A Sustainable and Affordable Way out of Unhealthy Food Habits

Someone somewhere online shared a story about food and hunger. He wrote that while growing up in a big family in a poor region of the world, sometimes food was scarce. Then he moved to a developed country where food scarcity was no longer a problem. However, food quality was. In the end, he wrote: "After so many years of fast-food and bad eating habits I realized that I ate better and healthier food when I had not that much to eat."

Those are the two main sides of unhealthy diets. On one hand, there are countries and regions where people wake up and go to sleep hungry. Climate, conflicts, natural disasters, political uncertainty, epidemics, and recently the Covid-19 pandemic, are events that have created complex humanitarian crises all over the world.

On the other hand, there are countries with unhealthy diets and eating habits. People there eat a lot of highly-processed foods, or too many sugars, salt, fat, and carbohydrates. Not having enough food and having too much food with little or no nutritional value can be the same way dangerous for human health and the health of the planet.

Research has shown that sustainable diets can help with both. However, a lot of people perceive sustainable lifestyles as kind of expensive. Food sustainability is not only about what’s on the plate. It involves the entire food system and everything linked with it. When done properly people understand that it can help to save money. Here we are sharing a list of resources to use for all those who want to eat sustainably even if they’re on a tight budget.

WWF’s Livewell Plates

The WWF Livewell Plates Report is a helpful guide with a set of principles and plenty of advice on how to adapt sustainable food habits.
The report principles suggest opting for a more plant-based diet with more vegetables and whole grains. Moreover, it highlights the importance of bringing colors to the plate by eating a variety of foods.
It also focuses on food waste and moderate consumption of meat, both red and white.
According to the report, it is also important to cut down on foods higher in sugar, salt, and fat, and to buy certified food. Another important principle relies on making responsible choices about seafood and products that contain palm oil.
Last, but not least, the best way would be to grow food on your own or to eat what’s in season.

The footprint of your food

The FoodPrint organization offers an online real food encyclopedia that helps people learn how sustainable or unsustainable their food choices are. It includes a wide array of options from instagramable superstars like avocado to less exciting options such as bugs and fungi.

Learn entrepreneurship

There is one misconception that sustainability and entrepreneurship share in common. Many believe that they are just for specific categories of people, such as the wealthy who can afford to get a business education at a really good university while not living on cheap student food.
No, everyone can opt for a sustainable and entrepreneurial lifestyle, no matter what their income is. Sustainable entrepreneurship is one of the best ways to keep the balance between human needs and nature’s resources.
Hundreds of the entrepreneurial ideas and projects that the contestants of the Citizen Entrepreneurship Competition have submitted over the years focus on SDG 2 Zero Hunger and SDG3 Good Health and Well-Being.
The above-mentioned resources can help everyone interested in a sustainable way of living. Entrepreneurial education is the option we suggest to all those who want to take action on a larger scale. Thus, if you have an idea or project that contributes to any of the SDGs, you are welcome to submit it to the 2022 CEC.

Read more: Why do Food Systems need Sustainable Entrepreneurs?