Wednesday, April 9, 2008
Pledge to eat differently
Wednesday’s NPHW behavior focuses on encouraging participants to “Eat Differently” to help mitigate the effects of climate change. Join Americans across the nation in signing on to the Healthy Climate Pledge and adopting this healthy behavior and others throughout the week.
Like traveling differently, eating differently will result in positive outcomes for not only the health of the planet, but for your individual health as well. To learn more about how our food choices affect the health of the planet, check out this fact sheet — [special thanks to Roni Neff of the Center for a Livable Future].
Here are some strategies to get you started as you try to eat differently:
- Eat meatless at least one day a week
The livestock sector is a huge contributor to climate change and water pollution. It accounts for nearly 18 percent of greenhouse gas emissions. This is all the more reason to take a bite out of climate change by eating meatless meals at least one day a week. It’s good for you and the planet! Many Web sites and cookbooks offer vegetarian recipes for delicious meatless meals.
- Check what’s currently in your kitchen
Do you have packages of processed foods with long ingredient lists that resemble chemistry experiments? Are any of your vegetables organic or locally grown? Begin the process by weeding out highly processed foods. As you increase your fruits and vegetables, replace them with ones that are organic or locally sourced.
- When shopping, buy sustainable
Check out all of the delicious food shopping alternatives just waiting to be discovered — small organic markets, local farmers’ markets and big supermarket chains with new organic food aisles. Google a local artisan baker or track down a local cheese maker. Most communities have shopping options for sustainable foods that not only taste good, but that you can also feel better about eating.
Many of us already read labels for calories and fat content. Use those same eagle eyes to look for the new labels — now appearing on packages more and more — that will guide your green eating. Organic? Fair Trade? Certified Naturally Grown? Check out the Daily Green’s “Organic Food Label Decoder” to learn the differences.
- Plan locally sourced meals
Did you know that a typical, conventionally grown carrot travels 1,838 miles to reach your dinner table? Reduce food miles and support your local economy by eating a couple of locally sourced meals a week. It’s one of the greenest, healthiest and most delicious things you can do.
In This Issue
- What’s Happening Today
- NPHW Blog Series
- Climate Change in the News
- Take Action Today!
- Resources
What’s Happening Today
The U.S. House of Representatives Select Committee on Energy Independence and Global Warming will be holding a hearing on the health impacts of climate change today. Appearing as hearing witnesses are Dr. Georges Benjamin, executive director of APHA, and APHA members, Dr. Howard Frumkin, director of the CDC’s National Center for Environmental Health, Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry, and Dr. Jonathan Patz, professor and director of global environmental health at the University of Wisconsin at Madison. Visit the committee Web site to learn more.
- Climate Change Roundtable Discussion, Louisville, Ky.
- Brown Bag Lunch: Organic Gardening, Lawrence, Kan.
- Public Health Day Celebration Breakfast, Mansfield, Ohio
- Climate Change and Public Health Lecture, Hattiesburg, Miss.
- Barren River District Plant a Tree Giveaway, Bowling Green, Ky.
Want to know what is happening in your community? Visit the NPHW Event Calendar for a complete list of submitted events that are taking place around the nation. You can also get the word out about any NPHW events that you’re organizing.
NPHW Blog Series
Today’s blog entry on the role our food choices play in climate change is written by Roni Neff, research director with the Center for a Livable Future:
When it comes to climate change, we don’t hear nearly enough about food.
Consider this: About one-third of human-caused greenhouse gas emissions come from agriculture and land use. And that one-third doesn’t include emissions from food processing, transportation, refrigeration, cooking and waste. Lucky for us, eating better for the climate is a win-win situation, with co-benefits for our health and the environment…
Click here to read more!
Climate Change in the News
Here are some recent stories on NPHW from around the nation, as well as a selection of stories from the NPHW Twitter:
Take Action Today!
Representative Hilda Solis and Representative Edward Markey have introduced a resolution highlighting NPHW and the relationship between climate change and health. Please contact your representative and ask him/her to cosponsor this important resolution.
Climate change is one of the most serious public health threats facing our nation. Yet many Americans, including many of our elected officials are unaware of the very real consequences of climate change on the health of our communities, our families and our children.
Please take the time to send a message to your senators and representative urging them to include provisions to protect the public’s health from the impacts of climate change as they consider legislation to address climate change this year.
NPHW Resources
Click here for more…
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