Episode 04: Food That Sustains
This episode, we tackle the 'food' theme, looking at the role food plays in climate change, and how eating lots of plants can be rewarding for our health, families, communities and environment. Libby shares some learnings and resources from having completed a certificate in plant based nutrition, and how she and her family transitioned to a plant-strong household. We investigate what a nutritious whole foods, 'plant based bowl' can look like, and what practical steps – and supplemental vitamins – we might need to take for responsibly transitioning to sustainable ways of eating. Join us for stories on how we approach food, shopping, and food waste for maximising our pleasure and fun, as well as minimising our CO2 impact.
In a somewhat unconventional 12-episode podcast series, a Novelist and an ex-Googler – Libby and Renée, based in Switzerland – draw on science and data as well as humanity's creativity and flawed beauty to come to terms with – and find actions to address! – our global, local and personal sustainability challenges.
Reach us anytime at sustainablemailbag@gmail.com
Shownotes
Mentioned Links
Project Drawdown and the magnitude of our global Food Waste problem https://drawdown.org/solutions/reduced-food-waste
T. Colin Campbell Center for Plantbased Nutrition (where Libby studied for her certificate) nutritionstudies.org
Libby's spheres of plant-eating impact https://www.alifepoetic.com/why-plants/
Switzerland heart disease and health data http://www.healthdata.org/switzerland
Health Expenditures (US, Pre-COVID) https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/fastats/health-expenditures.htm
Book: "Fiber Fueled" by Dr. Will Bulsiewicz ('Dr. B') https://theplantfedgut.com/
Michael Greger, MD http://nutritionfacts.org and Daily Dozen App https://nutritionfacts.org/daily-dozen-challenge/
On Vitamin B https://nutritionstudies.org/12-questions-answered-regarding-vitamin-b12/
UNFCCC and The 6 Greenhouse Gases (GHGs) https://www.uncclearn.org/sites/default/files/inventory/unfccc02.pdf
The egg float test for freshness https://www.thehappychickencoop.com/egg-float-test/
Cashew and date hot chocolate https://www.alifepoetic.com/cashew-date-hot-choc/
Sarah Wilson’s Book: No-Waste Cookbook "Simplicious Flow" https://www.sarahwilson.com/2018/09/simplicious-flow-now-not-normal-cookbook/
Podcast with Matthew Evans about meat and regenerative farming https://www.regennarration.com/episodes/060-on-eating-meat
Without accounting for individual manufacturing or farming processes, a single hamburger creates about 7800 grams of CO2 whereas one avocado creates about 200 grams of CO2. So, you can eat about 39 avocados for the CO2 of 1 hamburger! https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-46459714
More context
Read about biodynamic, regenerative and sound agricultural practices and labels https://foodprint.org/blog/regenerative-agriculture-definition/
For Switzerland, this App is excellent for navigating food labels https://www.wwf.ch/de/nachhaltig-leben/wwf-ratgeber-app
More resources/links for the plant-curious https://www.alifepoetic.com/plant-based-resources/
Dr. Doug Lisle on The Pleasure Trap (on food habits) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jX2btaDOBK8
Breaking the Food Seduction by Dr. Neal Barnard https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TDgA3T_JF2A
Zach Bush, MD https://zachbushmd.com/ and his org for regenerative farming https://farmersfootprint.us/
The EAT-Lancet Commission “global planetary health” plate https://eatforum.org/lancet-commission/eatinghealthyandsustainable/
And, a video on a healthy and sustainable diet (with a great explanation of how health and environment are connected!) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mnlaBhD-124&feature=youtu.be
The music!
’Optimistic Life' performed by The Smithereens, used under license from Shutterstock