The food we eat has a massive environmental impact.

However, food as a subject is emotive and divisive, and suggestions about greener living often ignore poverty, disability and illness. For me, finding kinder ways of handling things is really important, so I’ve got some food suggestions that I hope are inclusive. If I’ve made any mistakes on that score, please tell me.

Food waste is an easy thing to work on. Primarily this means not throwing away edible food, and not buying too much food so that it goes off before you can use it. This can be harder around illness, but it’s still worth just trying to do the best you can. Avoiding food waste saves money. Re-using left overs is good, and if you plate smaller portions and let people go back for seconds if they want, you get more usable leftovers. This is all much harder if you can’t afford to run a fridge, but I suspect people who are in that much difficulty are already avoiding food waste as much as possible.

If you are eating meat, consider cutting back on how much meat you eat, and replacing it with other options – but only if your body can handle other proteins. Beef is especially environmentally damaging, so if it is feasible for you to cut back on that, it’s a good choice. Some people have very few things their bodies will accept as food so it’s really important to avoid making people who are already suffering feel guilty about what little they can eat. If you have options then reducing the amount of meat in meals is also worth a thought. If you are pressed financially then vegetarian food can often be a cheaper choice.

Packaging is a big issue with food. You may be able to cut back on non-recyclable packaging. It’s worth looking at reducing the amount of packaging you are buying, even if it is recyclable and this tends to be at its worst around snacks anyway, rather than essential things. Multi-bags of things that are also in their own bags are obvious offenders. Plastic recycling often gets dumped in developing countries, so cutting back on those single use plastics is a good choice if you can.

There are some conflicts here. I’ve seen a few people pointing out that going vegan has meant they eat more processed food than they used to. You might be able to take your own containers to the local butchers, but you might not be able to source vegan and vegetarian proteins without a lot of packaging. If you are souring locally, the impact of food miles and your local economy may also be factors. How far should you drive to visit your local farmer’s market?

There are always trade-offs, and we each face questions of what we can personally sustain with the bodies and budgets we have. Druidry is not the quest for some imaginary state of perfection. However, being thoughtful about what we do, and doing the best we can in the circumstances is the approach to aim for.

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