Earth Day is a great time to celebrate the planet. It’s also an opportunity to take a closer look at our everyday choices. We know sustainable living can seem like a daunting task when we’ve got so much else to think about. Thankfully, a good start can be to focus on what’s on our plates. Let’s give some love to exciting new food trends that provide delicious, nutritious foods in more sustainable ways. Here are four of our favorites:
Seaweed Kelp
Seaweed kelp isn’t just a sushi side-dish anymore. It can have great benefits for you and for Mother Earth. According to the health food blog Lakanto.com, “The benefits of seaweed range from aiding in muscle function, to digestion, to balancing hormones and blood sugar.” Plus, when used to feed cattle, seaweed helps cut down carbon emissions by about 20%.
Where to buy: SeaVeg.com, as well as Whole Foods.
Insect Flour
If you’ve been into baking bread over quarantine and have wished for a way to elevate your go-to grain, well, have we got the flour for you! Insect flours are being praised as energy boosters and protein-rich meat alternatives.
Where to buy: Harmony Cricket Farm
Kernza Flour
If you’re grossed out by the prospect of insects in your flour, try a more mainstream solution. You may have seen the “miracle grain,” Kernza, in the news recently. The flour, cultivated in 2003 by scientists at the The Land Institute in Kansas, might be a savior for soil. One of its biggest benefits is its root structure that helps build soil health, retains clean water and sequesters carbon. These are all things that help nourish our bodies while caring for the planet.
Where to buy: Perennial Pantry
More Meat-Free Meals
Studies show that eating less meat, fewer animal products, and more plants is a good way to give your body a boost, and it’s good for the Earth too. Researchers at the University of Oxford found that cutting meat and dairy products from your diet can reduce your carbon footprint from food by up to 73%!
We asked our instagram followers to share their favorite plant-based or vegetarian friendly restaurants. Supporting your community while giving love to the earth just got way more fun!