4 sustainable swaps for your weekly grocery shopping

Limiting climate change is a global effort that requires many actions, large and small. Making sustainable food choices when shopping, cooking and eating is more important than ever, and more and more Canadians are looking for sustainable food choices.

Here are some tips to get started:

Shop seasonal produce.

There’s a reason why we hear about products like “winter squash.” Buying seasonal produce is a simple way to know your food is being grown and sold in an environmentally friendly way. Buying seasonal items helps reduce carbon emissions produced from transporting food long distances, supports local farmers and ensures you enjoy fresher food. What’s not to love?

Prevent food waste.

Weekly meal prepping is a good practice that will guarantee you only buy what you need and use up all the ingredients in your fridge. This simple habit goes a long way to ensuring the food you purchase and prepare can be thoroughly enjoyed and doesn’t end up in the trash. If you happen to buy extra, freeze what you don’t use and save and use your leftovers.

Buy foods in recyclable packaging. Read food labels for ingredients and nutrition, but also for their recyclability. Think protein packaging can’t be recycled? Think again – companies like Maple Leaf Foods have introduced recyclable packaging for many of their products so you can shop sustainably.

Look for a carbon-zero logo.

Eighty-four percent of Canadians would like to know if the foods they purchase are produced in an environmentally friendly way, but 68 per cent find it difficult to identify sustainably made food products. To simplify shopping, Maple Leaf Foods has introduced a new carbon-zero logo on the packaging of many of their brands to make shopping sustainably easier than ever. “We hope consumers will appreciate our products for their sustainability in addition to their great taste, safety and nutrition,” says Dr. Randy Huffman, the company’s Chief Food Safety and Sustainability Officer. (NC)