So you want to save the planet, combat climate change, leave a legacy for your children that you can be proud of but you just don't know where to start? I started the Environment Monday series of blogs to try and spread a few practical ideas, things that are practical and work. I'd love your ideas, guest blogs and help. The old adage of think global, act local has been my mantra for decades. If we all start with ourselves, look at our lifestyles, look at the small changes we can make in our carbon footprint, on our own we will make a miniscule difference, but if we do it and it works, maybe our friends will sit up take, notice and over time (which is precious), together we can start to make a big difference. Each week, we will explore a different theme, a different way that we can all make a difference.
Today, we look at Food. The production, packaging and transport of food is perhaps the greatest cause of climate change. Until we recognise that fact and realise that it is in our power to change things, realistically things will continue on the downward spiral. But it is possible to change the way we do things. It is not only not impossible, it can save you money and improve the quality of your life.
Lets start by considering our relationship with food. Only oxygen and water are more important for human beings. We are omnivores, we can eat almost anything and we will survive. But, for most of us, food is far more than a chore, it is a joy and a pleasure. You only have to walk down the high street to see how important it is to us. But we Brits have a very odd relationship with our diet. The fad diet market is a billion pound industry. All of these diets are designed to undo the damage that we do to ourselves in our normal diet. How many of us Yo-Yo? We lead busy lives. Our working schedules mean that it is almost impossible to eat healthy. Therefore we want the magic bullet diet.
The problem is that you have to make the 7.07am train for work, so you grab a bowl of cereal before you go, and a coffee from Costa on the way to the train to wake you up. A busy, stressful morning, eats into afternoon, lunch break runs late, you have to dash out to Tesco's (other supermarkets are available), grab a sandwich, a chocolate bar, a bag of crisps and a sugary drink, and scuttle back to the office to eat it over the next conference call. We get home, the train is delayed, so we nip into Marks and Spencers and buy a ready meal we can plonk in the microwave, as we are far too shattered to think about our diet. Maybe we buy a bottle of wine to wash it all down. You sit in front of the telly, fall asleep, wake up at midnight and make your way to bed. You want to eat well, you want to do your bit, but it just isn't practical is it? I've been there, done that. My weight was always 13st 2lbs until I turned 33. By the time I was 55, it was 17st 6 lbs, despite my best efforts. This hadn't been helped by treatment for cancer, that had curtailed my gym activities and caused me to become mildly depressed. I coped with this by eating and drinking too much. A very stressful period at work didn't help, I had made a couple of bad decisions that meant I was in a difficult place work wise.
My intention was to go to the gym, eat healthily and do all of the other things that we should do, but it was impossible. Weekends and time off was simply used to sleep and recharge batteries. In the summer of 2017, I didn't go away with the family, as everything was too hectic. All I did was eat pre-packaged food and drink. From a health perspective it was awful. From a responsible citizen of planet Earth perspective it was highly irresponsible, but I was so wrapped up in my daily life that I'd lost sight of what was important. One of the downsides of being a prolific blogger, is that you can always justify your own stupid behaviour as you are 'fighting a just battle'. But the truth is, I wasn't. I look back at some of the blogs, I was writing at the time and I could see the lack of energy and perspective in them.
As someone living with cancer, I have an added reason to take care of myself. In September, a step onto the scales scared me to death. A peek in the mirror confirmed the bad news. I'd let myself go. I decided to start jogging, but I found that the extra weight was causing my knees to hurt. I realised that before I could start jogging I needed to get my weight down to around 16 stone. I was still playing football, but in a rather static manner. I thought long and hard. How do you eat healthy, when you are only getting 20 minutes to dash to an outlet for a snack? How do you eat healthy when you get in and you are too drained to prepare fresh food and make healthy food? When you are stressed, how do you cope, without the friendly bottle of wine?
With the family away, I realised that there was not a simple answer, but a holistic view needed to be taken. So where to start? I had got into a really bad habit of sitting up till 2am writing and researching blogs. A bit of honesty showed that this wasn't making the blogs any better or more interesting. I sat down and made a few basic rules.
1. No blogging after 9pm (unless I was writing up a council meeting etc).
2. Go to bed by 11.30pm unless at a gig.
3. Have three days a week off alcohol, regardless of whether I felt I couldn't cope without it.
4. Go 'Semi vegan' for three days a week.
5. Get up half an hour earlier than I need, so I wasn't in a rush.
6. Don't eat after 8pm (except when out or with friends).
You may wonder what a 'Semi vegan' diet means. I don't have any great desire to become a vegan, but I recognise that a vegan diet is probably the best thing an individual can do for the planet, especially if you eat organic. So a semi vegan diet is an aspiration to be vegan, but with a practical approach, so that if you can't achieve it due to unavailability of what you need, you take the best alternative. I have avoided dairy since 2011, so that isn't as hard as it sounds for me. By getting up 30 minutes earlier, it meant I could prepare fresh food to take with me, rather than do the dash to Tescos. The semi vegan diet forced me to think about the food, to plan a bit better and to make sure we had the right food in the house to support it.
By buying loose fruit and vegetables, the household bills plummeted, the amount of packaging decreased, the wheelie bin had half as much in it as it had previously. In Mill Hill, we are lucky, there is an excellent Turkish grocer at the bottom of the road. They do great fresh vegetables. I found that these also tasted better than microwaved gloop. So you may ask, what would the daily menu look like on a semi vegan day?
Breakfast
Quaker oats with fresh fruit, prepared with water.
Green tea with Pomegranate juice
Lunch.
Tomato, Olive and avocado salad with wholemeal bread (from Wenzels in a paper bag)
Black tea
Dinner.
Water with fresh lemon/lime juice
Total cost - approx £4.50
With all of this, the quaker oats come in a recyclable cardboard box as do the puy lentils. The olives come in a glass jar, which is recyclable. The tea comes in a recyclable cardboard box (I try and avoid ones with a plastic wrapping).
I try and buy in season, locally produced fruit. It tends to taste better and the transport costs are less.
Compare this with what I was eating before
Breakfast
Bacon on toast
Black tea with Pomegranite
Lunch.
Tesco's chicken wrap
Bag of crisps
Black tea
Dinner
Microwave meal from M&S
Bag of salted cashew nuts
Half bottle of wine
Total cost - approx £15
The bacon came in a plastic container, the bread came in a plastic bag.
The chicken wrap came in a plastic/cardboard wrapper and a plastic bag
The crisps/nuts came in a non recyclable bag
The Microwave meal came in a plastic tub
The wine came in a recyclable bottle
The annual cost of the Semi Vegan meal for the 3 days a week for the year would be £703, wheras the regular 'lunch on the run' menu was £2346 - saving me £1642.
Now I'd like to tell a tale of how much healthier I am now. My weight dropped to 15st 9 lbs by June 2018. Sadly, since then, I've been a bit lazy. As always happens, the Summer, especially August with my birthday and hoilidays, it has shot up to 16st 10lbs. September is going to be an austere month, with a target of back under 16 stone by the end.
The point I'm making is that not only do I have another £1642 in my household budget, with little hardship, I've generated less CO2 as well. I've produced far less waste to go into Landfill and my liver is far happier. The big question I suppose is "what about the other 4 days a week". Well that is a work in progress. I have to admit that I like having a drink. I love having a steak and I love my fish and chips or curry on Friday. But I'd do that anyway.
The truth is that if the whole country did the same as I'm doing, we'd massively decrease the carbon footprint of the UK. I've switched to eating organic where possible. If I eat meat or fish, I want it to be produced ethically. The savings from the three days can partially fund the more expensive, better quality foods on the other four. The bacon sandwich is now a treat on a weekend.
So the message I am trying to get across is that if you want to start making a difference, look at your lifestyle. It is hard to make the changes required for your diet and eating habits, without making the changes in other areas to facilitate it. If you start the day with a mad dash for the train, you are behind already. If you are getting up slightly too late, then ultimately you are probably going to bed too late! Now clearly it's not the role of bloggers to set your bedtime, just to start a conversation that makes us think. The changes I've made work for me. They may or may not work for you. The purpose of these blogs is simply to start a conversation, even if it's only in your head with yourself.
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