Sustainable Fair & Conscious Eating

What does it look like when food not only nourishes our body & soul, but also strengthens communities and lets ecosystems thrive? What is good food? What does it mean to eat sustainably, fair & consciously?

We all have foods we love, foods that comfort us and that make us deeply happy.

While we spend an average of 32,000 hours of our life eating and drinking, food is also a source of income for a great number of people.

There are 570 million farmers in the world – plus the many who earn a living processing, cooking or selling food.

As farmer & writer Wendell Berry famously remarked,

“Eating is an agricultural act.”

Every bite we take, we receive from nature and from the farmers who’ve grown it for us. Let’s find out what sustainable, fair & conscious eating could look like!

Sustainable Eating

Polluted waterways, dwindling species numbers and degraded soils all recount the sad story of destruction we’ve brought upon our common home. The way we farm, and therefore the way we eat, largely shape the state our ecosystems are in.

“Food is the single biggest negative impact that humans have had on nature, but it could be one of the single biggest tools used to undo many of the problems we’re creating.”

Yet, as the Jewish and other faith traditions suggest, the natural world is a gift! It’s a treasure to be received with gratitude and care. We are stewards of the land, and we have the sacred responsibility to treat it well.

Just what might it look like to eat in a way that lets ecosystems, watersheds, and biodiversity thrive? In a way that’s respectful towards the gift of life and for this planet we share?

Fair Eating

Eating is also a communal act. It connects us with each other and shapes the web of our societies.

“Whose hands fed you today?”

Whenever we buy food, we also have an impact on the farmers, millers, bakers, traders, factory workers etc. who produced it for us. Eating is also an economic, political and social act, and it may or may not always support fair living conditions for farmers across the globe.

Our food choices, ultimately, shape the web of society!

Just what might it look like to eat in a way that lets farmers, villages and communities thrive? In a way that’s respectful towards the gift of life, the dignity of all the farmers and their families on this planet we share?

A rule of thumb is to purchase food from as close to the farm’s front porch as possible. That could mean stopping by at your local farmer you trust to (bulk-)buy their fresh produce. Or visiting your local farmer’s market and buying food from regional small-holder farmers.

Direct buying from your local farmers is also a great opportunity to get to know them better and perhaps even show your children from a young age on where and how our food is grown! Food includes the human stories behind it, as well.

Another benefit of buying from local farmers is that your food is fresher (and therefore higher in nutrients) and the carbon footprint of your food is lower (due to lower transportation emissions). And a strong, local food system is truly key to a crisis-resilient economy and earthed society!

Conscious Eating

Finally, good food is so much more than calories coming in different shapes and flavours. It’s what fuels every movement of our bodies and what nourishes our souls.

As Simran Sethi writes in her delightful book ‘Bread, Wine, Chocolate: The Slow Loss of Foods we Love’,

“We aren’t on this planet to merely survive; we’re here to take it all in and thrive. So, rather than deprive ourselves of this joy, we should maximize it. If we’re lucky enough to have any choice at all in what we’re able to eat – to be able to eat at all – then we should honor this privilege by eating less of the bad stuff and more of the good…”

All of life, all of nature, is sacred, and food is a gift from Heaven. And as such, it can nourish our bodies and strengthen our immune system.

Especially local foods enable us to connect with our roots and to diversify our diet. With the industrialization of agriculture worldwide, we are losing many landraces and traditional varieties of crops. Our food choices can help revive these crops and create a more resilient food system.

But even beyond that, it can bring palatable happiness to our life. Research from the University of Oxford has revealed that the more often people eat with others, the more likely they are to feel happy and satisfied with their lives.

Just what might it look like to eat in a way that lets our body & soul thrive? In a way that celebrates the gift of good food & good relationships given to us by our Creator?

Good Food or: Sustainable, Fair & Conscious eating

Food is so central to every aspect of our life that the stories behind it are well worth our attention!

But standing in a huge supermarket aisle, surrounded by crammed shelves with millions of products and sales offers screaming at us, it can be tough to find out what really good food is:

Where it comes from, in which soil it grew, who made it, how nutritional it is, how much the farmers were paid for it, what impact it had on its environment, whether it can bring more joy and meaning into our lives…

That’s exactly the purpose of my new ‘Good Food Guide‘: to help you see clearer how food impacts all areas of life and how to eat in a way that is respectful of people & the planet. In other words: to tell the stories behind good food!

This colourful guide will walk you through three areas impacted by food & the way it is grown: the environment, society and our personal well-being. It will help you understand what ‘good food’ is, in every aspect. You’ll learn where to source it and how to best cherish it.

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If you’re curious to find answers to any of the questions I raised here, be sure to download my FREE e-book ‘The Good Food Guide’! Together, we’ll discover what sustainable, fair & conscious eating could look like!

Will you join me on my journey to explore the beauty, meaning & joy hidden behind farming & food?

Get your free copy HERE!

All images from Unsplash