'You are what you eat...'
January is usually a month of habit changes, particularly when it comes to food and dieting. We know there are a lot of food trends and fads out there and any yacht chef will roll their eyes at the next crew members diet change, but have you ever thought about your meals in terms of how sustainable they are?
In this weeks blog post we sum up our tips and findings on how, as yacht crew, you can improve the sustainability of what you eat.
Firstly, did you know?
That 1/4 of the global CO2 emissions come from food, more than 1/2 of food emissions come from animal products an 1/2 of all fared animal emission come from lamb and beef.
Foods with the highest environmental impact:
Lamb
Beef
Cheese
Pork
Farmed salmon
Turkey
Chicken
Tinned tuna
Eggs
Potatoes
(Source: Our world in data)
So, what can you do to help?
We understand that as yacht crew sometimes, if you are not the chef onboard, you do not get much of a say what ends up on your plate at mealtimes. But sustainability is a team effort so whether you are the chef or not that is reading this post, be sure to share around and bring these points up in your next morning meeting.
Eat more plants; introduce Meat Free Mondays onboard for the crew
Tailor your guest menus to sustainability; incorporating local, seasonal and organic produce
Waste less; organisation and planning is key to ensure there is less waste from food, this can also include being inventive with leftovers…Globally we waste 1.3 billion tonnes of food, which is enough to feed 3 billion people.
Buy food that meets credible certified standards; such as MSC (for seafood)
Be mindful of food packaging; try to minimise what you buy that is in non recyclable containers e.g single use plastic
Pay attention to expiry dates; rotate your stock correctly, the Foodkeeper app is great for knowing the latest safety expiring guidelines
Donate surplus; if you really can’t use up what you have onboard, donate it to a local food bank, contact the marina or local agent and they will be sure to point you in the right direction
Provision with the right company; if you use a provisioning company then ensure you are aware of their stance (or lack of) on sustainability
Always provision with sustainability in mind; notice if the product is seasonal? Is it local? Has it been imported? Choose produce from organic, regenerative and free range farms
What else can you do?
* Check out our sustainable shopping infographic checklist, you can easily print it off and put it up in the crew mess
* Download our introductory handbook, step 3 (you are what you eat) outlines the steps to take to become more sustainable onboard
* Contact us for more information on sustainable provision advice today!
Stay tuned for more resources and information on sustainable eating throughout this year.