Eat more plants

Sophie, our Fresh Foods Buyer, discusses why we should be incorporating more plants into our diets, and how we can all make a difference.  

“The Committee on Climate Change’s most recent report confirms that a shift towards a diet that's less reliant on carbon-intensive animal products could enable you as an individual to reduce your dietary emissions by 35%”

Our food system has a huge impact on our climate so at Planet Organic, our purpose is to empower you to make positive choices for our planet. We want to provide the tools to live a sustainable lifestyle and a huge part of this journey is through eating more plants.

Research suggests that one of the most powerful actions we can make to live more sustainably is reduce our meat consumption. It is therefore of no surprise that 14% of the UK population now claim to follow a flexitarian diet.

We've collected some stats to understand the impact we could all have by reducing our meat intake and eating more plants, even if it is just one meal a week. Here are some of the ones that struck us the most:

• If everyone in the UK swapped just one red meat meal to plant-based per week, it would cut the UK’s Greenhouse gas emissions by 50 million tonnes. That is the equivalent of taking 16 million cars off the road.
• Switching just one meal to plant-based a week could result in a 23% reduction (8 million hectares) in the UK’s domestic and international farmland use.
• UK Greenhouse gas emissions could be cut by up to 8.4% a year by swapping red meat to plant-based meat just once a week.

Of course, life is about balance and finding what works for you. We recognise that a plant-based diet isn't for everyone, so when eating meat, dairy and eggs, choose the most sustainable options: high quality, organic produce, grown as locally to you as possible. Organic farming works symbiotically with nature, supporting biodiversity, the soil and prioritising animal welfare.

We also need to think sustainably about the plants we are eating and how often. The shift towards a vegan lifestyle has lead to the increased production of many ingredients that arrive with a carbon footprint question mark. How much water is required for an almond harvest? What are the food miles on avocados and soy?  How is palm oil grown? It's not black and white. 

A good place to start is to eat more plants, champion seasonality and locality and eat with balance. 

Our Vegan Butcher range is here to help inspire you to eat more plants. Unlike many other meat alternatives, ours are natural and organic, with no artificial flavours, preservatives or additives. 

Shop the vegan butcher range here.