Ask the Sustainability Team: Climate-Friendly

How do I eat climate-friendly on campus?

The foods we eat have a major impact on the environment. Food waste is a common topic for our team, but the growing, processing, and transportation of food are also incredibly important. Food systems alone account for 25-30% of global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions! Climate-friendly eating is the shifting of our dietary habits towards foods that are less resource intensive and produce lower amounts of greenhouse gas emissions.

One of the best ways to adopt a climate-friendly diet is to prioritize plant-based meals. Animal proteins like beef, lamb, and pork produce significantly higher GHG emissions than plant-based proteins like beans and soy.

Here are some easy changes to make your diet more sustainable for our climate:

  1. Swap your milk for a non-dairy alternative like soy, almond, or oat. Cow milk produces about 3x more GHG emissions and requires 10x more land and 2-20x more freshwater than its non-dairy counterparts
  2. Check out our Plant Forward station in the dining halls. Our Plant Forward stations feature a 4-week rotating menu of delicious vegan meals!
  3. Try a Coolfood Meal. Coolfood Meals have been vetted by the World Resources Institute to produce at least 38% fewer GHG emissions than the typical American diet!
  4. Try Pick Your Portion. Our Pick Your Portion campaign allows you to customize your portion size to half, standard, or double to help reduce food waste from overserving.
  5. Eat Local! Use our Local Chalkboards to identify local products available in the dining halls.