Yep, you read that right. There's a new "low carb" diet being touted out there, but thisone has absolutely nothing to do with your health. It has everything to do with the health of the environment.Instead of calories of carbs, this diet has you counting carbon. That's right. The Low Carbon Diet is one in which you calculate the "carbon cost" of your food to help reduce the emissions that cause the greenhouse effect and global warming. The goal of the diet, which is actually a program that is being tested by a company called Bon Appetit, is to make people "realize that their food choices can have an effect on climate change."
What does this mean for us? It means that instead of eating a tropical fruit that took a lot of energy to transport to your grocery store, you go to your local farmers' market and buy what's been grown locally.
Hey, now that's a diet I don't mind at all!
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
3-31-2007 @ 8:14PM
Charles said...
oh sure, go to your local farmers market. Wake up dummy, they sell the same crap as your local chain grocery store. Local grown, what a laugh! All the plum and fig trees in our area died years ago from the pollution put out by our refineries that make your gasoline. If you could find a pick ur own orchard, maybe it would work, but then you probably have to drive an hour there and an hour back. Not too environment friendly.
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4-01-2007 @ 1:48AM
andre wong said...
if you have access to the Economist, an interesting article about the environmental economics of farmers markets among other things:
http://economist.com/opinion/displaystory.cfm?story_id=E1_RPRTPSV
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4-01-2007 @ 9:18PM
calamari said...
"Eat locally" from the seasonal bounty is great if you live somewhere like California's Central Valley, where there is a long growing season and a wide variety of produce. Most of it comes from corporate farms, of course -- you're not necessarily supporting a family farmer.
Back East and up North, where the growing season is shorter, seasonal eating was actually a nutrition problem in the days before refrigerator trucks and canned veggies. People in regions with a harsh winter eat much more healthfully now, thanks to produce trucked long distances to their grocery store.
Same thing if you live in a city -- the produce at your farmer's market in San Francisco or Manhattan was grown quite a distance away.
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4-02-2007 @ 12:41PM
Stephanie said...
Thats awesome. My school's cafeteria has Bon Appetit cater. While their food is mediocre i have always appreciated their efforts in buying locally, using cage-free eggs, etc.
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