Training: Good food for you and the climate
In this workout programme, we get inspired by the world of flavours in a climate-friendly style. The kitchen is one of the best places to influence both your own and nature’s well-being. Climate-friendly food is usually also healthy, so embarking on this life change is nothing but a plus. In the workout, you will reduce your climate kilos from everyday food, not forgetting some small delicacies.
Meat production produces far more climate emissions than vegetables and, on the other hand, consumes water and arable land. That’s why we’ll focus on replacing animal products with plant-based products in this workout programme. Does that sound audacious?
The climate-friendly food pyramid goes hand in hand with health recommendations. The climate load of red meat and cheese is high, whereas that of beans, fish and vegetables is low. What is good for the climate is good for you, too!
“Eat these”. From top to bottom, Judiciously (meat), within limits (dairy, fish and vegetable oils), Freely (vegetables and fruits).
Here are your exercises!
Powered by beans
- Have at least two vegetarian days when you don’t eat any meat and avoid cheese and cow’s milk. It’s easy to replace cow’s milk with oat milk and put hummus on bread instead of cheese.
- Have you tried seitan? Or are chickpeas a more alien source of protein for you? Familiarise yourself with a protein source that’s more unfamiliar to you through a variety of delicious recipes.
- If you enjoy red meat, save it for festive occasions.
- If you start a vegan diet now, take advantage of the Vegan challenge (in Finnish), for example.
Get rid of food waste
- Be organised in the grocery store, it helps to keep impulse shopping in check. Plan the recipes and a shopping list for the week in advance. To prevent yourself from accidentally buying the same products that you already have, take a photo of the fridge before you go to the store.
- The “first in – first out” tactic makes it easier to keep track of expiration dates: place short-dated products at the front of the pantry and those with a later date at the back.
- Look, smell and taste. Reaching its expiration date does not always mean a product is inedible. The best before dates give an indication of when the product is at its best. However, by judging with your own senses, you can find out whether the product is still edible. A best-before date is not an expiration date!
- Prepare a meal from leftovers. You can make a tasty puréed soup from slightly shrivelled roots or bruised vegetables. When it comes to fruit, a banana, for example, is easy to use even if it’s a little brown: chop the bananas into a box, put them in the freezer and, once frozen, put them in a blender with frozen berries and peanut butter, for example. This allows you to make delicious and healthy ice cream!