Food and the Environment

What we eat has a large impact on our environment. Our global food system is responsible for 25-30% of total greenhouse gas emissions. This includes growing and producing food, as well as processing, packaging and transporting foods all over the world.

Since everyone eats, we are all part of this food system. That means we can also make food choices that help our planet. Luckily, many foods that support our health are also climate friendly.

Food choices make a big impact on your health and the environment. It can be overwhelming to think about, but start where you can. Pick one small change and try to stick with it.

What you can do

Climate-friendly recipes

Maple Balsamic Vinaigrette

Lentil Pasta Sauce

Preparing Beans

General Resources

Love Food Hate Waste: This campaign hopes to inspire and empower people in Canada to make their food go further and waste less.
Canada’s Food Guide: This website has information and tools about meal planning, cooking, and choosing healthy foods.
Rock What You’ve Got: This online cookbook has lots of recipes to help prevent food waste.
Wasteless Resources: This webpage provides downloadable resources for households to reduce food waste, including a grocery list, weekly meal planner, and freezer inventory tracker.

School Resources

Food Matters Action Kit: This toolkit aims to inspire youth across North America to reduce food waste and help save our planet.
EcoSchools Canada: This environmental education and certification program for grades K-12 helps school communities develop both ecological literacy and environmental practices to become environmentally responsible and reduce the environmental footprint of schools.
BrightBites: Students need wholesome, tasty food and enjoyable eating experiences, but improving school nutrition can be challenging. BrightBites breaks this challenge down into fun, easy badges for schools to earn. Badges include promoting water as the beverage of choice and supporting students to learn to cook.