Sustainable Sustenance Series Part III: Sustainable Eating Action

By Hillary V.

So far in our Sustainable Sustenance Series, we’ve covered what sustainable eating means and we’ve tackled common barriers people expect when transitioning to a more plant-based diet. Now that you are (hopefully!) on-board, let’s talk about how exactly to tackle this lifestyle change. Here are some of our best tips on how to eat more sustainably on the regular. 

Start Small at Home

Whether participating in Meatless Mondays or trying Veganuary during New-Years-Resolution times, there are lots of movements out there to help support you in eliminating animals from your diet. In addition to participating in these communities, there are small ways to transition yourself and your family to more plant-based foods. Try replacing one animal product per week from your grocery list. You don’t have to cut out animal products all at once – try just a few categories at a time. Eventually, you will know what animal products you can replace easily and which ones may take longer to fully replace. Here is a sample schedule to try out:

	Week 1	Week 2	Week 3	Week 4	Week 5	Week 6
Replace	Milk and butter	Eggs	Other dairy products (Cheese; Yogurt; ice cream)	Fish and chicken	Red meat	Honey
Example	Almond, cashew, oat or soy milk; coconut oil; applesauce	Just Egg; Vegenais; flax seed (when cooking)	Nutritional Yeast, Kite Hill or Daiya cheeses; Chobani or So Delicious non-dairy yogurt; Ben & Jerry’s vegan ice cream	Gardein Fishless Fillets; Boca Chik’n	Beyond Meat; tofu; tempeh; seitan; beans	Maple Syrup; agave

Start Small Out & About

As we mentioned previously, more and more restaurants are offering plant-based options. Toppers Pizza deserves another shout-out as a Midwest-based Pizza chain that is taking demand for plant-based alternatives seriously! The best way to expand plant-based alternatives at your favorite local restaurant is simply to ask. Even if you don’t order it, the next few times you are out, ask about plant-based or vegan options. You may be surprised at how easy (and delicious) it is to opt for the sustainable option while eating out. Happy Cow is a great restaurant search tool for locating vegetarian and vegan friendly spots. Also, seriously, just keep an eye out for that little VG or leaf symbol next to menu items in case something jumps out as tasty.

Keep Learning

The best way to transition to sustainable eating is to continue to educate yourself on how our food is made. Our favorite documentaries on sustainable eating, and how to access them, are listed below.

Film	Description	How to Watch
Earthlings	Earthlings is about our dependence on animals for economic purposes. Presented in five chapters (pets, food, clothing, entertainment and scientific research) the film is narrated by Joaquin Phoenix.	Watch for Free at the Earthlings website here
Forks Over Knives	Forks Over Knives documents the health benefits that a plant-based lifestyle can have on your overall health, including accounts from doctors, scientists and real-life people that have transformed their lives with a vegan diet.	Watch for free at the Forks Over Knives website
Food, Inc.	Food, Inc. explores how the food industry has been consumed by corporations and how that impacts the farms where our food comes from, to the supermarkets where we buy our food, and to the restaurants where we eat that food.	Available at Amazon Prime
Cowspiracy	Cowspiracy looks at various environmental concerns, including global warming, water use, deforestation and ocean dead zones, and suggests that animal agriculture is the primary source of environmental destruction.	Watch on Netflix
The Game Changers	A documentary following elite athletes who’ve gone plant-based and say their performance and health improved after they stopped relying on animal protein.	Watch on Netflix
Seaspiracy	Seaspiracy covers widespread environmental destruction to our oceans, from plastics and fishing gear polluting the waters, irreparable damage of bottom trawling and by-catch, and illegal fishing and devastating hunting practices.	Watch on Netflix
What the Health	What the Health is a 2017 documentary film which critiques the health impact of meat, fish, eggs and dairy products consumption, and questions the practices of leading health and pharmaceutical organizations.	Watch on Vimeo

Let us know if you have any questions or are seeking advice on how to eat more sustainably. It is a marathon and not a sprint, so be patient with yourself. Remember, pobody’s nerfect¹ and an imperfect vegan diet is still sustainable! 

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¹ Shout-out to The Good Place Fans!