THE “BETTER” FOODS ARE BETTER FOR US & THE ENVIRONMENT: BUT SHOULD WE ALL EAT THEM?
Amidst another fabulous day of panels @BarillaCFN #BCFNForum, I started to stir in my seat. I could blame the Milanese Trifecta – my daily consumption of espresso(s), truffled everything, and plentiful wine. But if I’m honest, the stir came from something deeper inside – a feeling that I couldn’t quite articulate but left me unsettled. What was this feeling? I couldn’t quite articulate the thought stirring within, so I loved it when my German colleague addressed part of my struggle with this thought (paraphrased here for Twitter)
“There is more 2 eating cultures than a 1size fits all diet; is an eco version of US diet truly helpful 4 global diversity&health?
Benedikt Hearlin, Director, “Save Our Seeds”
After two days, what had begun to make me uncomfortable was the idea that in an effort to address global health – human, animal, and environmental (which are so clearly inextricably linked) – do we risk driving everyone to a monoculture of eating? What if, as Haerlin asked, there are cultures that do great eating meat – what if it’s part of their cultural heritage? While several presentations today and yesterday proved beyond a reasonable doubt that meat consumption places an unbearable burden on global resources. What if a culture eats eggs daily do they have to switch to beans or grains to reduce their water footprint? Brilliant panelists showed how we could favorably change the water footprint with simple exchanges like choosing a legume over an egg. And what if a culture that regularly consumes fish is told that mercury risks means they should abandon that consumption? And what if everyone makes all the same changes. What if we all stop eating meat in favor of eggs or legumes; if we indices like ANDI and NuVal succeed and people shift from green beans to kale (“…since our ANDI score came out for kale we’ve seen a 5 fold increase in purchase of kale” Ralph Sorenson of Whole Foods Market)… then over time will we have a world that all eats the exact same?
We are so lucky that the forward thinking group of advisors working with @BarillaCFN has created the Double Food Pyramid – looking at environmental impacts as well as nutrition needs. But, what I learned today is that even as I sit here feeling so hopeful (especially compared to conferences I cover in the US) – so hopeful that we are so much closer to understanding what truly beneficial dietary guidelines look like, there is still great work to be done. And, in fact, as one panelist stated today – that is our challenge:
