Many environmentalists emphasize the issue of the average person’s footprint. Acknowledging your actions is one thing, attempting to do something about them is another. It is quite overwhelming to even ponder how you can change your footprint. So instead, let’s take a small chunk of that footprint and attempt to modify it. Momentous change starts with small steps.
This month’s recognized company is GRACE Communications Foundation who created the project Foodprint. Their goal is to reveal the impact of industrial food production practices and shift to the benefits of more sustainable food production and consumption. They work on educating consumers so they can take action towards change in the food system. Whether you’re dining out, cooking in, reading food labels, growing food, composting, or shopping, Foodprint is a great resource to use first. To explore their website and find out what your “Footprint” is, check out the link below.
Cooking at Home
By choosing to cook at home, you can be sure of where your food is coming from. Foodprint has many articles showing at-home cooks how to use food for all of its worth. They teach consumers how to use the whole vegetable or the whole chicken to reduce food waste. Foodprint says that “by learning to use your food for all it’s worth, you’ll be eating more delicious food, saving money and making decisions that are better for the environment, animals and people.”
Shopping Sustainably
Whether you are at a supermarket, farmers’ market, or talking with a fishmonger, there are questions you should be asking about the food you buy. Foodprint can help you out with their seasonal food guide. Picking seasonal food is important because it usually tastes better, can be more nutritious, and supports local farms and food systems. They also have an app you can use while you are shopping. Foodprint makes it very easy for you to be an educated consumer.
Seasonal food guideFood labels can often be confusing for the average consumer, but they are very valuable to recognize nutrition, animal welfare, fair wages, and sustainability. Foodprint offers a food label guide. Some products with labels like “natural” do not guarantee the sustainable habits you may be looking for. This is why understanding the labels requirements can be a very helpful indicator of a truly sustainable good.
Dining out
Surprise, surprise! Foodprint can also help you find sustainable restaurants, ask questions about the menu, and teach how to reduce food and packaging waste. It’s important to remember how to find seasonal food on the menu. What is your location? Are you by the ocean? Does the server mention any specific seasonal dish from local farmers? Here is another use for Foodprints seasonal food guide.
Many restaurants are also Certified USDA Organic, Certified Green Restaurants, or are a Zero FoodPrint business. These specific labels are accurate indicators of a restaurant that uses sustainably sourced foods, minimizes food packaging and food waste, and reduces water usage. Foodprint also recommends consumers to use ROC’s National Diner’s Guide to locate “high road” restaurants. “High road” restaurants have committed to better wages, benefits, and promotion opportunities for their workers.
The Educated Consumer is happy to see Grace Communications Foundation take on such a needed project. We highly recommend foodprint.org as a source for issues on food justice and sustainability as well as a resource consumers can use to make sense of food.
The Educated Consumer 