🥕💡The carrots are cooked #4
(Not so) Veggie recipes + Climate Readings + My approach to sustainable eating
Recipes of the week
This week on the menu we have: Cauliflower + Blue cheese (beautiful combination!), Bulgur + Ginger + Roasted carrots and Kangaroo.
Wait, what?! I thought this was supposed to be a veggie newsletter? You couldn’t last more than 3 weeks before putting meat back on the menu??
Ok, I think it’s time I explain my approach to food & sustainability. I’ve written more about this below and in this article.
Here are the recipes I’m planning for next week. Click here to access the list of corresponding groceries for the week.
If you are making any of the recipes I share, could you please let me know in the comments?
Recipe #1 - Cauliflower & Blue cheese soup
Recipe by Manu Feildel
Recipe #2 - Bulgur, ginger & roasted carrots
Recipe by IMA Cantine
Recipe #3 - Kangaroo Tartare with sweet potato puree
Recipe by Shane Wilson from Henry Austin
Climate News
#1 - Human-induced global heating ‘causes over a third of heat deaths’
A new study finds that 37% of all heat-related deaths in people between 1991 and 2018 were linked to climate change. For the Australian coverage, the SMH highlights that for Brisbane, Melbourne and Sydney, there were almost 3000 extra deaths.
#2 - Breaking Boundaries: The Science of Our Planet
Netflix released a preview of its new documentary,Breaking Boundaries: The Science of Our Planet featuring Sir David Attenborough and scientist Johan Rockström. Watch it here and read this interview from Mr Rockström who reminds us of the urgency of our situation.
#3 - Court rules Australia needs to protect future generations from climate change.
The federal court of Australia ruled last week that the government has a “duty of care” to protect young people from climate change — a decision that could be used to prevent the construction of more fossil fuel infrastructure.
Other news:
Cycling is 10 times more important than electric vehicles for reaching net-zero cities. This is timely for this very cool campaign by Bike is best to promote cycling in the UK.
Wasteminster - Greenpeace UK takes aim at the government claiming to be a world leader in tackling plastic pollution.
Is kangaroo sustainable?
This week, I decided to put kangaroo on the menu.
I basically cut beef and lamb from my diet due to environmental concerns from methane production and land conversion for grazing and animal feed - as well as ethical reasons.
I find that kangaroo can be a good occasional alternative to these red meats, and that’s why I’m putting it in this newsletter.
Some reasons why I sometimes choose to eat kangaroo:
Kangaroos are wild animals and native to Australia. So they don’t require any farming. There are culling quotas for kangaroos established by the government.
Professional harvesting of kangaroos is a humane practice (only male kangaroos are harvested and they are shot in the head)
Kangaroo meat has some health benefits - it’s lean (low fat %), high in protein, zinc and iron.
More information here about the environmental and health aspects of kangaroo meat.
My approach to climate-friendly eating
My journey to sustainable eating started about 5 years ago. I can't pinpoint exactly what prompted me to start paying more attention to the environmental impact of my diet, because at the time I was not the climate advocate I am today. It's not a specific documentary that I watched and created a "ah ah" moment. It happened more overtime and I started reducing my meat and fish intake, as well as shopping from better sources - think local, in season, with minimal packaging.
I've called myself a flexitarian for a few years. I used to dislike the term, because I found it confused people, it didn't fit in a diet "box" and it would get easily dismissed as being yet another food fade. "Why can't you just decide if you eat meat or not?"
But it's a lot more socially accepted now as more and more people are better informed about environmental issues with food, and have significantly reduced their meat and/or fish intake.
Far from perfect
I want to highlight that I am far from a "perfect" diet from a climate standpoint. I still eat meat (1-2 times / week), fish (1-2 times / month) and dairy regularly.
I don't think I will ever go full vegan, but I am aiming to reduce my consumption further, to a point I deem "sustainable" - though that is very hard to define.
To get to the next level, it would help to have better support from society, such as:
Better vegetarian options in restaurants - beyond the 1 dish that you see most of the time that is just there so they can claim to be vegetarian-friendly
More people going the plant-based way around me. I would like to go to a friends dinner and they've cooked vegetarian not because I am here but because they wanted to.
For my French readers, I highly recommend this episode from one of my favourite podcasts Vlan! to better understand how our food systems are impacting the environment.
Core principles for my food consumption
Eating a more climate-friendly diet is one of the most powerful actions you can take at an individual level. Here are the core principles I try apply consistently to my diet-related decisions:
#1 - Less meat, less heat
If every person who wants to eat meat committed to only buying it from regenerative agriculture, how much would we be able consume to make it work ?
It is possible to produce meat in a planet conscious / ethical way. It's called regenerative agriculture, and it's gaining traction. But even if these practices were becoming the norm in the timeframe needed to address climate change, how many times per week/year could we reasonably buy such meat if we were to assume an equitable access to these produces for everyone who wants to eat meat? Definitely a lot less than today's consumption levels, and this is why it remains essential to reduce our consumption of animal products.
Another important point is that not all meat is equal when it comes to its climate impact. Beef & Lamb are the biggest offenders, with respectively 10 and 4 times the emissions of chicken, per kg (Source: Our world in data).
Same goes with fish - though the problem with fish is more overfishing and pollution than climate change itself. Salmon is one of the worst fish to buy, and yet salmon aquaculture is the fastest growing food production system in the world (Source: WWF)
So I make my choices accordingly.
What about dairy? I find it harder to give up cheese than meat, and yet I'm aware that most cheeses would have a higher footprint than pig meat or chicken, or prawns. I've cut all milk from my breakfast routines and replaced it with nut-based milk (oat, mostly)
#2 - Make it special
If I'm going to have meat or fish, I consider:
Where and how it was produced - Do I trust the place I'm getting it from to source locally / organic / ethically? If I'm at a restaurant, I often ask the questions and I'm surprised how many staff have no idea or give me BS answers.
What is the context? I try to be selective about the occasions I eat meat and fish and reserve them to "special" occasions.
For example, if I'm just having a quick meal at work or when I'm traveling, I will always go for the veggie option, because it's "not worth" spending one of my meat or fish "special allowance" for an average meal.
When I'm eating, I try to be present and fully appreciate my meal, the resources and efforts it took to bring it to my plate.
#3 - Avoid supermarkets
I'm very lucky to have access to a bulk store near where I live, and to a farmer's market. I now shop mostly at these places and avoid supermarkets, because
it cuts intermediaries and supports local farmers
it's a lot easier to buy plastic-free
I stopped going to Harris Farms because their plastics policy is completely bonkers. Zucchini Noodles, seriously?!
#4 - Make time for cooking
I would call myself an average cook. But I learnt to enjoy spending time in the kitchen and being super happy with myself when I make something delicious.
It's not a secret ; cooking your own meals does take time, and it's not as easy as buying processed food. But it's a lot better for your health, and cheaper.
I avoid food delivery services such as Uber Eats and Deliveroo, for environmental reasons as well as social justice ones.
How to improve your food habits?
If you want to start or go further in your sustainable food journey, here are my top tips for you.
#1 - Dedicate time to learn about the environmental impact of our food systems
What is the environmental impact of meat? (real bad)
Is it ok to buy this fish? (probs not)
Surely, avocados are sustainable, right? (yeah nah)
The honest answer is often "it's complicated" - as we are facing a systemic problem that involves so many factors. I hear you, it's confusing. But the best thing you can do is to get curious and educate yourself.
Once you know WHY you're changing your diet, you feel a lot better about your choice.
There are a lot of resources out there to understand the environmental impact of our food systems. I'm not going to list them all here but here are some starters.
#2 - Confront yourself with the facts
"If slaughterhouses had glass walls, everyone would be vegetarian." Sir Paul McCartney
I find some people can be a bit hypocritical when it comes to acknowledging the impact of their diets (and other choices too). Because it's easy / convenient to look away or pretend that you don't know or you don't have the choice.
For example, it really frustrates me when somebody says "Oh I just can't watch [insert name of documentary on industrial farming or fishing], it's just too horrible"
I strongly believe that if you're going to buy something, you need to be ok with how it was produced. I would even go as far as saying that every single person who eats meat should be able to kill the animal themselves, or at least visit a slaughter house.
#3 - Take it step-by-step
Let's acknowledge that it's hard. I'm from France, where we have a strong meat and fish eating culture. I was raised eating meat and fish, and I thoroughly enjoy the taste of both.
If you try to go all in and switch from a meat-based diet to a 100% plant-based diet, it is very likely that you will fail. In fact, 84% of people who tried a vegan or vegetarian diet reverted to eating meat within 5 years.
So start by looking at your current consumption. What's your baseline? How much are you willing to reduce today? If you're eating meat every single day (or, like my father-in-law, every single meal) can you try to make it one day each week without meat? Meatless Mondays are a thing, they're a good start.
Start from there, and stick with it until it becomes a habit and the benefits you get from eating veggie outweighs the feeling of having to “compromise”. Then keep going.
#4 - Talk about it
Social norms are a HUGE thing when it comes to making climate action mainstream. The more you talk about it, the more people share their own stories and journey towards sustainable eating, the more "socially-accepted" it will become.
If you talk to someone about it, they may decide to try their own approach, and you'll have multiplied your impact.