Environmental Impact Of Food?
Food is essential for survival. It provides the nutrients vital to keeping us healthy and performing at our best. However, many people are unaware of how their food choices affect them, other living creatures, and the Earth. To help raise awareness about this issue, here are five ways your diet can improve the environment.
1) REDUCE MEAT AND DAIRY CONSUMPTION:
The most important thing a person can do is reduce how much meat they eat because raising animals for food (especially cows) requires a lot of resources and has tremendous impacts on the environment.
For example, one pound of beef requires about 2500 gallons of water to produce. Chemical fertilizers used in growing feed for livestock have polluted many rivers and created dead zones in coastal areas where nothing can survive. Ising animals for food also release greenhouse gasses, reduces the biodiversity of plant species, and leads to deforestation when land is cleared to make room for cattle or to grow grain to feed them.
2) COOK WITH WOOD OR BIOMASS:
It is estimated that U.S. forests are being cut at a rate of one acre every five seconds! T is mainly due to people using fireplaces and wood-burning stoves more during cold weather months. Wen is burning wood. Only use dry pieces because wet wood does not burn well (if at allure you, should never burn painted, treated, or pressure-treated lumber because the chemicals in these wood products are highly toxic to humans when the wood is burned.
3) EAT MORE PLANTS AND FEWER ANIMALS:
People tend to eat more meat than necessary, and choosing less meat or no meat at all during some of your meals can help save money and reduce one’s environmental impact. A so, be sure to avoid food products that contain palm oil because deforestation due to palm oil plantations is destroying many of Earth’s precious ecosystems.
4) USE A WATER FILTER:
Tap water contains fluoride, which is good for teeth, but it can also damage bones and has been linked with lower IQ rates in children. R verse osmosis filters remove about 98% of fluoride from tap water, so you should consider investing in one for your home.
5) STOP USING PLASTIC BOTTLES:
Bottled water wastes money and resources. M king the plastic bottles uses up petroleum, a non-renewable resource. Recycling plastic uses up vast amounts of energy, and most plastic bottles are not recycled anyway. I only like bottled water. Buy a good quality filter for your tap (and use refillable containers instead of buying new ones).
Harmful effects of food processing and preservation in the environment:
1. M Microbial Growth in MRE’s(Meals Ready to Eat) & Preserved Foods:
The most harmful effect of preservation is the growth of microbes in food, especially in meat products, seafood, and dairy items. M microbes need water for their survival/growth. S if they find a small amount of water along with a food rich in nutrients, proteins, carbohydrates, etc., they will grow & proliferate rapidly, ly resulting in the spoilage of food leading to several health issues like digestive disorders, diarrhea, etc.
Hence it is necessary to dry the moisture content while preserving any food item before packaging. T e second harmful effect on the human body by preserved foods due to microbial activity is that these produce chemicals called mycotoxins which are highly toxic to our body. T ese chemicals in small quantities can give rise to several issues like reproductive disorders & various types of cancers.
2. Preserved Foods Contain Harmful Additives:
The most harmful additives in preserved foods are Sodium Nitrite, Potassium Chloride, Sodium Tripolyphosphate, Sodium Hexametaphosphate, Calcium Propionate, etc.
The manufacturing companies require all these to give longer shelf life to food items. Still, unfortunately, they have adverse effects on our health, including cancer, allergic reactions, nausea or vomiting, diarrhea, etc. Although most of these harmful chemicals are being banned worldwide, their residues are left over after processing & packing, resulting in consumption by humans without any knowledge about how dangerous they are.
3. P pesticide Residues in Processed Food:
Another harmful effect of food processing & preservation is the presence of pesticide residues in processed foodies e pesticides used by manufacturers to give longer shelf life to food items are highly harmful to our health like cancer, reproductive disorders, congenital disabilities, etc.
These chemicals cannot be obliterated even after washing or cooking because they remain present on outer coverings or skin of the fruit/vegetable/meat item that we eat through preserved food products.
Hence, constant intake of these pesticides causes chronic diseases like diabetes heart issues. You are fortunate,ely there is no mechanism available to know whether the chemical residues found in processed foods are for human consumption. C countries like Japan, Germany & Switzerland have banned the use of some harmful chemicals like Monosodium Glutamate (MSG), which has adverse effects on human health.
4. Preserved Food Causes Vitamin Deficiency:
One of the most harmful effects of preservation is that it causes vitamin deficiency, especially vitamin A, B complex(except B12) & Vitamin C in humans leading to various issues like xerophthalmia (a condition where the eye loses its regular lubrication resulting in cornea damage), night blindness, etc.
This happens because processing/ preserving food results in loss of nutrients or their reduction to half; hence you need the double amount of preserved food than before for proper functioning of your body. If you eat more than the required amount of preserved food due to its delicious ta, see you start gaining excess weight resulting in several other issues.
5. Preserved Food Causes Obesity:
The other harmful effect of processed & preserved food is obesity. It is proved scientifically that regular consumption of an excess amount of carbohydrate-rich food like bread, pasta, noodles, etc., without any exercise results in accumulation or deposition of calories/energy within your body, leading to obesity.
In addition to this, artificial chemicals like sugar, salt, fructose syrup, monosodium glutamate (MSG), etc., in all types of processed/preserved foods make them very tasty, making us eat more than the required quantity by our body resulting in obesity. E cess calorie int, ake even from natural sour,ces also causes obesity because it accumulates in your body.
6. P reserved Food Is Addictive:
The primary reason for obesity is that preserved & processed foods are addictive because they consist of artificial chemicals which excite our nervous system giving pleasure/satisfaction after eating, making us want to eat more & more.
Such food products increase dopamine levels or serotonin levels in the human body by releasing catecholamines, making us feel good. The chemicals present in processed foods raise the level of dopamine, resulting in an addiction to them, just like drugs which make you feel good but at the same time disturb other activities leading to chronic diseases or disorders. H since excess consumption of these types of food can become an addiction due to its constituents, just like smoking cigarettes or taking drugs, which affect your health badly.
7. Preserved Food Causes Memory Issues:
One of the major diseases caused by processed food is memory issues like Alzheimer’s disease. T is happening because high-calorie intake from preserved foods leads to deposition of cholesterol or fats in blood vessels resulting in blockage of those vessels leading to heart attack or other cardiac problems. Besides that, chronic consumption of obesity-causing food products at a stretch for a long duration without any interval results in inflammation due to free radicals or unstable oxygen molecules; hence it becomes difficult for brain cells to function correctly, resulting in memory loss.