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Over eating is an ecological issue- motivation?
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CorvusCorax77
Posts: 2,536 Member
I was wondering if anyone else thinks about the ecological impacts of over eating, and if anyone else is motivated by that? The idea first came to me when I heard we were fishing the ocean to death. While I am a vegetarian and I was vegan for 11 years, I don't believe that veganism or vegetarianism is a one size fits all solution (because I'm indigenous too and my ancestors didn't destroy their land base by hunting).
Anyways, so it turns out some folks have done some maths around the idea that over eating causes ecological destruction. It's not a perfect science, but they looked at how much of the population had how much of a BMI and the typical diet in that region, and calculated an approximately 240 billion tons of CO2 in the atmosphere caused by over eating alone.
Here's a link: https://www.treehugger.com/overeating-terrible-planet-4856664
Of course, I know some of us need to eat more (you weight lifting beefcakes!), so again not a "one size fits all" approach, but I thought this was a really interesting thing to look into.
I'm an earth loving hippie, so this motivates me to get my eating addiction under control.
Anyways, so it turns out some folks have done some maths around the idea that over eating causes ecological destruction. It's not a perfect science, but they looked at how much of the population had how much of a BMI and the typical diet in that region, and calculated an approximately 240 billion tons of CO2 in the atmosphere caused by over eating alone.
Here's a link: https://www.treehugger.com/overeating-terrible-planet-4856664
Of course, I know some of us need to eat more (you weight lifting beefcakes!), so again not a "one size fits all" approach, but I thought this was a really interesting thing to look into.
I'm an earth loving hippie, so this motivates me to get my eating addiction under control.
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Replies
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Also, here's a link to the actual study: https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fnut.2019.00126/full1
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Neat topic idea @CorvusCorax77
I hope you don't mind I moved this over to the debate section, I think it will get some better visability here.3 -
If this idea motivates you then more power to you! I’ve thought about having lessened my ecological impact due to the fact that I am a barefoot runner. I run barefoot because to me it feels natural and fun but I realize I’m also saving the planet a teeny tiny bit from having to manufacture, transport and later dispose of multiple pairs of running shoes every single year for many years and that’s definitely an added bonus in my opinion5
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RunsWithBees wrote: »If this idea motivates you then more power to you! I’ve thought about having lessened my ecological impact due to the fact that I am a barefoot runner. I run barefoot because to me it feels natural and fun but I realize I’m also saving the planet a teeny tiny bit from having to manufacture, transport and later dispose of multiple pairs of running shoes every single year for many years and that’s definitely an added bonus in my opinion
That's pretty rad. What type of surface do you run on?1 -
CorvusCorax77 wrote: »RunsWithBees wrote: »If this idea motivates you then more power to you! I’ve thought about having lessened my ecological impact due to the fact that I am a barefoot runner. I run barefoot because to me it feels natural and fun but I realize I’m also saving the planet a teeny tiny bit from having to manufacture, transport and later dispose of multiple pairs of running shoes every single year for many years and that’s definitely an added bonus in my opinion
That's pretty rad. What type of surface do you run on?
Trail and pavement. Trail running is my true passion! Been at it for 6+ years3 -
CorvusCorax77 wrote: »I was wondering if anyone else thinks about the ecological impacts of over eating, and if anyone else is motivated by that? The idea first came to me when I heard we were fishing the ocean to death.
I haven't dug into the paper but the article makes it sound like the calculation is done on the assumption that reducing obesity would be done purely via eating less. I think that assumption is off. The National Weight Control Registry shows about 90% of maintainers do so via increased activity. There's also some other studies that suggest movement at certain levels above sedentary alter the match between body weight and calorie intake to stay better aligned. So I would think their numbers might be slightly ambitious.
On the other end, it also sounds like their numbers are purely about the cost of calorie production for food. I think there is probably a carbon cost to the medical care associated with the health effects of obesity and overweight, but quantifying that would be harder.6 -
I think food waste, the stuff that gets tossed because it went bad is an issue too. Maybe a bigger issue.6
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Food waste is a big problem, I try my hardest not to throw away food.
I rarely do it, maybe once a month at most.1 -
Wonderful question. Thanks for posing it.
This may be an unpopular opinion (and will reveal some of my true colours 🤭) but I think that the way food is marketed towards consumers is an ecological issue. I think stuffing your face in excess is problematic on a few levels, including being a good steward of resources. I don’t want to throw the blame to the invisible hand of capitalism entirely, but it seems the marketing we see for food, especially prepared and prepackaged food is “more is more”. Fitness and healthy weight loss can be such a struggle because when we look around us we are encouraged to consume. We are told we “need” these things, including food, to be healthy. I believe this is largely baloney. Sure some of these things are nice and helpful to some degree (ex: a food scale, overpriced but yummy protein bars... I’m looking at you RX Bars 🤤) but a sustainable diet is one that is good for the individual, the environment, and is socially sustainable as well. I believe we have duty to care for the earth because it gives us everything we need to survive, and when I choose to buy things, including food the fuels me, I want to make choices that are good for me and food for the earth. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not farming my own land and eating seasonally all year round, but I’m trying to make these kinds of choices and trying is better than not!
I could talk about this at length. But I don’t want to be on a soap box. Either way, I completely agree with what you said. Everyone is different and shouldn’t eat the same, but I think your query is an excellent motivator on many levels.
Ps: I have also been called a hippie, (or a bleeding heart socialist by my father) so I kinda feel ya there. (I’m not really a hippie but I so want to be).7 -
No one forces you to eat. It's about personal responsibility.2
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I think that's an interesting and useful dimension to consider. In thinking about personal implications, though, I'd kind of broaden that out.
To do so, I'll share a personal theory others here may've seen me mention before: I think that all of us relatively well off people living in developed countries are unavoidable little moving bundles of global harm.
There's overconsumption (of various types), not only in personal lives, but in manufacturing and distribution channels. There's exploitation and abuse of labor, even slave labor and abusive child labor, both in our home countries, and (especially) in distant places we can't see it. We effectively export some high-pollution and otherwise environmentally destructive functions to places where we can't see those, either. There's waste at nearly every step of nearly every production and distribution process, energy inefficiency, trash, human and animal suffering, more.
Even if we arrange our own personal lives in pretty ways, there's all that stuff going on somewhere in the complex processes that supply our lovely minimalist ecologically aware organic things to us.
In some contexts, it's maddenly difficult to even figure out what constitutes "right action". Small example: Continuing debate about reusable shopping bags vs. paper. Even experts argue this sort of thing. Takes more resources to manufacture the reusable bags, and many are less recyclable/biodegradeable, or require non-sustainable inputs. Which is "best"? (Rhetorical question. Please don't answer.) Without complete expertise about everything, we're individually going to be screwing up on all kinds of tradeoffs like this. Can't help it, can't know it all.
(Magnus's comment is an example of the complexity of knowing and doing, in this food context, as is OP's comment about weight lifting.)
IMO, there's no way for an individual to "fix this", all of this, in his/her own life. That's a pipe dream. Mitigate? Sure, maybe, to a modest extent, in how we choose to live and possibly via activism or "charity".
In a context like that, where we as individuals can't possibly fix it all, I think decent people start by taking the mitigation steps that are *easiest* for each of us personally, as best we understand what's right. For some people, that's biking to work, for others recycling, a minmalist-possessions lifestyle, moving off the grid, growing their own food, being vegan, hunting their own meat, wearing thrifted clothing, . . . etc., and combinations.
Then, getting really pointed about it, because our individual harm is inherently not fully remediable, I think it's kind of tasteful not to be ostentatious or proud about any of it, or cast aspersions on people who do otherwise in any one way. The most we can do is so close to literally the least we can do, and there's so much that we don't do, or can't do, see or understand. We just do our best, and ideally try to stay modest about it. That's my opinion.
In that context: Yes, I try. When I became vegetarian 46+ years ago, resources were in my thought process. I'm uncertain whether I use fewer resources the way I eat now, or the way I ate when fat/obese. So complicated!
Learn more, think harder, via studies and articles like the link? Good stuff. Thanks for posting it, OP.
P.S. FWIW, I kind of actually was a hippie - or so others have assured me - back in the years +/- 1970 or thereabouts. I'm not sure being a hippie is a thing one can stop . . . or a thing one can continue, either. 🤣
. . . and end rant. 😉9 -
Yes this is a dimension I consider and that is discussed from time to time where I live in Sweden. Especially in the context that “treat food”/empty calories are a drain on the planet without providing nutrition in return and this people wanting to reduce their environmental footprint would be smart to limit it. Sometimes this argument can boost my decision making power when I’m in the store. I’m a person who have drastically reduced animal products, changed my travel habits and minimised single use packaging with the planet in mind.
Of course I’m also passionate about food waste. I find it helpful to think about the idea that you can waste food either by throwing it away, or by consuming it after you’ve excited your required intake. At this point said food is not fulfilling its purpose so to speak. It adds an extra dimension to my action plan when planning my cooking!5 -
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Good points all!!
Another important point- packaging!!
Think about this- the amount of packaging needed for tap or home filtered water, fresh fruits, veggies, meat, fish etc is minimal but the amount of packaging required for bottled water, Soda pop, chips (crisps), frozen dinners etc has a huge environmental impact. It is made from fossil fuels, mined metals and trees and requires much by way of transportation and refrigeration.
When I’m “eating clean” the trash bin looks empty compared to when it used to be stuffed with frozen food packages, candy wrappers etc.5 -
I'm not the person you were responding to, and I would admit that I probably toss things two or even three times a month (almost always fresh produce that started growing mold or went slimy before I could finish it), but here are the things I find most important in reducing food waste:
(1) Eat, repurpose, or freeze leftovers (I probably toss leftovers once a year, if that -- to me, it's convenience food -- ready to eat).
(2) Don't overbuy perishable foods. This is the hardest one for me, because I'm almost always cooking for one, and I like cooking from scratch, and whole foods are often only available in multi-serve amounts. Back when groceries stores had salad bars, I would sometimes buy small amounts for a specific recipe from the salad bar, but mostly I just try to limit what I buy and make a point of eating it before it goes bad.
(3) Triage perishable foods. E.g., if I buy different types of fruit, berries and stone fruit are going to get eaten before apples and citrus. For veggies, leafy greens, asparagus, and other quick to spoil veggies get eaten first, with things like okra, eggplant, broccoli, etc., getting eaten next. Root vegetables (potatoes, carrots, turnips), green cabbage, and winter squash last a really long time, and thus go to the end of the triage list. Same with dairy: I find cultured products (yogurt, buttermilk, kefir) have a long shelf-life, as do a lot of hard cheeses, so I focus more on finishing regular milk and soft cheeses. I store shredded cheeses in the freezer; it doesn't seem to compromise texture or flavor at all.
Figuring out which of the foods you eat can be frozen without loss of quality is a big help. In general, things with low liquid content are generally good candidates, with the bonus that they thaw quickly when removed from the freezer (e.g., bread).5 -
It's an interesting topic, and probably just as complex as the overall scope of trying to be a "green" person.
I look at waste as one of my worst habits. Though it's not a lot, any food thrown out is food thrown out, and then add to that any excess weight I'm carrying, eating food that require more resources to grow, etc. It all adds up. The problem is that we all enjoy comforts, and sit here on computers creating greenhouse gasses discussing how to reduce greenhouse gasses. Then some of us will eat more than needed and become obese, creating waste and greenhouse gasses. Others will be more athletic, requiring more food and creating greenhouse gasses. It's a vicious cycle.
I've been to enough amazing places on this planet that I hope we figure out how to quit screwing it up. I'm sure most of us could do better, I know I could. But for every weakness I have, I try to find a way to compensate elsewhere.
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I'm maintaining my weight, so in that sense I'm not consuming calories in excess. But arguably I'm burning many more calories than necessary by exercising much more than needed for optimal health. I don't need to run six days a week. I don't need to train for a marathon.
I presume that marathons, or really any very physically active hobby, are largely a wealthy person activity. I can afford to consume ~2,600 relatively healthy calories a day.6 -
Is it impressive? Honestly, I'm baffled by the fact that households generate so much food waste. 43% in the US according to this report, which is probably similar to most developed countries. I've never understood how, why. Can anyone offer any insight into this? What kinds of foods do you throw out, and why?
Me, I buy only what I intend to eat, I eat everything I buy. Very occasionally I might throw out a piece of fruit that I didn't notice at the store had started going moldy and brought home. I suppose that maybe with children things might be more complicated - my 10-month old nephew throws much of his food on the floor, and not even his aunt who finds food waste abhorrent will pick it up and eat it herself. But then again he's small, so it's not as if he eats (or wastes) much to begin with. Shouldn't adults be able to plan what they are going to eat and act accordingly?1 -
Is it impressive? Honestly, I'm baffled by the fact that households generate so much food waste. 43% in the US according to this report, which is probably similar to most developed countries. I've never understood how, why. Can anyone offer any insight into this? What kinds of foods do you throw out, and why?
Me, I buy only what I intend to eat, I eat everything I buy. Very occasionally I might throw out a piece of fruit that I didn't notice at the store had started going moldy and brought home. I suppose that maybe with children things might be more complicated - my 10-month old nephew throws much of his food on the floor, and not even his aunt who finds food waste abhorrent will pick it up and eat it herself. But then again he's small, so it's not as if he eats (or wastes) much to begin with. Shouldn't adults be able to plan what they are going to eat and act accordingly?
Kids. Omg kids create so much waste.
We buy a lot of fruit because my kids eat a lot of fruit. That and bread is always available to them. And usually they are pretty good at eating it. Buy boy do they go through patches where they won't touch it and it rots in the bowl. Or they get a banana and because of a brown spot they won't eat it, or they get something because they are starving, eat half and throw away the rest.
We are trying to teach them to not waste food, but it's an ongoing challenge. They are getting better, but they are also only 4 and 6.
Also, the pickiness! We refuse to cook seperate meals. So they eat what ever we make for them. No individual meals. So this can cause waste, by them simply not eating what they are given.
So yeah, kids.
After that it's more complicated. I know I've bought stuff, intending to use it throughout the week, then simply didn't want to eat it when I got to it, or even forgot about it. Is this privileged? Absolutely. Did I do the same thing when I had absolutely no money, you bet it did. I believe its because we are trained and conditioned by advertising and marketing to always believe we have a choice no matter what.2
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