be the E: Eat Eco

Did you know?

Worldwide production of animals for food accounts for almost one fifth of man-made greenhouse gas emissions, more than all the world's cars, trucks, trains and planes combined.(Source: Livestock's Long Shadow, a FAO UN Report)
The average distance that food travels to an American’s plate is 1,500 miles. This is equivalent to driving from New York City to Dallas, Texas. (Source: John Hendrickson, “Energy use in the U.S. Food System: A Summary of existing research and analysis”).
The US generates more than 34 million tons of food waste each year. That's enough extra food to feed the entire state of Texas for a year! (Source: U.S. EPA, 2009)

Hungry?

More than 840 million people in the world are malnourished, yet over 70% of US grain and 80% of corn harvest is fed to farmed animals. The EPA states that hog, chicken, and cattle waste has polluted 35,000 miles of rivers in 22 states and contaminated groundwater in 17 states with fecal bacteria. Furthermore, consumers in the US can experience up to 70 daily exposures to residues from Persistent Organic Pollutants (used as pesticides) in their diets, which have been linked to breast and other cancers, immune system suppression, nervous system disorders, reproductive damage, and disruption of hormonal systems. Buying local from small, organic farms can reduce the risks associated with large scale animal and crop production.

Take Action!

Quick and Easy

· Carry a fork with you. Why use a plastic fork for fifteen minutes that will last a lifetime in a landfill when you can use a metal fork instead? While you're at it, carry a cloth napkin with you too! www.reuseit.comhas lots of re-useable containers, utensils and napkins.

· Make meals instead of buying them.Pack a lunch and avoid take-out. You will reduce the amount of waste produced for each meal, and the food you eat will most likely be more nutritious. You'll also save money: making your own pizza costs around $5 compared to $15-18 for a delivery pizza.

· Eat local. Support your local farmers, markets, and economy by:

o shopping at your local farmers market - http://www.grownyc.org/ourmarkets

o asking your local grocer to stock food from local family farms

o joining a CSA. Check out: http://www.localharvest.org/csa/and http://justfood.org/

o using the Eat Well Guide to find local, sustainable food - http://www.eatwellguide.org

· Waste less food. Avoid putting more on your plate than you can actually eat and eat leftovers before cooking more food. Americans throw away 34 million pounds of food every year. Get tips on how to reduce your food waste here: http://www.epa.gov/osw/conserve/materials/organics/food/fd-house.htm

· Meatless Mondays. By cutting out meat just one day a week, you can reduce your carbon footprint, minimize water usage, and help reduce fossil fuel dependence. Meat is more expensive than vegetables, so you'll end up saving money on your weekly grocery bills. Visit www.meatlessmonday.comfor recipes and tips.

Extra Effort

· Eat seasonally.This reduces the amount of energy needed to produce the food you eat, because greenhouses are required to produce food out of season, or the non-seasonal produce has to be shipped long distances. To see what's seasonal in your area visit http://www.eatwellguide.org/i.php?id=Seasonalfoodguides

· Eat free-range, hormone free meat and organic meat, dairy and produce.This will reduce the use of pesticides and herbicides used for food production and result in less chemical runoff into waterways.

· Eat only sustainable seafood.http://www.montereybayaquarium.org/cr/cr_seafoodwatch/download.aspx, http://www.foodandwaterwatch.org/fish/seafood/seafood-guide/, http://www.nrdc.org/oceans/seafoodguide

Big Changes

· Become a vegetarian.Slowly cut meat out of your diet until you are no longer consuming any meat. Here is a Vegetarian Starter Kit: http://features.peta.org/VegetarianStarterKit/index.asp

· Become a vegan.If you have already cut out meat, take it further and cut out dairy and eggs as well. Use this link to find vegan restaurants in NYC: http://supervegan.com/restaurants.php