How to eat well and save the planet too

The days of carefree eating are a thing of the past, especially for meat lovers. -- ST PHOTO: YEN MENG JIIN

PARIS - EATING used to be so simple. If you liked it and could afford it, down the hatch it went. Yum-yum, end of story. But the days of carefree consumption of food, alas, are a thing of the past, especially for meat lovers.

If nonstop - and contradictory - pronouncements by doctors in white smocks as to what you should or shouldn't ingest don't spoil your appetite, dire warnings about the ruinous impact of your favourite dish on the environment or the climate probably will. The fact that a billion people in the world live in or close to the edge of hunger is also a sobering reminder that even basic needs should never be taken for granted.

So what's a gourmand to do? For those who enjoy the luxury of choice, help has come in the form of what may be the most wide-ranging overview so far on how different foodstuffs - from lentils to lamb chops - impact the environment, the fight against global warming, and the human body. A Meat Eater's Guide To Climate Change And Health is just that, a 90-page no-nonsense manual to help define a personal comfort zone between what your taste buds crave and what your conscience will allow them to experience.

No surprise, meat is the prime offender across almost all categories considered. But as is true of George Orwell's bestiary in Animal Farm, not all edible critters are equal, at least not when it comes to their harmful impact. Pound-for-pound, lamb is the worst carbon polluter, generating nearly 40kg of CO2-equivalent for every kilo eaten. The next most carbon-intensive animal - also a cud-chewing ruminant - on the list is beef, with emissions of 27kg. Looked at another way, eating a modest 110g slice of braised lamb shank is the equivalent of driving a mid-sized car for 21km. The same amount of beef works out to just over half that distance.

The next culprit on the scale of climate and environmental impacts is cheese, mainly because of the large quantities of milk needed to produce it. Pork, farm-raised salmon, chicken and turkey are all on a par when it comes to greenhouse gas emissions, but pigs - the most widely-eaten meat in the world, with China accounting for half of global consumption - are in a category of their own when it comes to environmental impact. Runoff from waste into fresh water sources and even the ocean are especially problematic.

Inescapably, inevitably, ineluctably, the report arrives at this conclusion: vegetables are virtuous. Especially lentils. That's a hard truth for meat lovers. But there is advice here even for hardcore carnivores who cannot, or will not, kick the habit. In the end, American nutritionist Michael Pollan's seven-word mantra may be all the advice one needs: 'Eat (real) food. Not too much. Mostly plants.' -- AFP

Source: The Straits Times