An interesting story on NPR indicates that the way that humans eat is linked to preserving the wildlife. Think about the food you typically eat and ask yourself when was the last time you tried something new? The World Wide Fund for Nature and Knorr foods launched a campaign and wrote a report called “Future 50 Foods: 50 Foods for Healthier People and a Healthier Plant”. Within this report, 75 percent of food consumed comes from 12 plant sources and 5 animal sources. About 60% of plant based calories within most diets is made up of just three crops (wheat, corn, and rice).
How does this impact the environment?
If you think about it, consuming the same types of agriculture creates a threat to unpopular crops. Food waste could occur, leading to global warming effect. The report also states that harvesting the same crop on the same land depletes nutrients in the soil. Therefore, farmers start to rely on “intensive use of pesticides and fertilizers that, if misused, could hurt wildlife and damage the environment”.
“While we have about 30,000 plants that we could eat, we roughly are eating about 150 of those,” said Maria Haga, the head of Crop Trust.
What is the point?
After reading this article, I began to ponder my own eating habits, and I, too, am guilty of eating the same foods each and every day. Of course, on a tight budget and pressed for time, its hard to take the time to try new foods. However, reading this story opened my eyes to expanding my diet, even if it means trying one new food a week. Little steps can make a huge difference.
Check out more of the NPR story and a list of some new foods to try at For A Healthier Planet, Eat These 50 Foods, Campaign Urges.
