The Low Carbon Diet

The Low Carbon Diet. What is it? The Low Carbon Diet is one in which as little carbon as possible was produced in getting that food to your table. For example, livestock is one of the most carbon-dioxide intensive foods you can eat because the amount of gas and energy expended (and carbon dioxide released in the atmosphere) is very high in order to truck livestock from farm, to slaughterhouse, to package house, to middle man, to supermarket (and wherever else along the way.) The orange juice you drink for breakfast requires a circuitous route of shipment from orchard to your table. Think of where food originates – how much energy is expended to get it to you?

The low carbon diet would involve menu choices that do not expend energy resources or pollute the planet with carbon dioxide. A kitchen garden outside your back door requires absolutely no pollution or energy consumption (except the calories you burn to plant it, harvest it, clean it and cook it) so it is an ideal choice to give you a ‚”low carbon footprint” or “environmental footprint.”

Per the U.S. Department of Energy, an average American emits 20 tons (~40,000 pounds) of carbon dioxide annually. Calculation of that figure includes how much you personally use in your home and by your mode of transportation and the emissions caused by the products you consume (per person, approximately 24,000 pounds annually). The international average for individuals is only 4 tons per capita.

The idea of the carbon footprint or the environmental footprint is how much impact something is making on the planet as pertains to global warming, especially as a carbon dioxide polluter. A company, for example, might have a huge carbon footprint since they may be contributing large amounts of pollution to the earth and our atmosphere in the normal course of their business through smokestacks, shipping, toxic waste, garbage, etc.

Deciding to switch to a ‚”low carbon diet” is a personal lifestyle choice that many are making today. It is the way one individual can do something meaningful to help save the planet and our environment. A low carbon diet is an incidental consequence of a self sufficient lifestyle.

If you purchase all your food from a grocery store, think of where each food item originated and how it ended up on the grocery store shelf. Look at the company name and headquarters location on the label. How many miles did the food have to be transported to get to that shelf, and then home to your refrigerator or cupboard?

If you purchase eggs from a local farmer or raise your own hens, then you have saved a certain percentage of pollution that would have been necessary for you to purchase the store-bought eggs from the grocery store, which may have been transported from another state. Easy ways to incorporate the low carbon diet into your lifestyle include buying from local farmers, fruit and vegetable markets, roadside stands, agricultural co ops, or by growing your own vegetables, herbs and fruits.

This is another way of saying ‚”buy local” or ‚”grow your own.” The more of these “green lifestyle” choices you can incorporate into your everyday life, the more you will accomplish to save the environment. Of course, in the “old days,” people made these lifestyle choices as a part of frugal living, to have a healthy diet and to save money on their food bill. They probably didn’t think frugal living could also save the planet! Opting for the low carbon diet can be your way to help save the planet from carbon emissions that contribute to global warming and thereby to help your fellow man.