2695: Waste Not, Want Not by Nancy Clark on Reducing Food Waste & Sustainability

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[00:01:13] [SPEAKER_02]: Welcome back to Optimal Health Daily or welcome for the first time if you're new here.

[00:01:18] [SPEAKER_02]: This is the podcast where I act as your very own personal narrator and read to you from

[00:01:23] [SPEAKER_02]: some of the most popular health and fitness blogs online.

[00:01:26] [SPEAKER_02]: Alright, and with that, let's get right to it as we optimize your life.

[00:01:34] [SPEAKER_02]: Waste Not, Want Not by Nancy Clark of nancyclarkrd.com

[00:01:40] [SPEAKER_02]: By 2050, we will be dealing with major food issues.

[00:01:44] [SPEAKER_02]: By then, the global population will have grown from today's 7.6 billion people to 10 billion

[00:01:50] [SPEAKER_02]: people.

[00:01:51] [SPEAKER_02]: This is not due to lots of new babies but due mainly to longer lifespans related to

[00:01:56] [SPEAKER_02]: better health care and nutrition.

[00:01:58] [SPEAKER_02]: We will need 60% more food than is available today.

[00:02:02] [SPEAKER_02]: To do so, farmers will need to increase crop yield, use water more effectively, and feed

[00:02:07] [SPEAKER_02]: animals more efficiently.

[00:02:09] [SPEAKER_02]: The agricultural industry is working hard on that, and climate change complicates it

[00:02:14] [SPEAKER_02]: all.

[00:02:15] [SPEAKER_02]: As athletes, we like having plenty of food to eat and clean water to drink.

[00:02:19] [SPEAKER_02]: Hence, we want to think about how we could invest in a sustainable future with our food

[00:02:24] [SPEAKER_02]: and lifestyle practices.

[00:02:26] [SPEAKER_02]: While we may suffer less from food shortages than will the people and athletes in less

[00:02:31] [SPEAKER_02]: developed countries, we won't be able to escape these environmental problems.

[00:02:36] [SPEAKER_02]: Problems like oppressive heat that not only damages crops but also drains the fun from

[00:02:41] [SPEAKER_02]: playing outdoor sports like soccer and tennis.

[00:02:44] [SPEAKER_02]: Or storms that disrupt plane travel for sports teams as well as the flights of thousands of

[00:02:49] [SPEAKER_02]: recreational athletes going to, let's say, New York City for a marathon.

[00:02:54] [SPEAKER_02]: And floods that ruin farms and crops as well as playing fields.

[00:02:58] [SPEAKER_02]: And droughts that kill crops, golf courses, and gardens.

[00:03:02] [SPEAKER_02]: The timely topic of sustainable diets and animal agriculture was prominent at the Academy

[00:03:08] [SPEAKER_02]: of Nutrition and Dietetics' Food and Nutrition Convention and Expo.

[00:03:12] [SPEAKER_02]: The message was clear.

[00:03:14] [SPEAKER_02]: We are facing the urgent need to curb greenhouse gas emissions to reduce our carbon footprint

[00:03:19] [SPEAKER_02]: and invest in our future well-being.

[00:03:22] [SPEAKER_02]: Here's some of what I learned from speakers Frank Mitluner, PhD, Professor and Air Quality

[00:03:27] [SPEAKER_02]: Specialist at the University of California, Davis, and Amy Myrtle Miller, RD, a farmer's

[00:03:32] [SPEAKER_02]: daughter consulting.

[00:03:34] [SPEAKER_02]: Perhaps this information will nudge you to think more about how your food and lifestyle

[00:03:38] [SPEAKER_02]: choices impact the climate and inspire you to make some changes.

[00:03:43] [SPEAKER_02]: 1.

[00:03:44] [SPEAKER_02]: Waste less food.

[00:03:46] [SPEAKER_02]: Up to 40% of the food we produce gets wasted.

[00:03:50] [SPEAKER_02]: About 16% of that happens at the farm, like sick animals not treated with antibiotics,

[00:03:56] [SPEAKER_02]: unharvested crops due to large shortages, or ugly produce.

[00:04:00] [SPEAKER_02]: 40% happens in food service and restaurants, and 43% in our homes.

[00:04:06] [SPEAKER_02]: Who among us hasn't tossed out ugly apples, overripe bananas, and perfectly good leftovers?

[00:04:12] [SPEAKER_02]: A huge contributor to food waste is the best-used-by date on food packages.

[00:04:18] [SPEAKER_02]: Please note, the best-used-by date is not a don't-eat-this expiration date, but rather

[00:04:24] [SPEAKER_02]: a marker for quality and freshness.

[00:04:27] [SPEAKER_02]: Wasted food required energy to be produced and then transported to your supermarket and

[00:04:33] [SPEAKER_02]: landfill.

[00:04:34] [SPEAKER_02]: Wasted food takes up 21% of precious and limited landfill space.

[00:04:39] [SPEAKER_02]: This represents the largest percentage of all waste in U.S. landfills.

[00:04:43] [SPEAKER_02]: As it rots, it creates the greenhouse gas methane.

[00:04:47] [SPEAKER_02]: To reduce food waste, you want to shop carefully, use leftovers, and compost food scraps.

[00:04:54] [SPEAKER_02]: Restaurants, colleges, and other quantity food producers need to figure out how to find

[00:04:58] [SPEAKER_02]: a meaningful home for leftovers, such as by donating to food pantries if permitted.

[00:05:04] [SPEAKER_02]: 2.

[00:05:04] [SPEAKER_02]: Eat less animal protein.

[00:05:07] [SPEAKER_02]: Farm animals produce methane, so reducing the demand for meat is another way to help

[00:05:11] [SPEAKER_02]: the environment.

[00:05:12] [SPEAKER_02]: Yet, it is not the biggest way to help.

[00:05:14] [SPEAKER_02]: That's because meat and food production in general are not the leading causes of greenhouse

[00:05:19] [SPEAKER_02]: gas emissions, despite what you might have read repeatedly in the recent past.

[00:05:24] [SPEAKER_02]: Hence, you do not need to become vegan unless you truly want to do so.

[00:05:28] [SPEAKER_02]: If everyone were to eat a vegan diet every day, greenhouse gas emissions might drop by

[00:05:32] [SPEAKER_02]: only 2.6%.

[00:05:33] [SPEAKER_02]: But you do want to eat meat less often and in smaller portions.

[00:05:38] [SPEAKER_02]: If all Americans honored Meatless Mondays, the drop in greenhouse gas emissions in the

[00:05:43] [SPEAKER_02]: U.S. would be half a percent.

[00:05:45] [SPEAKER_02]: While not the cure-all for carbon emissions, every little bit helps.

[00:05:49] [SPEAKER_02]: Instead of blaming methane-producing farm animals for contributing to climate change,

[00:05:54] [SPEAKER_02]: the far bigger sources of greenhouse gas emissions are from the burning of oil, coal, and natural

[00:05:59] [SPEAKER_02]: gas or fossil fuels.

[00:06:01] [SPEAKER_02]: The environmental benefits of eating less animal protein of any type pales in comparison

[00:06:06] [SPEAKER_02]: to the benefits from reducing fossil fuel use.

[00:06:10] [SPEAKER_02]: Using fossil fuels to create electricity accounts for 30% of all greenhouse gas emissions, transportation

[00:06:15] [SPEAKER_02]: accounts for 26%, and industry, 21%.

[00:06:19] [SPEAKER_02]: Agriculture contributes to only 9%, and animal agriculture alone, about 4% of all greenhouse

[00:06:26] [SPEAKER_02]: gas emissions in America.

[00:06:28] [SPEAKER_02]: This number includes the carbon footprint of animals from birth to being consumed.

[00:06:33] [SPEAKER_02]: To put this in perspective, a recent study showed that switching from a meat-based to

[00:06:37] [SPEAKER_02]: a vegan diet for one year equates to the greenhouse gas emissions of one transatlantic flight

[00:06:43] [SPEAKER_02]: from the U.S. to Europe.

[00:06:46] [SPEAKER_02]: And 3.

[00:06:47] [SPEAKER_02]: Educate yourself about the pros and cons of grass-fed beef.

[00:06:51] [SPEAKER_02]: With conventional agriculture, corn-finished cattle are generally raised on pasture land

[00:06:56] [SPEAKER_02]: first for about 10 to 12 months, and then finished on a corn-based diet for the last

[00:07:02] [SPEAKER_02]: 4 months to optimize marbling.

[00:07:05] [SPEAKER_02]: Grass-finished cattle spend a total of 26 to 30 months on pasture land before they are

[00:07:10] [SPEAKER_02]: slaughtered.

[00:07:11] [SPEAKER_02]: All of that time they are making manure, belching from the high-fiber grass diet, and releasing

[00:07:16] [SPEAKER_02]: methane.

[00:07:17] [SPEAKER_02]: Corn-fed cattle produce far less methane and are content to eat the corn when well-balanced

[00:07:22] [SPEAKER_02]: into their diet.

[00:07:24] [SPEAKER_02]: Yes, I know there are other reasons you might want to choose grass-fed cattle.

[00:07:28] [SPEAKER_02]: I'm just talking sustainability here.

[00:07:31] [SPEAKER_02]: Another way to reduce greenhouse gas emissions might be to start considering the possibility

[00:07:35] [SPEAKER_02]: of eating protein-rich insects.

[00:07:38] [SPEAKER_02]: I admit, I'm not there yet, but they are a sustainable source of protein.

[00:07:43] [SPEAKER_02]: We just need more research to learn about the digestibility and bioavailability of insect

[00:07:48] [SPEAKER_02]: protein and how to make it yummy.

[00:07:51] [SPEAKER_02]: Solving the world's impending food and water crises is a huge global issue.

[00:07:56] [SPEAKER_02]: We need governments around the world to look holistically at the complex interplay between

[00:08:00] [SPEAKER_02]: the environment and food production systems.

[00:08:04] [SPEAKER_02]: While we need to work together globally, each of us can act locally.

[00:08:09] [SPEAKER_02]: How about biking more, driving less, and wasting less food as well as eating less meat?

[00:08:14] [SPEAKER_02]: The next generation will thank us.

[00:08:20] [SPEAKER_02]: You just listened to the post titled, Waste Not, Want Not by Nancy Clark of nancyclarkrd.com

[00:08:28] [SPEAKER_02]: and I'll be right back with my commentary.

[00:08:30] [SPEAKER_02]: Dr. Neil here for my commentary.

[00:08:33] [SPEAKER_02]: Nancy mentioned that it's important for us to educate ourselves on the topics she discussed

[00:08:37] [SPEAKER_02]: in today's post, like the pros and cons of grass-fed beef, for example.

[00:08:42] [SPEAKER_02]: Nancy mentioned that there may be other reasons why, when buying groceries, we might want to

[00:08:47] [SPEAKER_02]: choose grass-fed cattle instead of cows that have been fed corn.

[00:08:51] [SPEAKER_02]: One of the reasons there's been some pushback about feeding cows corn is that it may increase

[00:08:57] [SPEAKER_02]: the amount of a harmful bacterium in their digestive tracts.

[00:09:00] [SPEAKER_02]: This harmful bacterium is E. coli and it's the particularly nasty strain of it, E. coli

[00:09:08] [SPEAKER_02]: O157H7.

[00:09:09] [SPEAKER_02]: The problem is that this E. coli O157H7 strain can spread around when cattle are slaughtered.

[00:09:18] [SPEAKER_02]: That means this bacterium can get into the meat we end up consuming.

[00:09:22] [SPEAKER_02]: So again, some studies have found that feeding cows corn increases the amount of this strain

[00:09:27] [SPEAKER_02]: of E. coli in their digestive tracts.

[00:09:29] [SPEAKER_02]: But we can lower our risk of getting sick by simply cooking beef to the proper temperature

[00:09:34] [SPEAKER_02]: and specifically ground beef.

[00:09:36] [SPEAKER_02]: This is because ground beef has a higher risk of containing E. coli and that's because

[00:09:40] [SPEAKER_02]: of the way it's processed.

[00:09:42] [SPEAKER_02]: So the goal is to cook ground beef until the internal temperature reaches 160 degrees Fahrenheit

[00:09:48] [SPEAKER_02]: or 71 degrees Celsius.

[00:09:50] [SPEAKER_02]: That will kill E. coli.

[00:09:53] [SPEAKER_02]: Now what about steaks?

[00:09:55] [SPEAKER_02]: Steak isn't ground meat and therefore steak doesn't carry the same risk for E. coli.

[00:10:01] [SPEAKER_02]: So if you enjoy a medium-rare steak or a steak that's not cooked to 160 degrees Fahrenheit

[00:10:06] [SPEAKER_02]: or 71 degrees Celsius, that's probably fine.

[00:10:10] [SPEAKER_02]: Again, these are just some things to consider when choosing which type of beef you buy.

[00:10:14] [SPEAKER_02]: Alright that'll do it for another edition of Optimal Health Daily.

[00:10:18] [SPEAKER_02]: I hope you're having a great weekend.

[00:10:19] [SPEAKER_02]: Thank you so much for listening and I'll be back here again with you tomorrow.

[00:10:23] [SPEAKER_02]: So I'll see you there where your optimal life awaits.