Reducing Carbon Footprints Through Conscious Food Choice
​Food Donation
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Food waste is an issue in many aspects, EPA explains that “When food is produced but unnecessarily wasted, all the resources used to grow the food – water, energy, fertilizers – and the resources used to transport it from farms to our tables, are wasted as well.”. At the same time, in the Tampa Bay area, 1 in 8 people face hunger (Feeding Tampa Bay).
What if you had the power to avoid having these resources go to waste and help people facing hunger simultaneously? A simple solution that has no cost is the MealConnection app. You are only required to share information about the food you have available to donate, and a local food shelf or pantry will schedule a pick-up time and provide a volunteer to receive your donation.
​​Sustainable Seafood
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The future of our oceans, including the survival of many species, depends on us adopting more sustainable seafood choices. According to the UN, “The ocean covers 70 percent of the Earth’s surface, is the planet's largest biosphere, and home to up to 80 percent of all life in the world. It generates 50 percent of the oxygen we need, absorbs 25 percent of all carbon dioxide emissions and captures 90 percent of the additional heat generated from those emissions.”.
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Seafood Watch provides a free Sustainability Guide for Businesses with easy-to-follow steps that companies can take to improve the sustainability of the seafood they buy or sell. Their website also offers science-based seafood recommendations that business professionals and consumers can use to inform their seafood purchasing decisions.
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​Locally Produced Food​
Another way to demonstrate your commitment to sustainability is buying local ingredients. This simple action, aside from ensuring fresher products, can cut transportation costs and pollution! It is also a great opportunity to have something unique from the area and to support local vendors.
Here are some suggestions you can check out for local food shopping:
Plants & Pints
This is a monthly plant swap that takes place on the third Tuesday of every month from 5:30 pm to 7:30 pm at Ordinance One in Downtown New Port Richey. Many people have questions on what and when to plant in our area of Florida, which is why we always have a plant guru available for tips and tricks. New Port Richey FarmNet offers free seedlings as a welcome and thank you to all who attend. Seedlings are from their nursery and grown from locally acclimated seeds. They also have a mini-market with fresh-harvested seasonal produce from their garden network. The gardens follow regenerative, sustainable, and all-natural growing practices. All produce is grown from non-GMO local or heirloom seeds without chemicals, pesticides, or commercial fertilizers. The produce is 100% local, from gardens within a mile of the site of Plants & Pints (Ordinance One). While this is a monthly plant swap, its true purpose is to bring the community together to spark conversations on ways to be more sustainable with an emphasis on food production.
