How to Save the World,One Meal at a Time
Photo by Maarten van den Heuvel
BY SETH FREEMAN
If you are like me, you try not to spend every waking minute stressing about how badly the human species has already messed up the planet in which we live and how little time we have left (at most a generation, probably less) to get things right before we totally destroy the place.
It’s called denial, something I happen to be very good at.
An excellent new book, Recipe for Survival: What you can do to live a healthier more environmentally friendly life by Dana Ellis Hunnes penetrated the shell of my denial – in a positive, even hopeful, way, and I appreciate it.
Dr. Hunnes is a dietitian working daily with patients at UCLA’s Medical Center. In addition, she is an adjunct assistant professor at UCLA’s Fielding School of Public Health, a mom, and occasionally a gardener. And, as you’ll discover if you read her book, she is an extremely knowledgeable, thoughtful, caring person.
In Recipe for Survival, Dr. Hunnes outlines in searing, graphic – and undeniable – detail the many ways in which we have damaged and are damaging the earth, with a special emphasis on the way our food supply system and the way we eat has contributed to that damage. For example, around the globe, livestock alone contributes more greenhouse gas to the atmosphere than the entire transportation sector. At the same time, our diets, notably in the United States but in other parts of the world as well, often contribute to chronic disease, ill-health, obesity and shortened lives. So here is the very, very good news: a healthier diet for the human body is also healthier for the human environment. How cool is that?
To slow the rise in global warming to meet the goals set by climate scientists and international accords we need to eat in ways that actually make us healthier. Included under the broad term “ways we eat” are not just the foods we consume daily but the whole constellation of habits around the manufacturing, processing, preparing, storing and disposing of food. For instance, we are all aware of the tragedy of plastics run amok, leading to literal islands of plastic swimming in our oceans and high counts of plastic materials in the flesh and bloodstreams of sea creatures, land animals and human beings. Ingredients in widely used plastics can cause such uniquely 21st Century problems as a sharp increase in the incidence of gynecomastia, the growth of breasts in adolescent boys, due to an increase of phthalates (an ingredient in many plastics) in their systems.
I was surprised, and encouraged, however, to learn in Recipe for Survival that not all plastics are created equal. Some of them can even be environmentally friendly, which is good news if you like to wrap left-overs in cling wrap and carry treats for your dog in your pocket in a plastic sandwich baggie. After reading Recipe for Survival, I poked around the web and ordered biodegradable, environmentally safe brands of both wrap and baggies.
This, then, is the main thrust of Dr. Hunnes’ book, not to depress us but rather to give us “recipes,” truly helpful suggestions for making small changes with a big impact on creating a better world.
The last thing you may be in the mood for is more diet advice, which, with the accumulation of years, can become ever more overwhelming and confusing. But, as Hunnes’ book underscores, we really need to focus on only a few basic principles. In particular, a largely plant-based diet is the healthiest diet, for people and for the planet, and there is no doubt that a person can get enough protein from plants. Actually, it may be that an entirely plant-based diet is truly the healthiest, but the point is that you don’t need to make wholesale changes in your eating habits to eat more healthfully and more sustainably. We can reach our goals by taking small genuine steps in the right direction, by reducing animal products in our diets certainly, but also by focusing on eating real foods rather than foods processed with a lot of added chemicals, sugar and salt. This formula doesn’t mean deprivation. Delicious, satisfying fruits, vegetables, nuts, beans and grains are all plants. Beer, wine and vodka are made from plants. Chocolate is a plant. I’m just saying.
Hunnes’ writing is conversational and highly accessible. Her genuine concern for these issues can be felt on every page, and she believes and practices the philosophy of planet-healthy eating that she proposes in her book. She teaches it, she writes about it, and, every day, she lives it.
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Seth Freeman, MPH, is a Pacific Council member who serves on the Mexico Advisory Committee. He is an Emmy-winning writer/producer for television, a playwright and a journalist, who writes about technology, policy and public health.
The views and opinions expressed here are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the Pacific Council.
