Advocate for healthy and sustainable food choices. Be a voice for change in your community, school, and home.
1 Get Cooking
If you dine out at restaurants or order takeout more often than not, commit to eating at least one home-cooked meal a week, using as many fresh, seasonal, whole foods as possible. Involve the whole family in the planning and cooking process, from shopping to cleanup. If you’re a parent, let your kids choose a recipe, or make a project of creating a healthy recipe together as a family.
2 Vote with Your Fork
Encourage restaurants, cafeterias, hospitals, and government institutions to source at least 10 percent of their food locally. Ask policy makers to develop food procurement guidelines that favor healthy, seasonal and whole foods. As Michael Pollan says, “The institutions that we have relationships with have enormous buying power.” Seek out and support restaurants and businesses that offer sustainable food.
3 Eat More Beets, Less Beast
Eat more vegetables, grains, and fruit. You’ll feel better and live longer. Swap out beef for a protein source that’s lower on the food chain, such as fish, poultry, legumes, or nuts. Join the Meatless Monday campaign and cut meat from your diet one day of the week, or more. By reducing your meat intake, you’ll also save money. If you do eat meat, look for meat that is grass-fed, free-range, locally raised, and hormone- and antibiotic-free, which is better for your health, animals, and the planet.
4 Choose Sustainable Seafood
Seek out seafood that is good for the oceans, and for you. Look for fish certified by the Marin Stewardship Council (MSC) or green-listed by Seafood Watch (see Resources). Avoid fish that are endangered by overfishing. When you buy fish, ask how it was raised and caught. Increase the demand for ocean-friendly seafood by purchasing and requesting it at restaurants and seafood markets.
5 Promote Healthy Options
Support social functions and celebrations that are free of junk food and soda. Ask for healthy snacks, such as fruit, nuts, water, and tea instead. Advocate for a healthy, fast-food-free work environment. Encourage your school, church, workplace, or community center to host a farmers market or serve as a CSA veggie box pickup site.
6 Change Cafeteria Choices
Become a champion for healthy school lunches and the Universal School Breakfast. If you’re a parent or teacher, survey lunch at your kids’ school to gain insight into your kids’ lunch options and eating habits. Campaign to remove vending machines, processed snacks, fast food, and flavored milk. Work with other parents to install salad bars and put healthy, locally sourced options on the menu.
Resources
- Local Harvest: Find organic restaurants in your area
- Meatless Monday: Recipes and resources for meat-free eating
- Seafood Watch and Smart Seafood Guide: Recommendations for sourcing seafood responsibly
- Let’s Move Salad Bars to Schools: Apply to put a salad bar in your school
- Real Food Challenge: An organization that unites students for just and sustainable food
- Jamie Oliver’s Food Revolution: A national campaign to improve school food
RSS Feed
