Looking for New Years resolutions but don’t want to choose the same old resolutions of past years? This year, challenge yourself to be a food movement ally by making these simple commitments in your daily life. These are small daily habits that we can easily implement at home, but that can have a tremendous positive impact on you, your family, and the environment!
Read on for 7 food resolutions for a healthier home in 2016!
Buy Organic When You Can
When your budget permits, choose organic fruits, vegetables, meat and dairy. Because organic farming grows food in harmony with nature, instead of using synthetic toxic pesticides and fertilizers, growing and eating organic food enhances the health and well-being of ourselves, our families, our communities and our environment.
Protect Pollinators in your Backyard
Pledge to make your backyard a healthy home for pollinators by avoiding bee-toxic pesticides and growing plants that pollinators love! Help save Monarch butterflies by planting as much milkweed as you can (click here to see which kind is native to your region.)
Buy Less (and Better) Meat
Pledge to buy only good quality, pasture-raised organic meat. Yes, it does cost more. But confined animal feeding operations are a large contributor to climate change, and decreasing your consumption of industrial meat is an effective way to reduce your impact on the planet. By removing meat from the center of your plate, you’ll be able to focus on more climate friendly foods for protein such as beans and legumes. Choose quality over quantity when buying meat this year.
Go GMO Free using our Non-GMO Shopping Guide
While we continue to fight for mandatory GE food labeling nationwide, you can use our handy Non-GMO Shopping Guide to avoid grocery store products produced with genetic engineering. The Guide is designed to help reclaim your right to know about the foods you are buying, and help you find and avoid GMO foods and ingredients.
Reduce Food Waste
Commit to using up every last bit of food in your kitchen. We’ve said it before, but food waste is a huge problem in the U.S. Resolving to use what you already have will help lower your carbon footprint and allow you to spend the money you save on better quality ingredients - a win-win for your budget and the planet.
Get to Know a Farmer
This can be accomplished through a variety of ways, including joining a Community Supported Agriculture program (CSA), but the simplest way to take on this resolution is to start going to your local farmer’s market every week. You’ll be able to interact directly with the people that grow your food and ask any questions you have about how and where the produce is grown.
Give to Support your Food Movement Favorites
Support CFS or other favorite food movement group with $25 dollars a month so that we can continue to grow the food movement’s effectiveness and influence in creating a safe, regenerative, socially just and humane food future for everyone.
Here’s to a happy and healthy year!
