4 Tips for a Healthier You and a Healthier Planet

There are some simple, concrete steps you can take to help reduce your carbon footprint. Whether you’re reducing food waste, eating just the right amount of food to meet your needs, or choosing to purchase Canadian-produced food, every little step helps.

Looking for ways to reduce the environmental footprint of your diet? Here are a few concrete ideas to try.

• Reduce food waste. Plan your meals and snacks and shop for the foods you need, use wilted vegetables in soups and sauces, store your food properly and freeze any extras. Save your leftovers for a future meal instead of throwing them away. When eating out, bring leftovers home. Avoiding food waste is actually one of the most important things you can do to reduce the environmental impact of your diet.
• Eat to satisfy hunger and support health. Eat the right amount of food to meet your needs—no more and no less. By consuming what we need (with occasional indulgences of course!), we use fewer agricultural resources, such as land, water and livestock, and ensure a better food supply globally.
• Buy fresh, local products. Favour local foods, grown and produced in Canada. And don’t hesitate to ask farmers questions about the practices they use to protect the environment! Not only will you help the environment, but you will also get fresher, more flavourful foods as a result while supporting the local economy. 
• Choose a healthy and varied diet. A sustainable diet must, above all, meet your nutritional needs! Eat fewer nutrient poor, highly processed foods (such as cakes, sugary drinks and chips) as they contribute to your environmental footprint without providing nutritional benefits. Look for nutritious whole foods such as fruit, vegetables, whole grains, legumes, milk, yogurt, cheese, fresh meats, poultry, and fish. Opt for a healthy balance of a variety of nutritious protein foods and make half your plate fruit and vegetables. Reducing the environmental impact of your diet starts with a healthy and balanced approach.

Did you know? 

Greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions associated with canadian dairy cows represent 1% of all GHGs in Canada.¹ The adoption of new technologies, optimal cow feeding strategies and major investments in research and innovation have helped substantially reduce the impact of Canadian milk production.

1. Environment and Climate Change Canada. 2024.  National inventory report 1990–2022: greenhouse gas sources and sinks in Canada. Available online at: canada.ca/ghg-inventory.