The topics of food and diet are very complex, especially when it comes to making climate-friendly choices. Through this guide, we hope you will be able to find useful facts that can help reduce your food-related greenhouse gas emissions.

Making the right food choices can not only reduce your “food-print” on the environment, but in many cases, are the healthy choices.

In this section, you will find facts about the climate change complexities related to the following topics of food and diet:

• Dairy & Alternatives
  • Case Study: Dairy Milk vs. Alternatives
  • Case Study: Strawberry Yogurt
• Fruits & Vegetables
  • Case Study: Juice
• Grains
  • Case Study: Quinoa & Chia Seeds vs. Local Alternatives
• Meat & Alternatives
  • Solution 1: Cutting back on meat
  • Solution 2: Beans for Beef
  • Case Study: Fish
  • Solution 3: Mollusks
  • Solution 4: Edible Insects
• Waste, Fads, Miles & “Junk”

Click a link in the list above or at the left to jump to a page with details on that topic.

Rule of Five “N”s

As a general approach, we recommend the Rule of Five “N”s. While it is not available to everyone, every time, it is a great guide for working towards a climate-friendly diet:

• Nearby
  • Buy food produced by farmers that live close by, to greatly reduce the pollution created from transporting food all around the world.
• Naked
  • Choose food that doesn’t have a lot of packaging.
• Nutritious
  • Buy food that is high in nutrients and low in preservatives and other chemical additions.
• New Now
  • Eat Canadian fruits and veggies at the time of year they grow, or grow your own in your garden.
• Natural
  • Choose organic, for food that is produced through holistic means, with no chemical inputs.

“Food For Thought” Publications

Below we have included well researched reports for those looking to further explore diet options.

Food, Planet, Health: Healthy Diets from Sustainable Food Systems– An excellent report that was collaborated on by over 30 world-leading scientists to deliver the first full scientific review that defines a healthy diet from a sustainable food system. It also provides simple action ideas that can support and speed up food system transformation.