I am a bad person whatever I eat!

I know the feeling, you stop consuming milk for your health, to protect animals and fight climate change and start using almond milk instead... only to find out that almonds use a lot of water. It seems that all our efforts are pointless… In a way, it is true, no food produced has zero environmental or social impact. But some are way better than others. Almond milk may use more water than soy milk, but it’s still WAY less than dairy milk [2]. The fact that nothing’s perfect should not prevent us from doing our part to keep impacts as low as possible. Try finding a clear motivation -fighting climate change can be one-, accept that there might be some tradeoffs and stick to your goal!

There’s so much conflicting information -- how do I even know what to change?

We receive so much information about the environmental impact of different choices that it becomes difficult to know what to do. There is also no easy way to make sure that what we buy is sustainable. We’re told to stop eating this, stop buying that, but not what we SHOULD do to improve. Well, that’s what Jellyfish is about. We’re trying to give everyone the information to make the right choices. Right for the planet, and also right for you!  Follow us for easy tips for making your diet more sustainable, and look for our new online calculator, launching soon.

Yes, it looks like all these excuses are made up so that we can continue business as usual, even convincing ourselves that doing our part will not save the world if we are alone. Well I have some news: we can make a difference to save the planet, and we don’t have to say goodbye to tasty food!

So, no more excuses, we can - and we have to - change NOW!

[1] Smith, L.G., Kirk, G.J.D., Jones, P.J. et al. The greenhouse gas impacts of converting food production in England and Wales to organic methods. Nat Commun 10, 4641 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-019-12622-7. 

[2] Guibourg, C. & Briggs, H. (22 February 2019). Climate change: Which vegan milk is best?. BBC News. Available at https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-46654042.