Nutrition 410: Eating Green Presentation Abstract

Eating Green Kimsey Cooper, Jaclyn Strand, Wendy Markham, Donita Berry, Emily Van-Walleghen, Ashley Miner

When it comes to nutrition, the question, “Are you eating green?” is asking so much more than are you eating your vegetables or are you recycling. According to the American Dietetic Associations’ (ADA) position paper, “a sustainable food system must be capable of being maintained over the long term, and meet the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their need.” (1) Remarkably the ADA position paper lays out a clear model of a Sustainable Food System in the shape of our familiar food pyramid. Just as the food pyramid is a tool for understanding nutrient demands of a healthy body, the Food System Model is a tool for understanding the demands of maintaining healthy resources in order to sustain a healthy Food System. It lays a foundation of inputs and influences on the food system and stresses the impact that the qualities of outcomes have on the sustainability of each sector of the food system. The ADA position paper defines quality outcomes as practices involving consumption, production, transformation, distribution, and access that maintains the food system and manages the resources used to conserve and not depleted or degraded the food system or earth’s resources. Furthermore, the ADA position paper challenges us with evidenced based practices involving each sector of the model that supports sustainability and further instruct nutrition specialists to explore and support local opportunities for food system sustainability. Traditional roles for dietetic professionals focused primarily on science-based knowledge of nutrient content of foods in the treatment of disease and promotion of wellness through prescribed diets. Awareness of food sources and environmental impact of food production and on food nutrients was not incorporated in this view. Civic Dietetics connects traditional practice with governmental policy, community awareness and involvement, economics, and food system assessment to address nutritional concerns. (1) ADA ‘s position on food system awareness and sustainable practices places responsibility on food and nutrition professionals. Food and nutrition professionals are key to the food system foundation. Sustainable diet promotion that contributes to human health and environmental sustainability is within the power of food and nutrition professionals. Opportunity for energy and water conservation in food preparation and food sources are within the scope of the dietetic professional. Worldwide public awareness and demand for sustainable food practices will continue to spotlight the need for change. (2) Dietitians can also participate in “going green” by minimizing and managing waste in the workplace. Given that every American generates 4.6 pounds of solid waste per day and 40% of that waste is generated in the workplace (3), a simple way to reduce waste for dieticians employed in offices and clinics or with private practices is to implement a workplace recycling program. Locally, the Knoxville Recycling Coalition offers a Business Recycling Service that provides bins and pickup at no charge and currently serves more than 200 businesses in the Knoxville

area (4). For dietitians employed in food service at school and hospitals, another waste reduction strategy is to donate perishable food items rather than throw them away. In the Knoxville area, Knoxville Second Harvest has a “food rescue” program that picks up perishable food items daily from restaurants, schools, groceries, and cafeterias and donates them to local hunger relief agencies (5). Finally, dietitians can contribute to reducing hazardous waste by supporting the use of alternative cleaning products that do not contribute to pollution. The University of Tennessee uses only “green” cleaning products and provides an extensive list of “green” cleaning alternatives (6). Along with the components mentioned earlier, a few more areas are involved in the “eating green” process. Industrial food production is one of the major factors involved in eating green. Because of increasing industrialization, our soils are being depleted of its nutrients, as a result of our soils losing nutrients our foods are not containing as many vitamins and minerals, and we are losing valuable fresh water due to extensive irrigation (1). Along with soil and water losses, the amount of agricultural space being used to farm has diminished more than 12% since the twentieth century and continues to decline at a rapid rate. Organic farming has been shown to not only act against these factors by crop rotation and limited pesticides, but it actually helps to add value back to our food products by enriching soil and saving topsoil losses (7). Another component of eating green is being conscious about energy consumption and the types of protein we are consuming. On average, the cost of producing grain-fed beef costs roughly sixteen times the amount of energy as plantbased proteins. Chicken is considerably lower in energy costs as well but not as low as plant proteins. One must also take into consideration the amount of energy it takes to transport fruits and vegetables across the country compared to transporting locally grown produce and grass-fed beef (8). One of the last facets of “eating green” includes incorporating community food systems into the mix. Community food systems act to concentrate on locally based, sustainable food economies. These economies focus their efforts in food production, processing, distribution, and consumption. They enhance economic, environmental, and social health of the communities they are supporting (9). After reading about all of the aspects included in “eating green,” we realize that this term includes more than just recycling and eating our fruits and vegetables. Eating green ranges from ecological sustainability, diet conservation, water and energy consumption to air quality, waste management, agricultural guidance, protein choices, and community food systems. We as nutrition professionals can take action b conserving natural resources and contributing to the support of sustainable food systems. We can also participate in continuing education programs and carrying our knowledge over to our workplaces. As a rule of thumb, it is also always a good idea to get familiar with and participate in your local legislative plans and actions.

Works Cited

1. American Dietetic Association. Healthy Land, Healthy People: Building a Better Understanding of Sustainable Food Systems for Food and Nutrition Professionals. American Dietetic Association Sustainable Food Systems Primer. 2007: 15-20; 1-75. 2. Wilkins, JL. Civic Dietetics: opportunities for integrating civic agriculture concepts into dietetic practice. Agric. Hum Values (2009); 26:57-66 3. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Wastes-Hazardous Waste-Treatment, Storage, and Disposal (TSD). (2008). Available at http://www.epa.gov/osw/hazard/tsd/. 4. Acorn Host. Knoxville Recycling Coalition. (2009). Available at http://www.knoxvillerecycles.org/commercial-services/. 5. Second Harvest Food Bank of East Tennessee. Knoxville Harvest. (20062008). Available at http://www.secondharvestknox.com/programs/knoxville_harvest.html. 6. Porter, Bob. Green Cleaning. University of Tennessee. (2009). Available at http://www.pp.utk.edu/greencleaning/. 7. United States Department of Agriculture. National Organic Program. Agricultural Marketing Service. 2008: 1; 1. 8. FoodRoutes Conservancy. Buy Locally Grown, It’s Thousands of Miles Fresher: There are many good reasons to buy locally. FoodRoutes Network. 20032009: 1; 1.

9. United States Department of Agriculture. Community Supported Agriculture. National Agricultural Library. 2009: 1; 1.