How to Make (and Keep) Sustainable Resolutions
If your goal is meatless eating, my sweet potato and pomegranate pizza is a great place to start!
So you made a resolution to eat more sustainably in the new year. But where should you start? And how should you keep it up? In this post, I'll tell you how to make sustainable food resolutions and stick to them all year long.
Make your goals “SMART”
Eating sustainably is a great goal for the New Year, but it's uber broad and will probably fail by the end of January. To make your goals more achievable, you can use the acronym “SMART,” which is popularly used in business and education settings but can easily apply to any goals. SMART goals are:
Specific: you need to have an exact goal
Measurable: you need to know when you've reached your goal
Attainable: your goal needs to be possible
Relevant: your goal needs to be important to you
Time-Bound: you need a time limit to keep yourself in check
For example, a SMART sustainable food goal might look like this: To cut down on my foods' emissions, I want to be vegetarian for at least 2 days per week during every week of 2020. This goal is specific and measurable: you will cut out meat on two days per week. It is attainable if you’ve dabbled in vegetarian eating in the past and have access to nutritious vegetarian foods. The goal is also relevant because it will help you cut back on land degradation and greenhouse gas emissions. And it is time-bound because you will do this every week in 2020.
If you don't know where to start to make your diet more sustainable, below are some sustainable eating habits that can easily translate into SMART goals.
Go Meatless
Animals are generally a less resource-efficient source of nutrients compared to produce and plant-based proteins. Many animal ag operations (especially cattle farms) also contribute to soil degradation, concentrated pollution and the release of methane and carbon dioxide. Whether you're new to veg eating and want to go meatless every Monday or you're an old pro who wants to go full vegetarian, meatless eating is an amazing goal for 2020.
Potential Goals:
I will have Meatless Mondays every Monday of 2020.
I will only eat meat on the weekends during 2020.
I will be fully vegetarian by the end of 2020.
Buy ugly foods
"Ugly" grocery store produce that is bruised, unevenly colored, overripe, or otherwise imperfect often gets sent to the landfills. This creates loads of unnecessary waste and contributes to methane in our atmosphere (which is contributing to climate change). Buying ugly produce is a great way to tackle food waste and reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
Potential goals:
Whenever I buy produce during 2020 I will buy 1 ugly fruit or vegetable.
Every week during 2020 I will buy 1 bunch of overripe bananas.
Each week during 2020 I will buy 3 ugly pieces of produce.
Buy more local produce
Buying local produce can reduce greenhouse gas emissions from travel, can help you get to know your local food producers and can help you incorporate more fruits and vegetables in your diet. If you live in a cold climate, you may consider limiting your goal to June-November, when it is easier to find local foods.
Potential Goals:
I will buy local produce once per month during 2020.
I will visit a local farmstand once per week during 2020.
I will buy my produce at the farmers market every weekend it is open in 2020.
Reduce packaged food consumption
Some foods are packaged in layers of single-use plastic and cardboard that are wholly unnecessary. When you get home from the grocery store, this packaging usually goes straight to the landfill, where it is left to gradually breakdown, polluting our land, air and water. Buying fewer packaged foods can reduce waste and encourage companies to package more sustainably.
Potential Goals:
I will replace 1 packaged food item in my cart with a non-packaged food item every time I go to the grocery store in 2020.
I will have 1 package-free shopping trip every month during 2020.
I will remove all single-use-plastic-packaged foods from my diet by the end of 2020.