Food that Kills the World
Written by: Rafael Rosa
The easiest way to live an environmentally friendly lifestyle is to pay attention to your everyday habits. Eating tasteful and flavorful food is great. However, the food you eat everyday can greatly impact your carbon footprint.
People typically talk about the negative environmental impact of eating meat. While it is true that raising livestock and processing meat is energy intensive and creates a substantial amount of CO2, some food which many people think are environmentally friendly also have its drawbacks.
A known alternative to beef and chicken is tofu. Tofu is made of soybeans and is a great source of protein. However, most people who switch from beef or chicken to tofu don’t realize that the process of making tofu also leaves a large carbon footprint. Soybean plantations are also one of the main causes behind the deforestation of the Amazon (Slate.com). It’s like switching from a regular SUV to a full-sized “hybrid” GMC Yukon. In the end, you’re exchanging six for half a dozen.
Many of us also enjoy eating bananas. They’re considered a healthy snack and contain a lot of potassium. However, most people are not aware of their negative impact. First, bananas are also one of the leading causes of tropical forest deforestation. Additionally, the production of bananas involves high amounts of pesticides that greatly harm the surrounding environment and surrounding ecosystem (PLU.edu).
In general, do some basic research on the food you eat all the time. You may be surprised to find that some food that seem harmless actually create a lot of problems for the environment. Lastly, tofu and bananas, not so friendly.
March 16th, 2010 at 10:43 pm
Hi Rafael,
Thanks for bringing food choice and environmental concerns together in this article. After all, my environmentalism was the reason I first became a vegetarian. Your mention of the un-sustainability of tofu is a great point, as tofu as a protein source is a big fallacy in itself. Coming from a nutritional viewpoint, it is worthy to add that the processed soybean in tofu does not provide a protein which humans can use to rebuild our own amino acid chains. Yes, you heard right all you vegetarians out there, tofu provides little more than fiber in your daily dinner.
The banana industry is one of the most harmful – socially, historically and environmentally, though it is just the face of so many harmful import practices – for countless types of foods.
Local is the best choice when eating, Eating heaps of vegetables is good for you and for the environments, and organic is also a better choice all around.
It’s a lot to handle to the environmentalist newly reinventing his/her diet, but looking where your food comes from and always reading the ingredients is a good start!
May 31st, 2010 at 11:24 pm
Wow! Never knew that about banana’s…