You aren't what you eat
BBC Food
BBC Food asks: How can changing your food shop help biodiversity? The foodie droid starts with a little foreshadowing, before going into the deep dive on the dangers of your sustenance to the planet. You thoughtless bastard!
The same foods are repeatedly blamed for a decline in biodiversity, but should you remove them from your shopping basket altogether? And if so, is that really enough to solve the problem?
If you truly value biodiversity, the following is a list of foods that you might reconsider.
- Soya: deforestation;
- Beef, pork, and chicken: deforestation, manure pollution;
- Wild and farmed fish: so much stuff;
- Palm oil: deforestation;
- Rice, wheat, and maize: so much stuff;
- Dairy: land use, manure, chemicals, water use;
- Coffee and cocoa: deforestation.
Personally, I could live without any of it, except fish and dairy. And I'm relieved that I can still drink tea with a clear conscience.
Some of the impact can be mitigated by consumers knowing the farm your animal came from and what kind of life the animal had
, for example. That's all very well and good, but many consumers don't care, and those who do aren't always given the right information and options to make a choice. It's retailers and legislators who need to take the lead.
But would they?
In Switzerland, at least one major retailer provides infomation on the origin of meat and fish, but I'm pretty sure that it doesn't cover all of the biodiversity checkboxes. Hey ho.