We recently attended the UC Davis Olive Center’s International Olive Sustainability Conference. We spoke about the value of heritage trees in relation to sustainability and learned about the latest research and projects on sustainable olive farming and olive oil production. They also used a "farm to fork" approach when discussing the unique intersection of planetary and human health in diets. We had the pleasure of meeting Antonia Tricopoulou MD PhD who has been called the Mother of the Mediterranean diet. Given how central EVOO is to the Mediterranean Diet, it’s no surprise that the carbon footprint of the Mediterranean diet is lower than that of the Standard American, keto, and paleo diets. One reason is that these other diets include more red meat and dairy products – which we know produce high greenhouse gas emissions. When we follow a Mediterranean Diet, we also eat less processed foods which decreases plastic consumption and emissions associated with the processing, packaging, and transportation of these products. And we can make the Mediterranean diet even more sustainable by eating seasonally and locally sourced foods! For more ideas on how to eat a more sustainable diet, please check out this article from US News & World Report: https://lnkd.in/gPbqgBSS
Reference
Modern Diets and the Health of Our Planet: An Investigation into the Environmental Impacts of Food Choices. Nutrients. 2023 Jan 30;15(3):692.
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