Many of us are keen to eat more sustainably – but is a vegan croissant better or worse than locally sourced sausages? And can climate-conscious eating ever be enjoyable? One writer finds out
Yes, 100 companies are responsible for 71% of global greenhouse gas emissions. But that doesn’t change the fact that individuals are desperate to make a difference in the climate emergency. Nearly 70% of respondents to this year’s Waitrose Food and Drink report, a solid snapshot of comfortable Britain’s consumption and concerns, said their food’s carbon footprint was important to them. But how do we do the right thing for the planet when it’s so hard to work out what that is – and the options often seem time-consuming or expensive? Despite the self-evident urgency – and our desire to do better – it can seem desperately confusing.
Pure “climatarianism” is feasible: in 2012, Jennie Macdiarmid, professor of sustainable nutrition at the University of Aberdeen, helped devise a theoretical nutritionally balanced diet that would reduce your carbon footprint by 90%: pasta, peas, fried onions, brassicas, sesame seeds, dry wholegrain breakfast cereal and sweets. That would still apply now, Macdiarmid says, but she emphasises this kind of computer-generated solution is not remotely attainable. “We’re never going to change if it’s so unappealing,” she says. So is there a way to eat that is personally, as well as planetarily, sustainable? I spent a week trying to find out.
