Make Sustainable Food a Part of Daily Life
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
Make sustainable food a part of daily life CONTENTS Introduction The food we eat each day is closely linked to Introduction 3 environmental issues like deforestation, overexploitation, greenhouse gas emissions, ecological contamination from fertilizers and other agricultural chemicals, and overproduction and mass waste of food itself. Sustainable The problems with food today foods are those that are produced and finally consumed in a way that takes Production and processing 4 into account these kinds of issues. Transport, sales and consumption 5 We at Sony see these issues as affecting all people on Earth, and believe it is our duty to help solve them. This is why we've made promoting the use The actions we can take of environmentally conscious food one of our Green Management 2025 medium-term environmental targets. Shopping 6 8 Cooking For our society to truly be sustainable, we must always consider the 9 Eating connections food has with the environment. Choosing products with ecolabels 10 Going one step further Make sustainable food a part of daily life The growth of grow-your-own 12 Conserve biodiversity by eating 13 With that in mind, we have created this booklet as a guide to the actions The rise of plant-based meat 14 we can all take to eat more sustainably. Unlocking the potential of edible insects 15 Promoting "ugly" produce 16 Fighting food waste around the world 17 A day in the life of Sustainable Sam 18 The sustainable eating checklist 19 Click on the QR codes in this document, and you'll be directed to relevant websites. Through our Food for the Future project, we at Sony will help achieve Check out pages on topics you're interested in! Goals 2, 12, 13, 14 and 15 of the SDGs. 2 3 From the oceans and fields to our tables, there are various ❶ The problems with food today environmental issues at each stage of the modern food system. Production and processing Transport, sales and consumption At the production stage, fisheries and farms sometimes focus on productivity and Tons of food is wasted at supermarkets and in homes, while 8.9% of the world’s efficiency rather than working with nature, which can contribute to climate change, population suffers from hunger [1]. A large amount of energy is thus wasted to create, loss of local biodiversity, and water and soil pollution. Another major issue is food loss, transport, sell and dispose of food that is never consumed. The energy used in which happens during the selection and processing of produce and other foods. long-distance transport is also a problem. Fisheries Farming Livestock Transport Sales Consumption Factors like overfishing and Improper use of fertilizers and According to FAO, 14.5% of CO2 emissions are produced Retailers have high standards Large amounts of food are the impact of water pollution other agrochemicals, human-induced greenhouse by the fuel used in trucks, for the appearance of actually wasted at on aquatic animal breeding conversion of forests to gas emissions come from ships and planes that produce, so large amounts of the retail and consumer significantly lower populations farmland, economically driven farming animals [2]. transport food, and are a imperfect items get thrown levels—in our homes, of fish and other marine life. development of farmland and Deforestation to create new major contributor to global away. This wastes all the supermarkets and restaurants. As of 2017, one third of global waterways, and large grazing pastures greatly warming. For example, Japan energy that was used in their Each year, over 900 million marine stocks had been plantations in rainforests can affects global warming and imports much of its food. This production. Disposal of food tons, or 74 kg per capita, of overfished [1], and there is all negatively affect biodiversity. There is also creates 16.9 million tons of that is past its best-before food waste is generated concern that even fish like biodiversity. Agrochemicals in rising criticism of the large CO2 emissions each year, date is also a problem around around the world, of which blackfin tuna—popular in particular sometimes flow from amounts of grain and water which is 1.87 times the the world. In 2016, France 61% comes from households, sushi—are being driven to farmland into rivers and used to raise livestock in the amount generated by established a law prohibiting 26% from food service, and extinction. Chemicals used in oceans, causing water midst of water shortages and transporting food domestically supermarkets from doing this. 13% from retail [3]. aquaculture can also affect pollution. food crises. [2]. ecosystems. 1. Source: FAO "The State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World 2020" 1. Source: UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) 2. Source: Japan’s Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries “The State of World Fisheries and Aquaculture 2020” "Topics: Environmental issues and food, agriculture and farming communities" (Japanese only) 2. Source: FAO "Tackling Climate Change Through Livestock" 3. Source: UN Environment Programme (UNEP) “Food Waste Index Report 2021” 4 5 Here are some tips on where to shop, what to buy, ❷ The actions we can take and how to cook and eat sustainably. Shopping Make Choose Choose a shopping list sustainable items sustainable seafood A list can help you avoid impulse buys Ecolabels (see pp. 10-11) indicate if a Buy fish and other seafood that are listed and over-purchasing. Think about the food was grown or captured in an as "recommended" or "sustainable" in Plastic waste poses risks to meals you'll cook in the next few days, environmentally conscious way. Items your region's seafood guides based on marine environments around the then check which ingredients you already with a Rainforest Alliance certification species populations, fishing methods, world. As a company that uses have and memo down those you need to mark or other ecolabels and impact on ocean biodiversity. plastics in products and business buy. You can use a pen and paper, can be found at natural The Monterey Bay Aquarium Seafood operations, Sony takes this but don't forget that food stores, but are also Watch® program (US) urgent situation seriously. In your smartphone increasingly available at and the WWF's Sustainable comes with a handy your local supermarket. Seafood Guides (Europe, response, we have launched the note app perfect for Make it a point to look Asia) are good places to "One Blue Ocean Project" and making lists! for them when shopping. start. are taking action in three ways. Consider Buy Say no food miles clearance food to plastic When choosing an item, think about Buying discounted foods near their To help cut down on single-use plastic where it comes from. A food with high sell-by, best-before or use-by dates is not waste, try choosing items sold without miles (item weight × transport distance) only a money saver, but also helps reduce plastic packaging. Look for products in has higher transport-related CO2 food waste. You can now find this kind of glass bottles, paper cartons or metal cans, emissions, and a greater impact on the food using websites and smartphone or foods sold in bulk environment. Local produce grown apps, such as tabeloop (Japan) and or refills, and take outdoors will be fresh and have Flashfood (US). them home in a particularly low reusable shopping miles. bag. 6 7 ❷ The actions we can take Cooking Eating Use Cook away waste Finish your plate Eat out seasonal foods sustainably Fruits and vegetables grown outdoors There are plenty of ways to reduce waste If each person makes an effort to leave no When you open a menu, look for organic according to natural cycles result in fewer through cooking, like using vegetable or food behind on their plate, it would go a wines and salads, local and seasonal fish, CO2 emissions than those cultivated in seafood offcuts to create soup broth, long way in reducing food waste. At home, MSC or ASC-certified grilled seafood, and greenhouses using fossil over-ripe fruits to make jam, and fat aim to cook only as much food as is fair-trade coffee. They're not only more fuels and electricity, and trimmed from meat as cooking oil. Eating needed. In restaurants, if there's a food sustainable, but are even said to be more vegetables with the you know you also taste great nutritious. Eating skin on also provides can't finish but and are good for seasonally also gives you extra nutrients while never take your body as a feeling for the richness reducing waste. home, just ask well. and cycles of nature. for less. Save food for later Try a compost bin Don't forget Use reusable the doggy bag bottles and straws Put leftovers in a container and store them How about starting a compost bin in your Wrapping up leftovers at restaurants and Rather than waste resources with in the fridge or freezer for later. If you kitchen, backyard or on your balcony? taking them home also helps reduce food single-use plastic bottles, cups and don't have a lid, silicone covers and This reduces both waste and the smell of waste, but only if you actually eat them straws, make it a habit to carry reusable beeswax wraps are great reusable food garbage, and produces high-quality later! Eating items with you. You can use apps like alternatives to single-use plastic wrap. soil that can be leftovers the next mymizu (Japan) or Traditional preservation techniques like used to start day can also be a Tap (US) to search pickling, your own great way to save for places to refill fermentation and garden at money.