What can I do.....

Nowadays; listening to the news on TV, Radio or Internet, listening to podcasts or reading any kind of articles on paper, or online, the most commonly used word you hear or read about at all times is ..........SUSTAINABILITY

What does this word sustainability actual mean?

Sustainability is "a principle of action in the use of resources". The aim of those principles is to ensure, that needs are met in the long term by preserving the natural ability to regenerate all the systems involved, especially by looking at living beings and ecosystems.

In our food world the word sustainability is also used more and more often, when it comes to upselling, marketing and storytelling of food products, to us customers and consumers. 80% of all customers, including you and me, buy their daily, weekly groceries and foods in a discounter or supermarket. Yes supermarket........, definitely a word that is very difficult to understand, then nowadays i don't really understand whats "super" about these markets. Most products in supermarkets and discounters are still all pre-packed, and plastic is still the number one in most of all packagings. Many of us, do see these problems and do understand the issues these supermarkets cause, and most of us also want to take part in the global food solution we all strive for, although many of us do not actively commit to the actual solution, or are still to pleased and convenient with what and how these supermarkets offer and sell us, our daily needs.

The value of food and all the food products we buy have lost a huge part of their value over the past decades. Looking back 50 years ago in the modern western world of the Sixties and Seventies we spend 35% of our earnings on food (and even today in the third world) this percentage still lies by 40-60 %, but in our modern western world today, 2023, we only spend an average of 10% of our earnings on food for daily consumption, the other 25% (and more) are mainly spend on lifestyle products , gadgets, electronics, hobbies, and additional interests we have created in our modern world and work-life balance environment.

Lets get back quickly to the explanation of the word Sustainability, sustainability is "a principle of action in the use of resources" In my eyes the most important word in this explanation is the word ACTION.

We can only have an impact and change this "use of resources" in a more sustainable way if we put actions in place. and with actions i don't mean protests, or sticking your hands on roads, but actions that each and everyone of us can do in their daily life, actions that have an impact. To find out some of those action points i want to share some suggestions with you all, to answer the question, "What can I do?".

How?, Why?, do i choose a certain product?, How can i help to change the world in a better direction? How can i be a part of the food solution, instead of being a part of the food problem? These are the question we have to find solutions for, and where i want to support you, to find these solutions, by creating easy to explain impactful, reasonable and easy to implement action points

One single person can not be the solution, or the difference, we have to look at this from a much bigger picture and point of view, by creating as much as possible awareness to as many as possible people, around the globe, around this problem and around all possible solutions.

In this and the following Blogs i want to share with you, as many as possible solutions that can nudge us all in the right direction, so that next time, when we go for your daily or weekly food shopping, we think back on this Blog, this can then be the start of our personal action initiatives, for a better future, a better planet and more....... Sustainability

1. MEAT: meat and especially Beef is the food that needs the most resources on our planet, comparing the total global amount of Beef in kilos, this amount is equal to all other existing animal meats in Kilo's together. Another fact: 1 Kilogram of Beef needs 13.000 L of water in resources, Lamb around 9000 L, Pork around 6000 L and Poeltry around 4500L an comparing this to plant proteins like beans, lentils or tofu, the amount of water per L for those plant proteins is far below 3000 L per KG. Knowing all this, it makes absolute sense to reduce our meat, and especially beef consumption. I don't want to tell you that you should not eat beef anymore, but by being more aware of those facts, and therefore reducing your personal meat consumption is the first step of the food solution. By turning beef more into a luxury product, and eating it only once a week, or even less, bought from an artisanal Butcher where the origin is verifiable could be the first step for every single one of us. The more people act this way the bigger the impact will be.

2. FOODWASTE: food waste is also one of the most impactful unnecessary losses of resources we have on our planet. Globally we waste more than 30% of all our foods. Think about all the resources needed to grow and produce all these Foods, which we then just waste or throw away, for absolutely no reason. This is something thats extremely difficult to understand, but it definitely has to do with the overload on the availability of food in our modern western society and especially in our supermarkets. On the other hand there are still many many people dying of starvation, on a daily basis on our planet. Think about it................ As already mentioned earlier, the overload and diversity of food products in our supermarkets, and the cheap prices of many of those products available to us, make us buy more than we can eat, which we then discard of again as food waste. Here we have the opportunity for our next action point, by being much more mindful when buying groceries and foods in your supermarket, and only buy what your really need. Check your storage / pantry and fridge before you go shopping, and make a shopping list of what you really need. And finally choose Quality before Quantity shopping in the local market, or by small or medium-sized artisanal shops might be a bit more expensive, but will impact-fully reduce your own personal food waste

So today I shared with you two very easy and simple action points that each and everyone of us can follow and implement immediately. "Reduction of meat and beef consumption" and "food waste reduction". Lets start today and i will share more action points with you all in my next Blog.

PFJ / 01.09