EATING ETHICALLY
Anyone with a conscience is starting to feel lost in the supermarket aisles. Thankfully, you can trust WH to explore the evidence for a more ethical way to eat
The WH guide to navigating a planet-based diet
The migration of the monarch butterfly is an annual phenomenon that elevates the western coastal region of Michoacan in Mexico from holiday hotspot to bucket-list destination. Each November, the area’s pine forests turn orange, decorated with the wings of some 10,000 butterflies who are looking to winter in warmer climes. Only, lately, their numbers have been dwindling, and zoologists believe they know why. In the past decade, thousands of acres of the pine forest in which they reside have been decimated to make way for young avocado trees; a fruit currently enjoying cash crop status thanks to the popularity of a certain hashtag.
Eating food that doesn’t fuck up the planet is becoming as fundamental a dietary pillar as hitting your five a day and eating for your gut. But, much like watching Lost, the deeper you delve into the ethics of eating, the more confused you become – and the plight of the monarch butterfly is only the tip of the melting iceberg. While you’ve been weighing up whether to buy tomatoes grown in Surrey or Spain and pondering what the ‘not yet recycled’ label really means, global taste for almond milk has been blamed for the worst drought California has seen in a decade, and a rise in demand
for soybeans as an alternative to meat is being cited as a cause of deforestation in South America. It’s enough to make the question of what to eat for dinner feel like an existential crisis.
PLANET ORGANIC
‘Ethical eating has three main strands,’ explains Rosemary Green, assistant professor in nutrition and sustainability at the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine. ‘The first is with respect to the welfare of the animals used for food, the second is the impact of the production and transportation of food on the planet as a whole and the third concerns the health and wellbeing of the people who produce it.’ Environmental dispatches have woken society up to all three points, some more recently than others. If conversations around the first strand used to focus on free-range hens, more recent discussions have brought our attention to the treatment of cattle in the dairy industry. The term ‘food miles’ was coined in 2005 by Tim Lang, professor of food policy at City University, London, putting the environmental footprint of our food on the ethical agenda; an awareness that sky-rocketed in the wake of documentaries such as Cowspiracy (which focused on the footprint of the meat industry) and Blue Planet (which saw the problem with plastics go mainstream).
And while conversations around fair trade go back to the 80s, the dramatic spike in consumption of certain foods in recent years has increased our collective understanding of the delicate balance of the global food supply. The phenomenon has been dubbed the quinoa conundrum, in reference to the previously niche grain. A sharp rise in demand triggered a price hike, which effectively priced the Bolivian and Peruvian farmers who produced it out
of eating their own crops. ‘The problem we have is that no single element of the global food infrastructure operates in isolation,’ explains Bee Wilson, journalist and author of The Way We Eat Now (£12.99, Fourth Estate). ‘Ordering avocado toast in a cafe might tick one sustainability box because it’s vegetarian, but when millions of Western consumers do it at the same time, you have all these unintended consequences and it ends up becoming a less sustainable choice.’
It’s enough to make you feel that the only way to eat ethically is to live off your own land. ‘With increased awareness and engagement around the ethics of eating has come a rising sense of being overwhelmed because, yes, we’ve learned every action has an impact,’ says Dr Green. ‘People feel like they need to tick off all three strands of ethical eating at every opportunity, but the three intersect and actually research shows that it’s easier to have a positive impact than you might realise. For example, a healthy diet tends to be a more environmentally sustainable one.’ Praise be. In a 2015 study published in BMJ Open, Dr Green and her colleagues set out to investigate the theory that what’s good for human health is also good for the planet. They found that if the
‘A healthy diet tends to be a more environmentally sustainable one’
average Brit’s dietary intake was optimised to comply with World Health Organization guidelines – eating less red meat and more beans, pulses and vegetables – there would be an incidental reduction of 17% in greenhouse gas emissions. A 2019 EATLancet report – which called upon the expertise of more than
30 leading scientists – went further still, recommending zero or very low quantities of red meat, low to moderate amounts of seafood and poultry and large quantities of vegetables, whole grains, legumes and nuts. ‘This way of eating isn’t prescriptive and there’s room to choose from many different foods,’ adds Dr Green. ‘But just by making your diet as healthy as possible, you’ll reduce your environmental impact.’
GRASS FED
So, is it the case – as vegans have argued for decades – that we all need to go meat- and dairy-free for the sake of the planet? When Dr Green and her colleagues set out to review the evidence, they found that reductions in environmental footprints were directly proportional to restrictions placed on the consumption of animal-based foods, meaning the fewer animal products you eat, the greater the environmental benefit. However, this isn’t a global fix. ‘It’s important to caveat that we’re talking about a Western society – countries like the UK are eating far more foods derived from animal sources than others around the world,’ adds Dr Green. ‘Recent research in India showed that for the lowest-income people, increasing the calories in their diet is important, and some of those calories are going to come from animal sources. So there should be room for some nations to increase their consumption while we decrease ours.’
While the UK as a nation has a welldocumented taste for meat, for those already well versed in eating the rainbow, there’s comfort to be found in the fact that you’re already doing better than most.
While Dr Green is loathe to be prescriptive in terms of telling you how much meat is too much, there are some simple tactics you can employ in the supermarket. In a study published last year in the journal Climatic Change, she and her colleagues ranked dozens of foods by their environmental impact. While beef and lamb had the greatest impacts, other offenders might surprise you. Fish was ranked higher than poultry, and shellfish was ranked higher than pork. ‘Any food derived from intensively farmed animals is going to have a higher impact because they’re in an artificial environment, so they require an artificial food source,’ she explains. ‘That’s true of foods like butter and cheese, as well as farmed crustaceans such as shrimp.’
SCRATCH COOKING
As for other methods of improving your sustainability profile? Batch-cooking, players. ‘There are two things you can do that are really simple – the first is to cook a meal from scratch, the second is to eat it again, and find another way to use the leftover ingredients,’ says Wilson, who cites reducing your food waste as one of the most effective ways of nailing those environmental credentials. According to the EAT- Lancet report, the global population needs to make ‘large reductions’ to current levels of food waste (may we refer you to page 50 for inspo) if we’re to feed the predicted population of 10 billion by 2050. ‘One of the biggest contributors to food waste is people buying ingredients for one recipe and forgetting about them, so get comfortable with making substitutes,’ adds Wilson. ‘Almost any vegetable can be substituted for another veg, any oil or fat for the other and any herb for another herb. You’ll also end up making some interesting dishes as a result.’ (Nigel Slater weeps.)
If, as a food-savvy WH reader, you feel like we’re teaching you to suck organic eggs, here’s something that might feel a little harder to swallow.
‘The more everyone buys into fashionable foods, like avocados, pomegranate and blueberries, for example, the more likely the environmental credentials of that product are going to suffer as a result,’ adds Wilson. Her advice? Opt for the off-brand veg – wonky bananas, yes, but also other stuff of great nutritional value, if not great #content. ‘Swap your blueberries for blackberries that can be picked from hedgerows in autumn and that’s a huge commitment to eating more sustainably.’
When you choose organic, a minimum standard of animal welfare is guaranteed
When the time comes to tackle the supermarket, the WHO recommends prioritising the Fairtrade stamp over well-meaning – but technically meaningless – platitudes alluding to ethics, because it assures the welfare of everyone in the supply chain. This tells you that environmental, economic and social standards
have been met, including the protection of workers’ rights and the payment of the Fairtrade Minimum Price. Buying meat and dairy? Louise Symington (@sustainabledietitian), a dietitian specialising in sustainability, suggests choosing organic, because a minimum standard of animal welfare is guaranteed. And if you think eggs is eggs, then think again. ‘While the British Lion symbol is a hallmark of food safety, it has nothing to do with welfare,’ says Symington. ‘The term “free range” is not legally defined, so you can be more confident buying certified products, such as “RSPCA Assured” eggs, or those with “organic” certification. These schemes stipulate smaller flock sizes and fewer birds per square metre. Beak trimming is restricted, too.’
As for plastic, until the big supermarkets stop wrapping everything in it, there are some simple tactics you can employ. ‘Always carry a reusable cup and bottle,’ says Symington. ‘This may mean switching to a bigger handbag, but it’s a lifestyle change. There are apps that help you locate free water points around the UK, and don’t be afraid to ask at cafes for a refill.’ As for filling the fridge, she suggests getting comfy with frozen over fresh – it requires less plastic and you’re less likely to waste it – and heading to the counter over the aisles armed with your own plastic containers or beeswax wraps for the likes of meat, fish, cheese and bread. If it sounds like a lot to think about, Symington sums it up in two words: ‘Plan ahead. This applies to going to the supermarket armed with bags and containers, but also to thinking about your meals and the best supermarket to source your ingredients from. Zero-waste shops are still few and far between, but you can join the #goplasticfree campaign by @-ing supermarket chains to encourage them to change the way they operate.’
Finally, know that by following a healthy diet and showing up for this stuff, you’re already making more of a difference than you realise. ‘These are weighty issues concerning how food is produced globally and the impact this will have on future generations, and they’re too big for consumers to deal with alone,’ adds Wilson. ‘Remember that while you’re trying to make the best food choices you can with the information you have, you can’t choose the options available to you in the shop.’