According to economists (who, it seems to me, are a lot better at explaining the past than predicting the future), this massive food inflation is actually caused by a perfect storm of rising demand and lower supply — both intensified by several calamities (like droughts, floods, wars, and knock-on effects of the COVID-19 pandemic) — as well as rising costs for fuel and fertilizer.

For perspective, food prices have typically been rising by about 2% a year for a long time. But from 2021 to 2022, they went up by an average of 11%. And while things seem to have calmed down a bit since then, it’s still easy to get sticker shock any time you visit a cash register.

Even if you’re not paying more outright, you might be paying more in subtle ways. The food industry has recently implemented a tactic known as “shrinkflation,” whereby they offer the same product for the same price — in a smaller quantity, thus avoiding the appearance of higher prices. (“Hey, this is one expensive cornflake!”)

So why exactly have food prices gone up so much? Why do some foods always seem to cost more (or less) than others? And what can you, as a consumer, do about it?

What Influences Food Prices

Did I mention that I’m not an economist? That might be good news here because I’m going to try to simplify the issue of food pricing. There are a few major factors that always influence food pricing. These include how much it costs to produce the food (including the cost of labor for everyone involved in growing and processing it), the cost of transportation and distribution, good old supply and demand, and global trade policies.

Why have food prices gone up so much in the last few years? Three factors stand out, in particular: the lingering effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, the war in Ukraine, and the intensifying climate crisis.

The COVID-19 Pandemic

Starting in 2020, the pandemic disrupted nearly every link in the food supply chain. The food processing sector was hit particularly hard, with COVID-19 outbreaks racing through the workforce, due to many people working in close, inadequately ventilated quarters. And the increase in worker turnover, in addition to new COVID protocols, further increased food production costs.

The same labor shortages affected the shipping industry, causing delays and increasing competition for limited shipping space. This led to rising transportation costs. It also increased the price of labor: In order to attract workers, companies had to increase wages, a cost they largely passed directly on to consumers.

As many people shifted their food spending from restaurants to grocery stores, suppliers could not keep up with the change in demand, resulting in massive food waste that effectively decreased supply.

And while 2020 is in the rearview mirror, there’s a funny thing about economics. When prices go up, they rarely come down again. So in some ways, we’re still feeling the effects of the price increases that started in 2020. And now, some additional factors have intensified the situation.

The War in Ukraine

Before the war, Russia and Ukraine were among the largest wheat producers in the world, together accounting for 30% of all exports — and a staggering 12% of all agricultural calories traded on earth. Both production and export have dropped dramatically due to the war.

Russia set up blockades of Ukrainian food exports in the Black Sea, stranding food in ports and creating global shortages. Western countries responded with sanctions against Russian grain exports, intensifying those shortages.

In addition to embargoes on food, the West has also implemented partial bans on Russian exports. These have included oil and gas, which have increased the energy costs associated with food production around the world.

Another blockaded product is fertilizer. As Russia is a major exporter of synthetic fertilizers, accounting for almost 30% of all exports globally, fertilizer prices have also been soaring — impacting farmers and, therefore, food prices.

Increasing Climate Chaos and Disasters

As temperatures continue to rise, crops are sustaining damage from excess heat. And as precipitation patterns change, droughts and flooding (sometimes alternating in the same place) also prevent crops from thriving. This can harm crops by eroding soil, depleting soil nutrients, and increasing runoff.

No farmer wants to try to coax crops out of the ground in conditions of extreme and prolonged drought. As more and more of the arable land on Earth suffers under multiyear drought, farmers are increasingly relying on groundwater, which they’re depleting at an alarming rate.

Additionally, rising temperatures increase pest populations and sometimes allow new pests to take up residence in regions that had previously been inhospitable for them. Temperature shifts can also cause a mismatch in pollination cycles, so the “good” bugs can’t do their jobs — leading to low pollination rates or delayed pollination.

One more disastrous effect of a warming planet is the danger to agricultural workers. More and more of them are suffering from the effects of extreme heat as they toil in parched fields. The National Institutes of Health tells us that farmworkers are 35 times more likely to die of heat exposure than workers in other industries. As conditions become less hospitable, it can be harder for farm owners to find the skilled laborers they need to get their fields planted and harvested. And dynamics in US immigration policy have contributed to a shortage of these workers.

As the planet continues to overheat, and as groundwater gets depleted and droughts and floods intensify, food prices are expected to continue to increase in the coming decades.

Why Do Some Foods Always Cost More (or Less)?

Governmental policies cause some foods to be more expensive than they would be otherwise — while others are made artificially cheaper. To see this in action, let’s look at a category of foods whose price is inflated (organic foods) and another whose price is deflated (grains and the products derived from grains).

Organic and Healthy Food Costs

Organic foods are more expensive than their “conventional” counterparts for several reasons. For one, organic food typically costs more to produce because the process is more labor-intensive than large-scale industrial agricultural methods.

Supply and demand play a role here as well. There’s a much smaller supply of organic food than nonorganic, even though demand for organic foods has more than doubled in the past 10 years. While this demand has caught the attention of some farmers who have decided to convert part or all of their operations to organic methods, this process takes time. In the meanwhile, prices continue to rise as demand grows, but supply lags.

There’s also a policy choice that makes organic food more expensive, which is that organic certification is costly, and getting that certification can be time-consuming. Organic farmers must keep extensive records and pay for organic certification, while farms that use synthetic pesticides don’t have to do either.

Another reason for organic’s higher prices has to do with the concept of “externalities” — that is, costs that arguably should be included in the market price but aren’t.

For example, what are the true costs of topsoil erosion, pesticide exposure for farmworkers and consumers, water and air pollution, or of the routine use of antibiotics in modern factory farms? If these were factored in, we might find that organic food would cost less, not more, than its conventional counterparts.

The fact is that organically grown foods tend to be better for environmental protection and carbon sequestration, deliver higher standards for animal welfare, and contribute to a safer and healthier food supply.

But consumers still have to pay more, and sometimes a lot more, to purchase foods that are grown organically.

Despite this, there are still some compelling advantages to go organic if you can afford to do so. And if you can’t, then you might want to soak your produce in a dab of baking soda to help rid it of pesticide exposure (for our article on what works best, click here).

Government Subsidies

The US government provides agricultural subsidies — monetary payments and other types of support — to farmers or agribusinesses. This ensures that farmers receive a minimum price for their crops while also incentivizing overproduction and inflated production costs. That way, subsidized foods and products made from them appear cheaper than nonsubsidized foods.

Generally, only the largest producers can take advantage of farm subsidies. According to a report from the Environmental Working Group, between 1995 and 2021, the top 10% of all US farm subsidy recipients received almost 80% of all subsidies, while the bottom 80% got less than 10%.

The five major “program” commodities are corn, soybeans, wheat, cotton, and rice.

Most soybeans and corn are produced by massive monocrop farms rather than small family enterprises. A lot of this subsidized corn and soy is fed to livestock, which artificially lowers the price of animal-derived foods produced on factory farms. All told, the US federal government spends $38 billion every year subsidizing the meat and dairy industries. Without these subsidies, a pound of hamburger meat could cost $30, rather than the $5 price seen today. But the true cost plays out in its impact on our health, animals, and the environment — and in the form of taxes and expansion of the national debt.

Is it better in Europe? Well, in many ways, it’s not. According to a 2019 report from Greenpeace, nearly one-fifth of the EU’s entire budget goes to subsidizing the livestock industry.

In effect, these subsidies consistently decrease the price of things like factory-farmed meat, high-fructose corn syrup, white bread, and many of the additives in our food supply — creating a marketplace distortion that makes fruits, vegetables, nuts, seeds, and other healthy staples more expensive in comparison.

To my eyes, it’s a bit like we’re all being fined for wearing our seatbelts. If we want to do the safer and more responsible thing, we have to pay extra.

What You Can Do About Rising Food Prices

If you’re feeling the pinch of rising food prices yourself, there are several strategies that can help you stay within your budget without sacrificing your family’s health.

Make a budget and shop from a list to avoid making impulse purchases while at the store. Prioritize nutrient-dense foods over calorie-dense ones. The latter may seem cheaper by the pound or the calorie, but in terms of what foods can do for you (or to you), good nutrition is more economical than impaired functioning or chronic disease. And buy and cook in bulk to save money and time.

Try to shop locally if you can to avoid incentivizing costly supply chains. If you’re in the US and use SNAP benefits, keep in mind that you can use them to shop for fresh produce at many farmers markets.

Also, buy organic when you can. If you are in a position financially where you can afford to spend more, you can “vote with your dollars” (or euros or pounds or rupees) to make the system fairer and more accessible to everyone. But if you can’t afford the organic price premium, then aim for non-GMO produce items and wash them thoroughly to reduce your pesticide exposure as much as possible.

If you have to choose which fruits and veggies to buy organic, check out the Environmental Working Group’s Dirty Dozen and Clean 15. Choose organic members of the Dirty Dozen club, and don’t sweat nonorganic Clean 15 items.

Frozen fruits and vegetables can sometimes be more affordable than fresh ones, and they contain abundant nutrition.

And reducing your consumption of animal products can not only help feed the world’s population because we aren’t cycling our crops through animals (a process that wastes at least 9 out of every 10 calories, depending on the crop and the animal eating it), but it can also lead to reductions in costly greenhouse gas emissions, too. Plus, beans tend to be a lot less costly than beef (to animals, the environment, and your wallet, too).

Food Pricing Is Complex, But Healthy Eating Shouldn’t Be

The recent surge in food prices has highlighted the intricate web of factors influencing the cost of our food. From labor shortages and technology costs to climate change and war, the forces at play are vast and interconnected.

But there are ways to navigate these challenging times. By adopting conscious strategies, we can mitigate the impact of rising food prices on our wallets and well-being. Through awareness and mindful decision-making, we can not only do right for our health, but we can also contribute to a more healthy, sustainable, and equitable food system.

Tell us in the comments:

• What foods that you buy frequently have gone up the most in price recently?
• Have you made any changes or substitutions because of food price inflation?
• Which cost-saving strategies could you try?

Featured Image: iStock.com/Ilija Erceg

Read Next:

• A Guide to Going Plant-Based: What to Eat, Benefits, and How to Succeed
• 7 Healthy Recipes for Eating Plant-Based on a Budget

The post The Price of Food: What’s Making Food So Expensive & What You Can Do About It appeared first on Food Revolution Network.

In the United States, the Animal Welfare Act is intended to protect animals from cruelty. However, it specifically excludes “farm animals used for food, fiber, or production purposes.” Unlike dogs, cats, and hamsters, the law treats farm animals as unprotected commodities. The fact that they are, like all animals (including humans), capable of a broad spectrum of emotions, including affection for other beings, is considered essentially irrelevant.

But just outside Los Angeles, there exists an oasis of compassion and hope for farm animals. Founded by Ellie Laks in 1999, The Gentle Barn stands as a resolute response to the way society tends to treat animals in the modern industrialized food system.

The Gentle Barn is a nonprofit organization dedicated to the rescue and rehabilitation of abused and neglected animals, especially farm animals. The organization is based in Santa Clarita, California, and they have two additional locations in Nashville, Tennessee, and St. Louis, Missouri.

In addition to giving animals a safe and loving home, The Gentle Barn offers educational programs and therapy to help children and adults heal from trauma. Individuals can participate in cow therapy, horse therapy, or barnyard therapy (with pigs, sheep, and other smaller farm animals). And The Gentle Barn also offers private tours for groups of up to 30 people, as well as field trips for schools.

Open to the public every Sunday, The Gentle Barn welcomes nearly 750,000 visitors per year.

We sat down with founder Ellie Laks to find out what makes The Gentle Barn such a draw for so many, and how they’re working towards a more healthy, ethical, and sustainable world for all (farm animals included!).

How The Gentle Barn Got Started

FRN: Could you tell me a little bit about how The Gentle Barn got started and what kind of work you do here?

Ellie Laks: The Gentle Barn was a dream of mine since I was seven. I loved animals and noticed that the people around me didn’t see them the same way that I did. And so I kept saying, “When I grow up, I’m going to have a big place full of animals, and I’m going to show the world how beautiful they are. And all the hurting people of the world can come and heal with us.”

So I procrastinated for a really long time because I had no idea how to do it. And then, 25 years ago, I lived in a little house with a half-acre backyard, and I discovered a petting zoo I’d never seen before. And to make a long story short, the animals were suffering terribly. I tried to leave, and blocking the exit was a very old goat who looked me in the eyes, stopped me in my tracks, and asked me for help.

So they wouldn’t let me have her. I stayed there for 12 days. Finally, they let me have her; and I brought her home, fixed her, and realized how rewarding that was. I went back for more animals. And then, one day, I looked out my little picture window to a backyard that was full of animals and said, “Holy crap. I just started my dream.”

We’re now home to horses, cows, pigs, sheep, goats, chickens, turkeys, peacocks, llamas, emus, and dogs. And we’ve specifically taken animals that have nowhere else to go because they’re too old, too sick, too lame, or too scared. They’re just not adoptable. We bring them in and take them through a very extensive recovery program.

And then once they’re happy and healthy, if we can find them a home and family of their own, we do. If not, then they stay here for the rest of their lives. And then, when they’re ready, we partner with them to heal people with the same stories of trauma, and connect to the love and magic of animals.

Rescuing Animals from the Jaws of Death

FRN: Do you rescue specifically from factory farms? What kind of state are they in when you get them?

Ellie Laks: Yeah, absolutely. So one of the brilliant things that my partner and cofounder of The Gentle Barn, Jay, does, is he strikes up really good relationships with owners of slaughterhouses, stockyards, and auction houses. And so when they have a downed animal that they can’t produce into a profit, or when they have an animal born on the kill floor, instead of doing away with it, they call us and give us an opportunity to save them.

So Jay has gone around the country going into the darkest places on this earth, pulling animals out of the jaws of death, bringing them home to me to heal. He’s rescued cows from veal crates, every kind of animal from the slaughterhouse, gone into auction houses and been able to prevent the slaughter trucks from buying those animals.

When they come in, they’re all very sick, and they’re all very scared — that’s a given. They’ve seen the worst of humanity. They know what was about to happen to them, and they’re in shock. And so we have to go to great lengths to really show them that people can be kind and the world can be good.

Sometimes we can prove that to them in a few months. Sometimes it takes years. And still other times, the only time I touch or embrace these animals is on their deathbeds. And I can finally show them love. We’ve rescued so many animals in that way.

John Lewis the Cow

Ellie Laks: My favorite story is about the cow I got to raise in my house. He was born inside the slaughterhouse. And we have an arrangement with the owner of the slaughterhouse that when someone’s born there, he’ll allow us to have the baby and the mom because the chance of a baby’s survival without the mom is very bleak.

But in this scenario, there was a logistical reason and a health reason why they wouldn’t let us have the mom. And even though she was on death’s door, they processed her anyway, which really should tell people who they’re eating.

There is no difference between any of the species other than our perspective of them.

Ellie Laks, Founder of The Gentle Barn

So he was left orphaned and extremely sick with pneumonia at a week old. And we brought him into The Gentle Barn and brought him into our healing center, where we started the recovery process with great vet care, medication — the whole nine yards.

And we realized that it was so hot outside that we couldn’t lower his temperature in order to save his life. And so Jay and I looked at each other and said, “We got to bring him in the house into the air conditioning.”

So we brought him into the house. I was with him 24/7 for the first six months until he was finally cleared to start interacting with the other cows and having playdates with them.

And then, at nine months old, I came to pick him up after a playdate, and he said, “No, I don’t want to go. I want to stay with the cows.” So he moved in with the cows, and I cried all the way back up to the house.

I think the reason this is my favorite story is, number one, I had a cow in my house. I’m the luckiest person in the world.

Number two, it’s really easy to go, “Oh, well, but it’s a cow; it’s not a dog.” Or, “It’s a pig, not a cat.” And there are all these boxes that people like to put animals in: These are animals worthy of love, affection, and protection. These are animals that we eat; these are animals that we wear. These are wild animals that we don’t understand and that are dangerous. We have all these boxes, and it’s just not true.

And so what I love about the time I got to spend with John Lewis [the cow] in our house is it really once and for all proved there is no difference between any of the species other than our perspective of them. We’re judging them as different, so they show up differently.

But the minute you see a cow like a dog, he’s a dog. John Lewis, to this day… He’s now three years old. I still give him a bottle of warm water and some chlorella algae superfood in the morning to boost his immune system. And I sing him his morning songs. And I kiss him all over, and we spend time together.

But he comes to me when I call his name. He walks on a leash like a dog. We’ve even taken him to hiking trails. He slept on a dog bed. He had toys. It really broke those barriers once and for all. And so I love sharing John Lewis and his story with people — because if we could just erase those lines and just accept that we’re all the same, we just look different, what a world this could be.

The Recovery Process at The Gentle Barn

FRN: Wow. So what do some of the recovery processes look like? Is it the same for every animal?

Ellie Laks: More or less. The general protocol is that animals come in and do a 30-day quarantine with us, during which time we’re making sure that they’re not sick, so they don’t bring in a disease to our existing family. But we’re also reading to them, meditating with them, singing to them, playing musical instruments for them, coming and going so that they can get used to us and start to trust us.

At the same time, we’re collecting fecal samples, making sure they don’t have parasites, and putting nutritional supplements in their water to boost their immune systems.

And most of the time, for the first time in their lives, they have a soft bed; they have shelter; they have fresh food, clean water, kind humans; and they start recovering physically and emotionally — slowly.

When their quarantine is over in 30 days, the next step is to introduce them to other animals of their kind. And with some animals like horses, pigs, chickens, and goats, the process is very slow because the animals’ first instinct is to reject newcomers. But slowly they get used to each other, and they become family.

With cows, that process is very quick. Because we can put a new cow in anywhere, anytime, at any of our locations, and the other cows are like, “Oh, hi. Come on in.”

But once they’re acclimated to other animals of their kind, then we need to see what is left over. So they might still be sick or lame or old. They might still have trust issues with people. And so we continue their recovery, their rehabilitation, and their treatments until they don’t need it anymore. Some animals that come in need ongoing care for the rest of their lives.

Adopting Out Animals

FRN: So the ones that are adopted out, where do they go? Do they go to other sanctuaries or individual people, or what does that look like?

Ellie Laks: Yeah. Every once in a while there’ll be somebody who has a ranch or a farm or a giant backyard, and they’ll invite a farm animal to live with them. And we’ve adopted out turkeys, chickens, goats, sheep, horses, and dogs. The only animal that we’ve never adopted out is a cow. I’ve never had a person say, “Can I please have a cow?” Which is weird because I think everyone should have a cow. They’re the most misunderstood and the most magical animal.

[The animals] all have healing for us. They all have life lessons for us. Like practicing confidence and leadership skills with a horse is unparalleled. Practicing empathy and compassion with smaller animals that we’re cradling in our arms is unparalleled.

But I think, as a tribe, cows are everything that we’re supposed to be. They’re matriarchal; they’re vegan. They meditate every single day. Family and connection is the most important thing. So they really lift each other up and support each other. They celebrate life. They celebrate death. They face their challenges head-on, and they’re 100% inclusive.

They’re a beautiful community, and they’re very, very gentle on Mother Earth. They harm no one. They’re that feminine, beautiful, nurturing energy. They’re everything that we will be one day. I have to hope.

Saving Buddha the Cow

FRN: Yeah. How did you discover that the cows were able to give that to you, and how did the cow therapy evolve?

Ellie Laks: So when I started The Gentle Barn, I found out that there was a miniature cow breeding program up in Washington State. I called the guy, and he explained, “Oh, miniature cows are easy to raise and easy to kill, and you can have household food for a year or take their milk.”

So half of me was sorry I asked. But then he started talking about how gentle and kind they are. And he had a beautiful cow, and his grandkids raised her, and she was so sweet. But, unfortunately, she couldn’t get pregnant and earn her keep, so she was going to slaughter.

By the time I had hung up with him, I knew that this cow was coming home to me. So I asked him, “Can I have her?” He was like, “Well, you’re going to have to pay what I would get for her.” And I was like, “Hold off on her slaughter. Give me time.”

And this was very early on at The Gentle Barn, where I really didn’t know how to raise money. So I literally put my son on my hip, my year-old son, and I went door-to-door to my neighbors. And I told them what was happening and how I wanted to save her, and asked if they would chip in. And I thought for sure they were going to slam the door in my face, but they didn’t. And they wrote checks. And I raised the money to save her.

FRN: That’s amazing.

Ellie Laks: I know. It’s crazy. And I knew she [Buddha] was special right off the bat; because that very first open-to-the-public Sunday, she immersed herself right into the center of a big crowd of people, lay down, and invited them to hug her, brush her, and pet her. And I watched with my jaw dropped.

The Evolution of Cow Hug Therapy

Ellie Laks: So then my ritual, then and still now, is every single night before I go to bed, I go out to the barnyard. I make sure all the chickens and turkeys are safely on their roosts. I tuck the pigs in with blankets. I give treats to the goats, sheep, horses, and cows. And I make sure everyone’s safe and feeling good before I go to bed.

So on this particular night, I think it was the day after that Sunday, I went out to do my barnyard check. And I said goodnight to everybody. And everybody was in the barn, all roosted and stuff. And I was walking back through the yard, back to the house. She was lying down in the yard, the last animal that I went to say goodnight to. And I was going to pat her on the head and tell her that I love her, but something made me stop. There was something about the way she shifted her body. She was like, “Sit with me.”

So I sat down at her shoulder; I leaned against her body because she’s giant and cuddly and fuzzy. And the next thing she did changed my life. She wrapped her neck around me and held me, and she didn’t let go.

And I was so astounded by her love of me, by her nurturing of me, by that gesture of kindness and connection, that I started weeping into her shoulder. It’s one of those things where you don’t know you’re stressed out, but then all of a sudden you realize how stressed out you are.

And so those nightly hugs became a must, and she would help me wash away the day. She would help me have strength and hope for the next day. She would help me get out of my head and my to-do list and be more centered and grounded.

And early on in those hugs, I remember thinking, “I have got to find a way to give the world these hugs.” So part of the original design was that we would rescue animals and then partner with them when they’re ready to heal hurting people.

So I opened the phone book, and I started calling probation camps, drug and alcohol rehab centers, domestic violence shelters, foster agencies, homeless shelters, war veteran centers, and said, “Look, I know that you have people who are hurting. I know that some of those people are not responding to traditional therapy. Bring them to me.” And they did.

And we would always start with Buddha by putting their faces down on her side and closing their eyes and just breathing in and out and feeling her energy — and she would crack them wide open.

They came cold, defensive, and hardened by life, and she melted them into little kids. And she helped them become vulnerable. And it’s only in vulnerability that you can heal. And then they would go back to their therapy sessions; and all of a sudden they’re talking, and they’re relating, and they’re healing. And during her lifetime, Buddha gave out 300,000 hugs.

She taught me everything I know. She taught me to meditate. She taught me to be grounded and centered. She taught me what these animals are capable of — the healing that they’re capable of. She showed me how to connect these hurting humans with these hurting animals, and I owe her everything.

And so she is the creator of Cow Hug Therapy, and she’s the reason why we do Cow Hug Therapy for people now.

Becoming Vegan

FRN: Wow. So our site mostly deals with plant-based eating, nutrition, and health. So I was just curious — because plant-based eating is becoming more popular and more mainstream — have you seen any change in the support of what you do or the number of visitors because people are more interested in where their food comes from, or the impact of factory farming on animals, or just plant-based eating in general?

Ellie Laks: Yes. I have a lot to say about that.

I became a vegetarian when I was 11. I met a chicken. I realized that was chicken and rice. And I was done.

Volunteers were coming to check The Gentle Barn out, and somebody said, “Are you vegan?” And I said, “No, I’m American.” And he said, “No, I mean, do you eat animals?” And I was like, “Oh, no. I went vegetarian when I was 11.” He said, “Yeah, but what about dairy and eggs?” And I said, “Well, it doesn’t hurt anybody.” He told me the truth. I went vegan on the spot. That was 24 years ago. I’ve been vegan ever since.

I became a vegetarian when I was 11. I met a chicken. I realized that was chicken and rice. And I was done.

Ellie Laks, Founder of The Gentle Barn

But it’s funny because, in the beginning of The Gentle Barn, I didn’t really know the word vegan, which is so silly to think of now. The word vegan was not mainstream, and the word vegan was almost a dirty word. And so we grappled with how we present it. How do we talk about it? How do we make sure that we’re not threatening to people? Because The Gentle Barn is not just gentle to animals. It’s gentle to people.

So we wanted people to come in and look these animals in the eyes, hug them, hold them, cuddle with them, hear their stories of resilience, and realize that we’re just basically all the same. But we didn’t want to offend anybody. We want it to be a gentle experience. So we were like, “God, can we even say the word vegan without upsetting people?”

Now, 24 years later, vegan is mainstream. Do you even realize how many vegan options there are at Disneyland? All stores, all major chains, most fast-food restaurants… You can go anywhere. Nowadays, small town, big town, it doesn’t matter. You literally can go anywhere and say, “What’s vegan on your menu?” And the waiter will have some modicum of awareness of how to guide you. It’s incredible.

Plus, 24 years ago, when I opened The Gentle Barn, plant-based eaters were 0.5% of the population. We are now at 7%. Huge progress.

Facing Grief as an Animal Sanctuary

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FRN: Have you faced any challenges or obstacles with your rescue efforts?

Ellie Laks: Huge. Nobody does anything good unless you have a lot of challenges. So I started The Gentle Barn, like I told you, in my little half-acre backyard using my first husband’s paychecks. My first husband was not amused and soon left.

In came Jay as a volunteer, and later we fell in love and joined forces. But during those early years, moving from that half-acre to where we are now and growing into a national organization, there were a lot of financial challenges.

The other challenge for a sanctuary is dealing with the level of loss. Obviously, humans tend to have a longer lifespan than animals. So those of us who love animals tend to have to say goodbye at some point. At The Gentle Barn, with 200 animals — and over the last 24 years, we’ve rescued thousands — we have loved so many, and we have said goodbye more times than I could possibly calculate.

And so there was a time early on in The Gentle Barn when I was so brought down to the ground with my grief that I said, “I made a mistake. I can’t do this. I’m not strong enough. This is going to destroy me.” And I had to figure out how to stay with it and how to survive and have me not go down with the ship.

And so I had to really examine compassion fatigue, grief, and loss. And that’s a very large part of what I talk about in my [next] book, Cow Hug Therapy, about what the animals taught me about death, how they grieve, and how life and love are eternal.

And so that process from grief to gratitude, I had to work out.

How You Can Support The Gentle Barn

FRN: I think when I first heard about you guys, you were doing a fundraiser. I am just curious: Besides the visits and the fundraising, how else can people support you?

Ellie Laks: There is so much more that goes into taking care of farm animals other than hay, water, and shelter. There’s preparing for fire season every year and having the trailers and the trucks be able to evacuate. In this changing climate, we’re much hotter than we used to be: How do we keep them cool? We’re much colder than we used to be: How do we keep them warm?

I think the first thing that I would say in answer to your question is there are so many people who love animals, but very few of us can open our own sanctuaries. We need people to partner with us. We need people to fund our endeavors and to become our partners so that we’re rescuing animals together. Because they can’t do it without us, but we can’t do it without them.

The other thing that I would invite people to do is to follow us on social media. We’re on all social media platforms: The Gentle Barn on Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, YouTube, and Twitter/X. See these beautiful videos and stories of the animals and their recovery and what they teach us, and learn about being connected to animals. It’s beautiful.

And if you live close enough, find a Gentle Barn either in St. Louis, Nashville, or Los Angeles; and come and visit and hug a cow, hold a chicken, cuddle a turkey, and give a pig a tummy rub. And look in the eyes of these magical animals, and realize that we’re here to protect them, defend them, love them, and listen to them.

And then the last thing that I want to mention is the biggest way you can help is by adopting a plant-based diet.

Every single person who goes plant-based saves 200 animals a year. So in effect, by going vegan, they are opening a sanctuary; because they’re saving 200 animals just with their knife and fork. Modeling that for others, being part of the solution, being part of gentleness and nonviolence.

—–

Ellie Laks is the founder of The Gentle Barn Foundation, a national organization that rescues and rehabilitates unwanted animals and heals people with the same stories of abuse and neglect. She invented her own “Gentle Healing” method that allows old, sick, injured, and terrified animals to fully recover. She is the creator of Cow Hug Therapy and has hosted hundreds of thousands of people who have come to The Gentle Barn seeking healing and hope.

Ellie is a powerful speaker, celebrated animal welfare advocate, humane educator, animal communicator, and the author of My Gentle Barn: Creating a Sanctuary Where Animals Heal and Children Learn to Hope and the upcoming Cow Hug Therapy: How the Animals at The Gentle Barn Taught Me about Life, Death, and Everything in Between.

Tell us in the comments:

• Has an animal ever taught you something about life or yourself?
• Were you aware of The Gentle Barn before reading this interview?
• What other animal sanctuaries or animal welfare organizations should we know about?

Read Next:

• Unhealthy Conditions for Farm Animals are — No Surprise — Bad for Humans, Too
• What You Eat Can Impact Climate Change! See 9 Foods That Harm the Planet and 11 Foods That Can Help Save It

The post Changing Lives Through Compassion: The Gentle Barn’s Extraordinary Mission for Animals and Humans appeared first on Food Revolution Network.

Think of a tree losing its leaves, which end up on the ground. Little critters (that’s a fancy scientific term, which I like to imagine translates as Tinius Buggiums in binomial nomenclature) use them to stay warm, munch them down, and then poop out rich soil. When the critters die, they get digested by other organisms, and their nutrients get absorbed into the tree roots. Or if they get eaten by birds, they get converted into bird poop, which also feeds the soil under the sycamore the bird was perching on.

When humans rake up and bag the leaves, or for that matter, mow a lawn and remove the grass clippings, they’ve broken the cycle. So to keep the trees and lawns alive, they may in turn replace the missing nutrients with synthetic fertilizer. And they need to find a place to store all the plastic bags full of yard waste.

Similarly, when we don’t return food scraps to gardens and farms, we create two problems that don’t exist in nature: where to put ever-growing heaps of trash, and how to grow food in increasingly depleted soil.

That’s where composting comes in — that is, putting the scraps in a place where nature can do its thing.

But what if you have little to no outdoor space, or live in an apartment? What can you do with your kitchen scraps then?

The good news is that there are many ways you can keep food scraps out of your waste stream even if all you have is a little space in a basement, garage, spare room, or even just on your kitchen counter.

So how can you start composting in your own kitchen? What are your options? What tools do you need? And how can you ensure you don’t end up with a kitchen that smells like the bottom of a restaurant dumpster?

Why Save Your Food Scraps?

As planet-friendly as a diet may be, if it’s generating a lot of food waste, it can still be a real burden on the planet.

When food scraps rot, they release methane, a greenhouse gas that traps 84 times more heat than carbon dioxide. Many of our landfills turn into huge steaming piles of methane-emitting organic waste, which seriously compromises any plans of reversing our ever-intensifying global climate chaos.

Some of our garbage is burned, and here, too, organic waste is a problem. When moist food scraps end up in incinerators, they require a lot of extra energy to keep the burner temperatures high enough to fully incinerate all the trash. The higher temperatures also contribute to the release of more toxins into the air. This can cause serious health problems for nearby communities (which are disproportionately low-income and communities of color).

We definitely don’t want that. So what do we do with all those food scraps? Wait for NASA to figure out how to tow them to Venus?

Here’s the thing: Kitchen scraps are actually a hugely valuable resource, one that’s mostly wasted in our broken food system. In fact, food waste wasn’t even accepted in municipal waste programs until the mid-20th century. Instead, they were often fed to backyard or farm animals, or were kept in a separate underground receptacle called a subterranean receiver.

Other creative ways to reuse food scraps and keep them out of the garbage stream include making art with them, creating skin care products, or even using them in new recipes. Depending on the scrap, you might even be able to coax it to grow into more food.

(For some more ideas, you can read our article on How to Use Food Scraps to Reduce Kitchen Waste.)

But if you aren’t ready to turn your cucumber peels into a facial mask or decorate a dress with pumpkin seeds, you may want to try composting instead. That is, letting nature take its course with your food scraps, turning rotting peels, skins, seeds, pits, and ends back into rich soil that’s ready to grow the next generation of crops.

Saving Food Scraps in the Kitchen for Compost

Food scraps are organic materials, which means they can break down and benefit the soil in the form of compost.

Some US cities are actually mandating composting, requiring that you place your food waste in a separate container from regular trash or recycling. If you live in one of those municipalities, you probably have a green bin that’s earmarked for food waste. If you’re not sure if your county or city offers municipal composting, you can check one of the maps on the environmental nonprofit GreenBlue’s website.

But even if you don’t live in a city with a composting program, there are other ways to utilize your food scraps for compost.

There are apps like ShareWaste or MakeSoil that are basically compost brokers, connecting neighbors who produce compost with neighbors who want it. It’s kind of like Tinder, but you don’t have to resort to ring lights, beauty filters, or duck face.

There are also other community composting options via local farms, community gardens, recycling centers, or private composting companies.

If you have a garden or other outdoor space, you might have room to nurture a traditional compost pile or tumbler. And if so, you might benefit from checking our guide to home composting.

And for any of these methods, you can easily collect food scraps in a small compost collection bin in the kitchen before either throwing them in a larger bin, donating them to a community program, or emptying them into an outdoor compost pile.

What Can You Compost?

While all organic materials are theoretically compostable, some will take so long to break down that for all practical purposes, they’re not appropriate for kitchen composting. Some municipal compost programs also don’t accept certain types of food scraps, such as animal products or even citrus rinds. And some accept disposable utensils and containers made of bioplastics, while others don’t. Check with your local program administrator for a full list of approved items.

For a general list of what you can compost, here’s a handy (and possibly even dandy) infographic.

Tips for Controlling Food Scrap or Compost Odors

The smellephant in the room when it comes to composting is the fact that composting is kind of an elegant name for rotting. And rotting smells. As singer-songwriter Tom Chapin puts it in his composting anthem “Good Garbage”:

“Good garbage breaks down as it goes
That’s why it smells bad to your nose
Bad garbage grows and grows and grows
Garbage is s’posed to decompose.”

So here are some suggestions for a largely odor-free compost collection experience.

Use a bin with a lid. This will not only trap odors but also help prevent pests like fruit flies. (As Groucho Marx sagely observed, “Time flies like an arrow. Fruit flies like a banana.” I had to think about that for a bit before it made sense.)

Empty your compost container regularly. This is definitely not a “set it and forget it” hobby. You’ll figure out the right schedule for you, which will depend on the amount of kitchen scraps you generate, the type of bin you use, the ambient temperature and humidity, and whether you sing to it or not (OK, I made that last one up because I wanted a longer list). Some folks empty their bins weekly; others find that daily is more appropriate.

Keep your home reasonably cool, especially in the summertime. Nothing says “strong pong” like produce rotting in a sauna-like environment.

If you can’t get rid of your scraps in a timely fashion (say, you’re going away for a few days and don’t want to return to a “Silence of the Yams” horror-scape), you can freeze them in an airtight plastic or glass container. This will halt the process of decomposition so you won’t end up with nasty aromas.

Finally, clean your container after each emptying. Check whether it’s dishwasher safe; some should be washed only by hand. Even if you’re using a compostable plastic bag, you may find that some slime has made it into the interior of your container, so a good scrubbing with a brush and soapy water can go a long way to keeping your kitchen smelling like the room in the house where food goes before it’s eaten, as opposed to after.

Compost Collection Bins

There are a range of compost bins on the market, varying in look, price, convenience, size, and capacity. You can go high-end (well, not that high-end; as of this writing, there are no Gucci or Prada composting bins) or simple, small or large, minimalist or packed with features. You can also DIY compost bins out of just about any container you have lying around.

In the end, though, their ultimate purpose is to collect and contain your food scraps so they don’t go to waste and end up in the landfill (or sit around and attract flies and perfume the air with eau de sewage).

DIY Compost Bins

Henry David Thoreau warned, “Beware of all enterprises that require new clothes.” Similarly, you don’t need to invest in a fancy compost bin to collect your food scraps. You can repurpose almost any type of container, although you’ll definitely want a lid to keep the odors in and not floating around your kitchen.

Some examples of DIY compost containers include plastic or glass storage bins, buckets, bowls, flowerpots, and empty food containers like coffee cans.

Countertop Compost Bins

If the idea of a grungy orange five-gallon bucket from Home Depot sitting between your toaster and blender doesn’t fill you with joy, you can also purchase a simple compost container made specifically for that purpose. They come in various materials, including plastic, stainless steel, bamboo, and ceramic.

Some bins can be used with compostable bags, which may make it easier to clean the inside of the container. If you’re part of a municipal composting program, check with the administrator to find out if they actually accept compostable bags, as not all do.

Some commercially available containers also come with filters made of activated charcoal or carbon to capture odors before they can escape and assault your nose (or entice it, if you happen to have the nose of a fruit fly).

Countertop Composting

While the containers we’ve looked at so far are just receptacles for holding kitchen scraps, there are also ways to create compost right on your countertop. This type of composting is especially well suited for single people or couples without children, who generally generate less waste than larger families.

Countertop composting can also be very convenient since you don’t need to venture outside to deal with the scraps; you can gather up the peels and seeds right next to where you process the food. And it’s a great option to make a dent in food waste if you live in an apartment, don’t have outdoor space, or don’t have access to a curbside composting program.

There are three main ways to perform kitchen composting: One is powered by worms, another by fermentation, and the third by electricity.

Worm Composting

Worm composting bins take advantage of the fact that many worm varieties can eat up to half their body weight each day. And they’re diligent about rapidly converting that food into worm poop, which is a lot less gross than it sounds and is actually really nutrient-rich soil.

The fancy name for worm composting is vermicomposting (if you’re raising the worms, you’re engaged in vermiculture). It’s a pretty straightforward process: Feed worms food scraps, keep them sufficiently aerated and hydrated, maintain a liveable temperature, harvest the castings on a regular basis, and keep them contained so they don’t start casing your kitchen looking for food.

You’ll need a waterproof container with air holes (which you can either make yourself or put together from a purchased kit), moist bedding material, and worms (which you can order online, much to the delight of your mail carrier).

If seeing the worms in your kitchen makes you squeamish, it might be better to keep it out of sight under the sink or in another room, at least on those nights when you’re serving linguine or (etymology alert) vermicelli.

(If you’re a dedicated vegan, you may or may not determine that vermicomposting aligns with your ethical sensibilities. Personally, I think that building a world with less waste — and more compost! — contributes to the cause of compassion. But of course, as in all things, do what makes sense to you.)

Bokashi Composting

“Bokashi” means “fermented organic matter” in Japanese. And the Bokashi method of composting speeds up the process by introducing microorganisms into the mix, the same wee beasties that occur naturally in garden soil. Bokashi is usually done in a bucket with a tight-fitting lid and a spigot at the bottom (like one of those big glass beverage dispensers people use at cookouts, except instead of iced tea, you get Bokashi tea).

All you do is throw in your kitchen scraps, cover with a layer of bran inoculated with the microorganisms, and leave it alone. As the food waste pickles, it produces a dark, nutrient-rich liquid that you can access through the spigot, which, mixed with lots of water, your house plants will simply adore. Also, drawing off the liquid keeps the fermenting compost from smelling like an open sewer once you open it.

After somewhere between 10 and 21 days, you can open the bucket and behold what can charitably be called “pre-compost.” It’s not crumbly soil, but the food waste is fermented enough that it can either get mixed directly into a garden bed or finished in a compost pile or compost tumbler. Most Bokashi systems use two buckets in rotation, so you can feed scraps to one bucket while the other one is “locked” in fermentation.

You can buy Bokashi buckets and inoculated bran online or from a local garden store. YouTube searches will also show you how to make your own buckets and DIY vegan inoculated bran. Or to check out a starter kit that comes complete with bucket, spigot, and inoculant, click here.

Electric Composters

Electric composters bring the ancient art of rotting food into the modern age. They don’t just collect food scraps, but actually break them down into usable soil in a matter of hours. They do this by heating, grinding, and drying the scraps. Some include microbial pods that render the compost into garden-ready fertilizer. And they include filters, so you shouldn’t have a problem with odors.

Electric composters can come with some downsides. To accommodate their high-tech features, they’re typically bulkier than their manual cousins, and take up more counter space. They can also be expensive, both their original purchase price and their total cost of ownership, including supplies and electricity. However, some can be quite energy efficient, and the value they provide in terms of home garden fertilizer can make them more than worth the expense.

Don’t Let Your Food Scraps Go to Waste

Whether you just use compost collection bins to save your food scraps for curbside pickup or try your hand at one of the countertop composting methods, kitchen composting is a great way to reduce food waste and contribute to a healthier planet.

Best of all, you don’t need a backyard or a lot of space to put your food scraps to use. From kitchen counters to basements, there are creative ways to transform your food scraps into rich, nourishing soil.

By embracing composting, you not only divert waste from landfills but also help enrich soil, foster plant growth, and mitigate the challenges of depleted farmlands. Remember, every step you take to reduce waste and to turn trash into treasure is a step towards a more healthy, ethical, and sustainable future.

Tell us in the comments:

• What do you do with your kitchen scraps right now?

• Do you live in a place with a municipal kitchen scrap recycling program? How easy or hard is it to participate?

• If you don’t yet collect kitchen scraps for compost, what method described in this article seems most appealing to get started with?

Featured Image: iStock.com/JohnnyGreig

Read Next:

• How to Use Food Scraps to Reduce Kitchen Waste
• Decades of Public Messages About Recycling in the US Have Crowded Out More Sustainable Ways to Manage Waste

The post Kitchen Compost: Turning Trash into Treasure appeared first on Food Revolution Network.

The list would almost certainly include persistent droughts in many heavily populated parts of the globe, depleted soils, global hunger, nutritional deficiencies, overuse of pesticides, and climate chaos caused by the carbon footprint of burning fossil fuels.

The bad news is you probably don’t have actual magical powers that allow you to create such a food. (If you do, please apply for a job at Food Revolution Network!)

The good news is, that crop already exists. It’s called fonio (pronounced “fone-yo”), and it’s the oldest known cultivated grain in Africa.

While many Indigenous West Africans revere the grain and incorporate it not only into their diets but also into their healing and spiritual practices, its cultivation was discouraged by decades of agricultural and economic policy that sought to “modernize” the region and grow monocropped grains for food and export.

But fonio is making a comeback, growing in popularity around the world. And for good reason. It’s highly nutritious, exceptionally delicious, and environmentally resilient, making it an important crop for arid regions. Those include its home, West Africa, but also many other places around the world prone to prolonged heat and drought: southern Europe, the Middle East, North Africa, much of the US (including California, Texas, the Midwest, Sunbelt, and Southeast), Southeast Asia, and Australia, among others.

In this article, we’ll explore all things fonio. We’ll look at where and how it grows, its nutritional profile and health benefits, its environmental impacts, and why you might want to add fonio to your diet even if you don’t live in West Africa.

We’ll also cover its versatile culinary uses, and share some fonio-filled recipes.

What Is Fonio?

Fonio, aka Digitaria exilis (Latin for “slender fingers”), has been cultivated in parts of Africa for about 7,000 years. In the Dogon language of Mali, one of the names for the plant means “seed of the universe.” In a narrative strikingly similar to the Big Bang, Dogon mythology describes the Creator bringing the universe into existence by exploding a single fonio grain.

Fonio is a member of the millet family and is related to other grains important in African agriculture, including pearl millet and sorghum. Technically, fonio is a very tiny pseudocereal, like quinoa and buckwheat — which basically means it’s a seed that’s eaten like a grain.

You may have also heard of fonio by one of its other names. These include acha, fundi, findi, iburu, Asian millet, fonio millet, pearl millet, and hungry rice. (That last name is something of a smear, implying that fonio is a lesser food that’s eaten only when there’s not enough rice.)

Fonio is native to West Africa with roughly 70% of the world’s fonio grown in Guinea. Additional production occurs in Nigeria, Mali, Senegal, and several neighboring countries.

Fonio has played a critical role in food security in these countries, especially in rural areas. For reasons that we’ll soon discover, fonio is a reliable staple crop even when other food sources are scarce.

The plant is prized for its resilience, able not just to grow, but to positively thrive in poor soil conditions. As a significant bonus, fonio is also the speed champion of grains. It’s the world’s fastest maturing cereal, going from seed to harvest in as little as 60 days. And it’s drought tolerant. In fact, the less rain the plant receives, the faster it matures.

Types of Fonio

There are two main types of fonio:

• white fonio, called acha (the more common of the two, and quicker cooking)
• black fonio, called iburu (less common, and higher in fiber)

Both types of fonio have a similar taste that’s been described as rich and nutty — similar to couscous (but unlike couscous, fonio is a whole grain, and it’s gluten-free!).

Fonio Nutrition

On a nutrient-by-nutrient basis, fonio appears to be one of the most nutritious of all African cereals, as well as one of the tastiest. A cup of cooked fonio (which requires a quarter cup of dry grain) provides about 170 calories, largely from carbohydrates, and a small amount of protein.

It’s also a rich source of gut-healthy fiber, providing as much as five times as much fiber as a serving of white rice. (I don’t know about you, but I sometimes opt for white rice over brown rice when I’m in a hurry since it cooks much more quickly. Well… fonio cooks even faster yet! So it is a winner by many measures of comparison.)

What about the essential amino acids that make up protein? The acha variety of fonio is particularly rich in sulfur-containing amino acids, like methionine, which is an amino acid that is typically low in legumes. However, similar to whole grains, acha is low in lysine (where legumes excel!). While we love fonio, we don’t recommend that you only eat fonio all day. Variety, including beans and other legumes, is important to ensure you’re receiving a variety of nutrients, including plenty of all the different essential amino acids.

Fonio is also a solid source of several minerals, including calcium, iron, zinc, magnesium, and copper. Since fonio is gluten-free, it can substitute for gluten-containing grains such as wheat, barley, and rye for people with Celiac disease and gluten sensitivity.

Fonio Health Benefits

Just as fonio has been systematically neglected and marginalized by industrialized agriculture, it’s also largely ignored by nutrition researchers. While its powerful nutrient profile is well-documented by modern science, the same is not true of its potential for supporting human health.

To give you a sense of the gap, when I did a search for “fonio nutrition” in the database of the US National Institutes of Health National Library of Medicine, I got 17 hits (only one of which even looked at the relationship between fonio and human health). By comparison, “corn nutrition” generated over 12,000 articles, and “sorghum nutrition” almost 1,200.

So in order to make useful statements about how fonio might help you prevent and heal from disease, we have to consider both its nutritional properties and Indigenous healing practices.

In West Africa, fonio is considered to have medicinal properties for several health conditions. In Senegal, fonio has been traditionally used to alleviate conditions such as meteorism (or bloating and abdominal distension caused by an accumulation of gas in the digestive system), constipation, and as a diuretic. Also, the Senegalese use fonio to treat blood clots, diarrhea, loss of appetite, dysentery, stomachache, chicken pox, and asthma.

In Burkina Faso, fonio is known for its slimming properties. Roasted, it’s used for wound healing. And fonio dough is given for relief of symptoms in people with type 2 diabetes.

Based on its nutritional profile and similarity to other pseudocereals, it’s probable that fonio may reduce the risk of developing both type 2 diabetes and some cancers. And with a low glycemic index (in the low 40s, to be imprecise) and favorable amounts of both resistant and nonresistant starch, fonio may help improve blood glucose management in diabetic and prediabetic patients.

Challenges Facing Fonio

We’ve seen that, in many respects, fonio is a near-perfect crop to address hunger on a planet that’s growing increasingly hot and dry. But now it’s time to address the one drawback to fonio: It takes a huge amount of hard human labor to produce.

Labor

In West Africa, where fonio is still a staple food for millions of people, all stages of its growth cycle are very labor-intensive.

Men harvest the grain by uprooting the plant or cutting off the grain head with a homemade knife or sickle. Threshing the grain — separating the edible from inedible parts of the plant — is just as labor-intensive. It’s done by either beating or trampling over the dry straw.

In West African countries, women perform the lion’s share of the work. Women typically do the weeding, collecting seed heads, dehusking the grain, cleaning, drying, and processing as well as selling the fonio. On average, a woman must pound fonio for an hour to dehusk just two pounds of the grain.

Although this unfairly puts a large burden on women to process the fonio and get it ready for market, from a climate perspective, the hard work does pay off. Its impact in terms of greenhouse gas emissions, as well as soil and water contamination, is minimal to nonexistent. There’s also no need for fuel to run giant harvesters and other agricultural machines, or to power running water for irrigation.

And in a region with chronically high rates of unemployment, some would argue that providing more jobs for people (as opposed to having the work done by machines produced overseas) makes good economic sense, too. Plus, there’s the fact that farmers don’t have to spend money on fertilizers or pesticides since fonio thrives in poor soil and has few natural enemies.

But in terms of growing enough fonio to feed the world, the fact that the crop hasn’t, at least so far, been able to benefit from economies of scale has been a very real stumbling block.

In the 1990s, a Senegalese mechanical engineer named Sanoussi Diakite invented a fonio husking machine that could process eleven pounds of grain in just eight minutes. However, there are very few machines in use, even today, because the $3,000 price tag renders them too expensive for the vast majority of West African farmers.

Low Demand and Rural Depopulation

Capitalizing on fonio’s status as a highly nutritious and easy-to-grow whole grain is a serious challenge facing West African farmers. In addition to the difficulties of production and postharvest processing, there are two other stumbling blocks: low market demand and rural depopulation.

Because demand from the wealthier nations is low (at least before this article was published!), farmers fear not receiving a return on their investments of money and effort. It’s more secure to grow maize, which has a predictable market, or some of the higher-margin cash crops like coffee, bananas, cashews, or cacao, which can be exported to wealthier countries.

Another obstacle is a lack of younger farmers willing to do the work of fonio farming. Many move away from rural areas to seek employment in the cities, sparking a depopulation crisis that continues to spiral as more and more people view farm life as an economic dead end.

Garnering Interest in Fonio

Some people are trying to encourage increased fonio production by creating demand for it in the US and Europe. Making fonio more fashionable, somewhat akin to what’s happened to quinoa, can mean higher profits and more stable income for farmers.

For example, Senegalese chef Pierre Thiam has been instrumental in bringing fonio to US markets. He cofounded Yolélé Foods in order to, quoting from their website, “create economic opportunity for smallholder farming communities; to support their biodiverse, regenerative, and climate-resilient farming systems.”

Yolélé Foods is also building processing facilities and collaborating with governments, intergovernmental agencies, and NGOs to train and equip smallholders for increased productivity through conservation farming.

If you’re feeling adventurous and want to try fonio for yourself, check out some of Yolélé’s fonio products online. If they’re out of stock (as seems to happen from time to time), Aduna makes an organic variety, linked here. The cost tends to be a bit higher than rice or quinoa but is lower than wild rice.

How to Cook Fonio

If you do decide to try fonio (and create more demand for it), you’re in luck. Not only is it super delicious (at least in my opinion), but it cooks super fast (just a few minutes!). This speedy quality also makes it a great option when you want to eat a whole grain but don’t have a long time to wait for one to cook fully.

One cup of fonio cooks in two cups of water and yields four cups of grain!

You can use fonio in any recipe that calls for other types of grains. Examples include grain bowls, porridge, side dishes (like couscous or pilaf), stuffed vegetable recipes, and so on.

Fonio flour has been used to make biscuits, bread, and dumplings. Some researchers have experimented with making sourdough bread using fonio. It’s also possible to make delicious cakes, cookies, and other snack foods and desserts from fonio. And you can use whole meal fonio flour to create gluten-free biscuits and other baked goods.

Fonio Recipes

This ancient West African grain deserves to be making some serious culinary waves because it offers a delightful canvas for kitchen creativity. From savory to slightly sweet, get to know this delightful ancient grain that can add wonderful texture and substantial nutritional value to your meals.

1. Savory Turmeric Fonio Porridge

Savory Turmeric Fonio Porridge feels like a warm and comforting hug for your belly. Full of antioxidant- and anti-inflammatory-rich ingredients, it’s a wonderful breakfast to begin your day on a nourishing note. What’s more, thanks to fonio’s nuttiness, the cashews (or your favorite nut or seed of choice) really bring out its flavor, rounding out the taste profile of this hearty breakfast porridge.

2. Fonio, Fennel, and Fruit Salad

Since fonio is a mild grain, you can use it the same way you would quinoa, brown rice, or millet. In this salad, it’s truly a hit! Fonio, Fennel, and Fruit Salad is bursting with juicy and aromatic citrus fruit and berries, lively fennel, and creamy Macadamia Nut Ricotta. The cherry, or should we say the grain on top, is the subtly sweet fonio that ties it all together. If you are new to working with this grain, we highly recommend you give it a try in this refreshing and vibrant salad!

3. Moroccan-Inspired Fonio Pilaf

Fonio is highly versatile. There are so many ways to enjoy its taste, texture, and nutrients — and this Moroccan-inspired Fonio Pilaf will not disappoint! With savory vegetables, cooling mint, nutty pistachios, and healing spices, this is a highly nourishing all-in-one meal that is simple to prepare and a delight to enjoy as a tasty side dish or a delectable main!

The Bottom Line on Fonio

Fonio is a nutritious and versatile whole grain that has a low environmental impact. It also tastes delicious, cooks quickly, and provides many nutrients that are crucial to human health. Plus, it’s gluten-free and so is suitable for those with Celiac disease or gluten sensitivity.

Unfortunately, farmers face many challenges growing fonio because demand is unpredictable, and it’s labor-intensive to harvest and thresh. While some technology is now available to lessen that burden, until demand grows, few farmers will be able to afford to use these machines to increase production.

Increasing awareness of and demand for fonio in industrialized countries can be a win-win. Not only does the crop have the potential to improve the nutritional status of those populations, but increased demand may translate into funding to make harvesting and processing more efficient. If done in an environmentally low-impact way, this could pave the way for greater economic opportunities for farmers in West Africa.

If being a part of that solution sounds good to you, check out the recipes included above and consider making fonio a part of your life.

Tell us in the comments:

• Had you heard of fonio before reading this? If so, where did you first come across it?

• What is the most interesting thing about fonio that you discovered in this article?

• Which fonio recipe will you try?

Featured Image: iStock.com/Karisssa

Read Next:

• Teff: The Tiny but Mighty Grain Worth Knowing About

The post What Is Fonio? Get to Know This Ancient Supergrain from Africa appeared first on Food Revolution Network.

Well, that’s the experience I just had researching this article about figs. I thought I knew a lot about this yummy fruit until I started digging into the topic. Spoiler alert: They’re not even fruits! And when I discovered how they get pollinated — that’s a drama worthy of a Game of Thrones episode!

But aside from their storied pollination method, figs have a lot to offer. In addition to being a delicious food, figs have also traditionally been used for healing and for some very practical purposes. For countless generations, people around the world have made poultices from fresh or dried figs, fig leaves, and fig wines. Fig stems and leaves contain latex. And, of course, fig leaves have served as, well, strategically placed garments since the Garden of Eden (at least according to some Renaissance painters).

You can also find mention of figs in both the Bible and the Quran. Biblical writers often use figs as metaphors for the physical and spiritual health of the people, with phrases like “everyone under their own vine and under their own fig tree” depicting a time of peace and prosperity. The Quran quotes the prophet Muhammad as telling his followers to eat the fig “as it cures various diseases.”

In this article, we’re going to focus on the culinary uses of figs. We’ll explore what figs are, how they taste (and how they differ from dates), the nutritional value of fresh vs dried, and their health benefits and downsides.

We’ll also look at how they get pollinated (so dramatic!), and if that process might render figs unfit for a vegan diet.

What Are Figs?

Fig trees (or Ficus carica) are native to the Mediterranean region and were one of the first plants to be cultivated.

Figs are members of the mulberry family, which, contrary to the nursery rhyme, is mostly populated by trees, not bushes to “go ‘round and ‘round.” (Other family members include the banyan, breadfruit, jackfruit, and Osage orange.)

A fig fruit (which, again, is not really a fruit) is known as a syconium. According to the Ecological Society of America, “a fig is not actually a fruit; it is an inflorescence — a cluster of many flowers and seeds contained inside a bulbous stem.” And as we’ll see, it’s that structure that makes its pollination so darn interesting.

Because the fig flower is arranged so unusually, the seeds — which are actually the ovaries of the fig — can’t be pollinated by ordinary flying insects like bees, moths, and butterflies. Instead, it requires a pollinator with the skills of a safecracker who can operate in dark, confined quarters (more on that later).

Types of Figs

There are more than 750 different varieties of fig. Some of the types you’re likely to encounter include Adriatic, Black Mission, Turkish/Brown Turkey, Calimyrna, Kadota, Celeste, and Tiger. Different types have different flavor profiles, and feature in a variety of dishes, from sweet desserts to more savory fare.

The most common dried figs in the US are Black Mission and Golden, both of which are grown in California.

Figs are light green as they grow. They may remain green or change color as they ripen, ranging from yellow to brown to dark purple, depending on the cultivar.

The Differences Between Figs and Dates

Figs and dates are two very different foods that people sometimes get confused with one another, kind of like the actors who play Harry Potter and Frodo. Here are some key differences. Frodo didn’t go to Hogwarts — oops, I mean, here are some key differences between figs and dates.

While figs originated in the Mediterranean region, dates are native to several geographical locations, including North America. Figs grow on trees, while dates are the fruits of palm trees, which are technically grasses and not trees (this is such a genus-bending article!).

Furthermore, figs grow on fig tree branches, while dates grow in clusters on offshoots from the main trunk of the palm tree. Dates contain a single pit, while figs have many small edible seeds.

When it comes to eating the fruits, they’re also quite different. Figs have three times the amount of water as dates, which also makes them much lower in calories (about four times lower, if you’re counting). So dates are a much more concentrated source of carbohydrates, mostly in the form of simple sugars. Dates are also richer sources of some minerals, such as calcium and potassium.

Nutrients in Figs

The good news is figs deliver a lot of essential nutrients. The predominant macronutrient (the one that provides calories) is carbohydrates, but they’re also rich in some vitamins and organic acids. As whole plant foods, they also provide important dietary fiber.

According to the US National Nutrient Database, two medium raw figs contain roughly 3 grams of fiber. Doing the math, this means that if you ate just 8 figs a day and nothing else, you’d still get about half as much fiber as the average US resident consumes in a day. (To be clear, I am NOT recommending the “8 Fig a Day Diet,” although someone could probably write a best-selling diet book with that title.)

However, some researchers have measured much greater amounts of fiber in different fig cultivars. According to the American Botanical Council, two fresh or 4–5 dried figs provide a whopping 12 grams of fiber.

So we have credible authorities telling us that two figs provide 3 grams of fiber, while others say the correct figure is 12 grams of fiber. It reminds me of the old saying, “A person with one watch knows what time it is. A person with two watches… is never quite sure.” So for now, let’s just say that figs are high (potentially very high!) in fiber, and leave it to the good folks at the US National Nutrient Database and the American Botanical Council to duke it out on the details.

Figs are a good source of many bioactive phytonutrients, too, including flavonoids, phenolic acids, carotenoids, and tocopherols.

(Here’s a fun article all about flavonoids, which starts with a weird story about a bunch of soldiers trying to cross a bridge.)

They’re also solid sources of potassium, calcium, sodium, magnesium, and phosphorus. What’s more, figs provide essential trace elements, including iron, manganese, zinc, and copper.

You’ll get the most nutrients if you don’t peel your figs; the highest concentrations of phytonutrients are in their skin. And darker fig varieties contain more polyphenols and antioxidant power than lighter ones.

Figs also lose some phytonutrients when dried. Studies show a loss of 29% to as much as 86% of the polyphenol content when figs are dried.

Health Benefits of Figs

In the Middle East and Mediterranean regions, figs have long been revered for their contributions to human health and longevity. The fruit, leaves, latex, bark, and roots of fig trees have been used to treat gastrointestinal, respiratory, inflammatory, and cardiovascular disorders, as well as ulcerative diseases and cancers. The various parts of the fig tree possess a wide variety of properties; they can help you poop, relax muscle spasms, fight viruses and bacteria, bring down high blood sugar, and even help your body expel parasites.

And modern scientific research has only added to our understanding of the power of figs to promote health.

Figs and Gut Health

When patients with irritable bowel syndrome add figs to their diet, they often experience decreased symptom occurrence and severity. A 2019 study gave IBS patients 90 grams of dried figs per day for four months. Compared to controls who didn’t get anything, the fig-enhanced group had reduced frequency of pain, less intestinal distention, more frequent pooping, and softer stools. Unsurprisingly, they also reported “a significant increase in quality of life.”

In a 2018 animal study, rats with induced ulcerative colitis were fed a liquid extract containing figs. The treatment had a natural laxative effect but did not lead to diarrhea, and it improved their gastrointestinal functioning. (Our view on the use of animals in medical research is here.)

Figs and Diabetes

Figs (and fig leaves) can also be deployed to treat diabetes. A 1998 study found that people with type 1 diabetes who drank tea made from fig leaves were able to lower their blood sugar immediately following meals. And a 2019 study showed that a fig leaf decoction was able to lower blood sugar in people with type 2 diabetes by about half as much as the drug metformin (after two months of treatment).

It’s not just the leaves, though — fig fruits contain a compound called abscisic acid (which should definitely be included in spelling bees) that has been shown to reduce blood sugar levels after meals.

Figs and Cognitive Decline

Studies with experimental animals have shown that figs may help us stay sharp and avoid or delay cognitive decline. One animal study compared the effects of a diet that included figs to a fig-free diet in mice that were genetically engineered to develop Alzheimer’s disease. The mice who ate figs did better on memory tests, displayed fewer anxiety behaviors, learned new things more quickly and fully, and had better motor coordination. Furthermore, the fig-eating mice had lower levels of the toxic amyloid beta proteins that are associated with the development of Alzheimer’s disease.

Are Figs Vegan?

This may seem like an odd question, but remember that Game of Thrones reference from earlier? It turns out, fig tree pollination is a bit controversial.

You see, there are two types of fig trees: wild and cultivated. And wild-growing fig trees require pollination to bear fruit. The critters that have volunteered for the job are fig wasps, a term that describes any of several hundred different, mosquito-like tiny creatures from the Agaonidae family. Each species of fig wasp pollinates only one variety of fig.

Basically, here’s how it works.

A female wasp, loaded with pollen, flies to an unripe fig and burrows into its center to deposit her eggs. While she’s doing this, two things happen. One, she spreads her pollen onto the female flowers. And two, the effort of fighting her way through the flower strips her of her wings.

Now the fig goes to work, building structures called galls over the wasp eggs and producing seeds in the flowers that don’t contain the eggs. Meanwhile, the mama wasp dies, whereupon her exoskeleton is dissolved by figgy enzymes. (Cue the emotional orchestral music.)

The heroic male wasps hatch first, and travel around the syconium fertilizing their sisters who are still pupating in their galls. (This is definitely HBO-worthy stuff!) Then they dig holes through which the fertilized females can escape with their wings intact. Once the females hatch, they fly off to repeat the process, leaving the males to die in the maturing fig.

Pretty intense family drama, huh?

As a result, some vegans do not eat figs because they don’t want to consume dead wasps, and also because animals died as part of the process that produced them. However, there’s good news if you want to adhere to a vegan diet and still enjoy delicious figginess.

First, the wasps are completely dissolved by the plant enzymes, so you are not likely to encounter a dead insect in your fig. And second, almost all figs produced and sold in the US are of the cultivated variety and are self-pollinating. This means they don’t need the sacrificial services of the fig wasps, and are considered vegan-friendly.

Fig Downsides

Aside from the fig wasp controversy, there are some other things about figs to consider. For one, some people may have to avoid them because of allergic reactions, including oral allergy syndrome. The latex in the plant may also be a source of irritation and allergy, especially if you’re harvesting figs.

Also dried (but not fresh) figs are high in compounds called salicylates, which may cause swelling, itching, hives, worsened asthma, and food intolerance symptoms in people who are sensitive to them.

The other thing about figs is that it takes a lot of water to grow them. Although they’re not as needy as some other crops like citrus, almonds, alfalfa, and pasture grasses, in places straining under multiyear droughts, such as California and Spain, this can be a problem.

On the other hand, fig trees, like almond trees, are drought tolerant, so they can be a good solution in some cases. While they may not bear fruit during times of drought, they can survive until the rains return. There are several strategies growers can implement, including mulching, thinning fruit to help the remaining fruit develop fully, and protecting trees with shade cloth during the hottest parts of the day.

One other challenge with growing figs, and I say this from personal experience, is that for some reason gophers love their roots. So if you aim to grow a fig tree, it may be wise to place a wire gopher barrier in the planting hole to protect the root ball from those sharp little teeth.

Overall, growing figs appear to be a net positive for the environment. Offsetting their water needs and their moderate carbon footprint, they don’t require heavy use of pesticides. Plus, fig trees sequester carbon in their biomass, keeping it out of the air and not contributing to the climate crisis.

We Dig Figs!

As you’ve probably gathered by now, figs are pretty unique! Their biology is fascinating, and the saga of their pollination is dramatic, to say the least. They also offer a wide range of essential nutrients and health benefits. From their versatile culinary uses to their historical uses as healing agents, figs have proven themselves valuable partners to the humans who have loved, cultivated, and revered them for millennia.

If you’re inspired to add more figgy goodness to your diet, we’ve got you covered: Here’s an article all about different ways of preparing and eating figs.

Tell us in the comments:

• What’s the most surprising fig fact you got from this article?

• Can you find fresh figs where you live? If so, what do you do with them?

• Have you ever planted a fig tree?

Featured Image: iStock.com/SGAPhoto

Read Next:

• Are Dates Good For You, or the Planet?
• Are Grapes Good for You?

The post Figs: Are They Good for You and the Planet? appeared first on Food Revolution Network.

You’ve just finished a cup of coffee at your favorite cafe. Now you’re facing a trash bin, a recycling bin, and a compost bin. What’s the most planet-friendly thing to do with your cup?

Many of us would opt for the recycling bin — but that’s often the wrong choice. In order to hold liquids, most paper coffee cups are made with a thin plastic lining, which makes separating these materials and recycling them difficult.

In fact, the most sustainable option isn’t available at the trash bin. It happens earlier, before you’re handed a disposable cup in the first place.

In our research on waste behavior, sustainability, engineering design, and decision-making, we examine what US residents understand about the efficacy of different waste management strategies and which of those strategies they prefer. In two nationwide surveys in the US that we conducted in October 2019 and March 2022, we found that people overlook waste reduction and reuse in favor of recycling. We call this tendency recycling bias and reduction neglect.

Our results show that a decades-long effort to educate the US public about recycling has succeeded in some ways but failed in others. These efforts have made recycling an option that consumers see as important — but to the detriment of more sustainable options. And it has not made people more effective recyclers.

Caption: Recycling rules vary widely across the US, leaving consumers to figure out what to do.

A Global Waste Crisis

Experts and advocates widely agree that humans are generating waste worldwide at levels that are unmanageable and unsustainable. Microplastics are polluting the earth’s most remote regions and amassing in the bodies of humans and animals.

Producing and disposing of goods is a major source of greenhouse gas emissions and a public health threat, especially for vulnerable communities that receive large quantities of waste. New research suggests that even when plastic does get recycled, it produces staggering amounts of microplastic pollution.

Given the scope and urgency of this problem, in June 2023, the United Nations convened talks with government representatives from around the globe to begin drafting a legally binding pact aimed at stemming harmful plastic waste. Meanwhile, many US cities and states are banning single-use plastic products or restricting their use.

Caption: On March 30, 2023, the UN declared the first International Day of Zero Waste to raise awareness of the importance of zero waste and responsible consumption and production.

Upstream and Downstream Solutions

Experts have long recommended tackling the waste problem by prioritizing source reduction strategies that prevent the creation of waste in the first place, rather than seeking to manage and mitigate its impact later. The US Environmental Protection Agency and other prominent environmental organizations like the UN Environment Programme use a framework called the waste management hierarchy that ranks strategies from most to least environmentally preferred.

The familiar waste management hierarchy urges people to “Reduce, Reuse, Recycle” in that order. Creating items that can be recycled is better from a sustainability perspective than burning them in an incinerator or burying them in a landfill, but it still consumes energy and resources. In contrast, reducing waste generation conserves natural resources and avoids other negative environmental impacts throughout a product’s life.

R’s Out of Place

In our surveys, participants completed a series of questions and tasks that elicited their views of different waste strategies. In response to open-ended questions about the most effective way to reduce landfill waste or solve environmental issues associated with waste, participants overwhelmingly cited recycling and other downstream strategies.

We also asked people to rank the four strategies of the Environmental Protection Agency’s waste management hierarchy from most to least environmentally preferred. In that order, they include source reduction and reuse; recycling and composting; energy recovery, such as burning trash to generate energy; and treatment and disposal, typically in a landfill. More than three out of four participants (78%) ordered the strategies incorrectly.

When they were asked to rank the reduce/reuse/recycle options in the same way, participants fared somewhat better, but nearly half (46%) still misordered the popular phrase.

Finally, we asked participants to choose between just two options — waste prevention and recycling. This time, over 80% of participants understood that preventing waste was much better than recycling.

Recycling Badly

While our participants defaulted to recycling as a waste management strategy, they did not execute it very well.

This isn’t surprising, since the current US recycling system puts the onus on consumers to separate recyclable materials and keep contaminants out of the bin. There is a lot of variation in what can be recycled from community to community, and this standard can change frequently as new products are introduced and markets for recycled materials shift.

Our second study asked participants to sort common consumer goods into virtual recycling, compost, and trash bins and then say how confident they were in their choices. Many people placed common recycling contaminants, including plastic bags (58%), disposable coffee cups (46%), and light bulbs (26%), erroneously — and often confidently — in the virtual recycling bins. For a few materials, such as cardboard and aluminum foil, the correct answer can vary depending on the capacities of local waste management systems.

This is known as wishcycling — placing non-recyclable items in the recycling stream in the hope or belief that they will be recycled. Wishcycling creates additional costs and problems for recyclers, who have to sort the materials, and sometimes results in otherwise recyclable materials being landfilled or incinerated instead.

Although our participants were strongly biased toward recycling, they weren’t confident that it would work. Participants in our first survey were asked to estimate what fraction of plastic has been recycled since plastic production began. According to a widely cited estimate, the answer is just 9%. Our respondents thought that 25% of plastic had been recycled — more than expert estimates but still a low amount. And they correctly reasoned that a majority of it has ended up in landfills and the environment.

Empowering Consumers to Cut Waste

Postconsumer waste is the result of a long supply chain with environmental impacts at every stage. However, US policy and corporate discourse focus on consumers as the main source of waste, as implied by the term “post-consumer waste.”

Other approaches put more responsibility on producers by requiring them to take back their products for disposal, cover recycling costs, and design and produce goods that are easy to recycle effectively. These approaches are used in some sectors in the US, including lead-acid car batteries and consumer electronics, but they are largely voluntary or mandated at the state and local levels.

When we asked participants in our second study where change could have the most impact and where they felt they could have the most impact as individuals, they correctly focused on upstream interventions. But they felt they could only affect the system through what they chose to purchase and how they subsequently disposed of it — in other words, acting as consumers, not as citizens.

As waste-related pollution accumulates worldwide, corporations continue to shame and blame consumers rather than reduce the amount of disposable products they create. In our view, recycling is not a get-out-of-jail-free card for overproducing and consuming goods, and it is time that the US stopped treating it as such.

Tell us in the comments:

• How do you reduce your consumption on a regular basis?

• Were you aware of the issues with recycling?

• How else can companies and institutions become more sustainable?

Featured Image: iStock.com/Portra

Read Next:

• Recycling: Guidelines, Challenges, & Resources
• Zero Waste Kitchen Tips for the Modern World

The post Decades of Public Messages About Recycling in the US Have Crowded Out More Sustainable Ways to Manage Waste appeared first on Food Revolution Network.

But that doesn’t mean the concept is new, nor does it apply solely to humans. People around the world have also known that some plants, when grown together, perform better than when on their own. They can grow faster and bigger, taste better, and require less care and fewer external inputs.

That’s not how the vast majority of crops are grown these days. Large-scale commercial agriculture relies on a method called monocropping, in which huge fields contain a single species year after year.

It makes sense from an industrial perspective. By having only one crop, everything can be standardized, from sowing to watering to weeding to applying biocides to harvesting. Theoretically, monocropping provides bigger yields with fewer costs.

In practice, it turns out that monocropping is something of an environmental disaster. Its downsides include increased global food insecurity, more reliance on potentially carcinogenic biocides, and harmful climate impacts.

While replacing monocropping as an agricultural system will take time and require large-scale changes in attitudes and knowledge, you can contribute to a more earth-friendly and effective form of growing crops if you have access to a garden of just about any size.

And like the ’86 Mets, your garden crops can exceed expectations and come out of the ground as champions if you allow them to support each other. A simple way to begin is known as companion planting.

In this article, we’ll explore which plants grow well together, and why. You’ll see how plants with very different qualities and requirements can do some of the work usually performed by the gardener — including weeding and chasing away predators. And you’ll discover some natural ways to deter pests without depending on toxic pesticides.

So let’s find out how companion planting works, what the benefits are, and which edible plants work well together for a flourishing and nourishing harvest. Whether you’re a novice gardener with a few potted plants or someone looking to create a vibrant backyard vegetable garden, companion planting has something to offer.

A Brief History of Companion Planting

Growing crops together for their — and our — mutual benefit is not a new idea. Although many gardeners and small-scale farmers are just now discovering the benefits, for thousands of years, companion planting has been integral to the well-being of many Indigenous peoples.

The benefits have been material, in terms of more abundant and nutritious harvests, and spiritual, in terms of a philosophy of life that nurtures community. In one of the best-known examples of companion planting, many Indigenous groups in North and Central America sow corn, beans, and squash together.

The Haudenosaunee Confederation (you might know them as the Iroquois) of upstate New York and the Cherokee of the Southeastern US call them the three sisters, noting that like family members, the three crops share their unique gifts in ways that support each other.

While modern life often emphasizes individualism, Indigenous wisdom shows us that planting a diversity of crops together ensures a diversity of life — and nutrients. Diversity really is one of the cornerstones of healthy life. Having a variety of crops growing in a single bed or field acts as a safety net against diseases or pests that could decimate any single crop.

What Is Companion Planting?

Now that we’ve explored the philosophy of companion planting, it’s time to get practical.

Companion planting is the practice of growing two (or more) crops/plants near each other so that one or both benefit from a synergy. These can include fruits, vegetables, herbs, and even flowers. Some companion planting occurs simultaneously, such as the three sisters. Sometimes one crop is sown near the end of another crop’s growing season (a more advanced form of companion planting known as intercropping).

An example of intercropping is when peas are sown into existing spinach beds in the very early spring. The peas get a head start without ripping out the spinach, and as legumes, they add nitrogen to the soil. By midsummer, the bolted spinach stems support the growing pea vines. These types of efficiencies are frequently used in organic farming methods as they improve pest resistance and increase yield.

Companion planting isn’t just a Native American innovation; examples can be found all around the globe. Traditional European cultures also developed modes of companion planting whose use goes back to medieval times, if not earlier.

For example, French and English farmers still grow “potager” gardens consisting of fruits and vegetables sown in an ornamental layout and protected by surrounding rows of herbs and flowers. These potager beds were so named because they contained everything needed for “potage,” a healthy soup eaten at the start of the daily meal.

Benefits of Companion Planting

So what exactly are the benefits of companion planting? Why might you want different crops to share space in your garden? Here are a few of the biggest ones.

Pest Control

Since synthetic pesticides are such an integral part of modern agriculture, it’s easy to forget that they’ve only been in widespread use since the end of World War II. Before that, farmers had to rely on companion planting, among other natural methods, to control pests.

Plants use a variety of strategies to protect themselves from predators. One is to produce compounds that the critters who might munch on them find yucky tasting or toxic. And different plants produce scents and tastes to deter specific pests. So combining multiple crops in a small area can create “broad-spectrum” deterrence that benefits all of them.

You can “hide” certain crops next to other ones that have powerful scents. Herbs like rosemary and flowers such as marigold can perfume the air and camouflage crops such as white cabbage that might otherwise end up as a tasty treat for some very hungry caterpillars.

You can also engineer the process in reverse, planting crops that attract beneficial insects that eat the bugs that would otherwise love to eat your crops. Some of these good predators pull double duty as plant pollinators, which can increase the yields of some fruits and vegetables.

It’s not just teeny critters that can be deterred by companion plants. If you’ve ever grown corn in an area that’s home to raccoons and you don’t have military-grade fencing, you’ve probably experienced some vandalism. (Maybe you’ve even woken up to entire beds of stalks lying broken on the ground, the almost-ripe ears nibbled and left to rot — a situation that can try the compassion of the most committed vegan!) In a three sisters’ bed, the prickly squash leaves deter the raccoons from climbing and destroying the corn stalks.

Essentially, more plant diversity in an area equals less pest damage.

Mutual Support

Companion plants can offer structural support to each other. Taller plants serve as living trellises, offering support for climbing plants that need something to climb. In the three sisters, corn serves as a trellis for the beans. But also, beans can provide stability for the corn, which has very shallow roots. (It reminds me of a Mitch Hedberg standup routine: “My belt holds my pants up, but the belt loops hold my belt up. I don’t really know what’s happening down there. Who is the real hero?”)

There are many other structural pairings that can work. Okra can hold up cucumbers and cherry tomato bushes, and sunflowers can provide scaffolding for baby pumpkins and small summer squashes.

Planting taller and shorter crops together can extend the growing season of the smaller plants by giving them some shade and relief from the heat of late summer. This can keep them from bolting or wilting.

Soil Health and Nutrition

All living things require nutrients, which get cycled from soil to plants to animals and back to soil in a continuous loop. When you grow different plants near each other, you can accelerate and expand that nutrient cycling.

For example, some deep-rooted plants like comfrey and dandelion pull nutrients from lower layers of soil — nutrients that are out of reach of short-rooted crops like lettuce. Other nutrient accumulators include chives, parsley, and daikon radish.

Comfrey is especially useful as a “mulch crop,” meaning you can just cut off its thick green leaves and lay them down over the soil, where they not only discourage weeds and maintain soil moisture but deliver their nutrients to the topsoil as they decompose.

Another classic companion planting benefit involves nitrogen. This element is a bit of a paradox when it comes to gardening: Even though the air is about 80% nitrogen, it can be in short supply in the soil. And nitrogen is not a gardening negotiable; plants require it in order to photosynthesize and grow.

Fortunately for the plants (and for all life on earth that depends on them — no nitrogen, no protein), some species of plants have developed the ability to convert atmospheric nitrogen into a form that plants can use, a trick known as nitrogen fixation.

The vast majority of nitrogen-fixers are legumes, which include peas and beans, greens like alfalfa and clover, and peanuts. And technically, to give credit where credit is due, the legumes themselves don’t turn the nitrogen you breathe into the nitrogen plants use to grow; they partner with certain types of bacteria that grow on their root nodules who have the knack.

Including nitrogen fixers in your garden can benefit neighboring crops that require high nitrogen levels. This can reduce or even eliminate the need for chemical fertilizers that can damage the environment and make your soil less fertile and more dependent on chemicals over time.

Another way companion planting can improve soil health is by combining deep-rooted and shallow-rooted plants in the same bed, a strategy that can enhance soil structure. If your soil is compacted or has lumps of clay, for example, plant roots can muscle through and aerate the soil. And when those plants die, their roots decompose and add nourishing organic matter to improve soil tilth and fertility.

Also, having a diversity of plants in a single bed fosters a highly diverse soil microbiome. Each plant attracts its own unique microbes. And those microbes promote nutrient cycling, breaking down organic matter into nutrients the plants can absorb and use. Mycorrhizal fungi form symbiotic relationships with plant roots, helping the plants gather nutrients from a greater surface area and convert those nutrients into a usable form in exchange for carbohydrates.

And planting crops close together can protect the surface of the soil from erosion caused by wind and water.

Flavor Enhancement

If you’ve ever hung around someone who talked in a very distinctive way or had a catchphrase they repeated a lot, you may have found yourself mimicking them without meaning to. Plants are the same way — their flavors can affect each other.

Scientists have recently discovered that plants talk to each other, sharing intel on resources and potential threats so that they can make informed decisions on where to put their energy. One of the main channels of such communications is the exudates (compounds secreted by the roots) that can impact the growth and flavor of neighboring plants.

For example, when aromatic herbs are planted near certain vegetables, they can infuse their neighbors with a hint of their distinctive flavors. Basil improves the taste of tomatoes. Dill goes with potatoes not just in salad, but in the garden as well. And marjoram is a good friend to eggplant.

Sometimes the influence is one-way, but some plant combinations have a synergistic effect on each other’s biochemical processes, leading to enhanced flavor profiles all around.

Weed Control

I remember when I realized for the first time that nobody weeds the forest, and yet it’s not covered with weeds. That’s because every inch (or centimeter, in my country of birth, Canada) of ground is already covered with something.

The reason the beds of annual gardens are such weed magnets is that they’re very unnatural. The act of tilling renders the soil unprotected from the many seeds that can blow in on the wind, drop out of the backsides of birds, or lay dormant in the ground until that gap opens up and oxygen floods in.

When companion planting involves cover crops or green mulch, it can prevent those seeds from taking root or from receiving enough sunlight to start growing. Cover crops can compete directly with weeds, both while they’re growing and after they’ve finished producing.

And when companion plants allow for denser planting, there are fewer nutrients and less sunlight available for the unwanted plants we call weeds. And some companion plants secrete chemicals that inhibit the germination of weed seeds, but not the seeds of the companion.

Common Fruits and Vegetables and the Companion Plants That Benefit Them

Things to Keep in Mind Before Trying Companion Planting

Start with flowers as companions. Growing flowers near your crops can help attract the insects that will pollinate fruit and veggie plants. They can also repel bugs and other critters that would love nothing more than the opportunity to eat your harvest before you do.

Marigolds, nasturtiums, and sunflowers are common flowers included in vegetable gardens because they work well with a variety of plants. And nasturtium leaves and flowers are edible (sweet and redolent of black pepper, if you ask me), as are sunflower seeds.

In terms of spacing, plant the companions as close together as possible without interfering with the growth of either plant. Think about how much root space they require, and whether they’ll start competing for sunlight. With some combos, you may need to split the difference between their spacings in order to optimize the benefit to both plants.

Always go for variety. A diversity of plant species will attract pollinators and beneficial insects as well as prevent disease and fungus from wiping out crops of the same family. A 2018 study of urban rice fields in Shanghai found that adding border plantings and companions to the rice reduced the need for pesticides while increasing both yields and profits.

Finally, think like a matchmaker and look for signs of compatibility when assigning plants to beds. Choose companion plants that are compatible in terms of growth habits, water and sunlight requirements, and overall nutrient and soil needs.

It’s not always a jungle out there, but while some plants thrive together, others will compete for resources.

And for extra credit, plan your garden layout to include plants with staggered planting and harvesting times. This ensures a continuous supply of fresh produce throughout the growing season, as well as minimizing empty spaces that pests or weeds might exploit, or that might be prone to soil erosion.

Recipes Using Companion Plants

Get ready to have some tasty and nourishing fun with your companion planting harvest. While the culinary options are endless, we created a few delicious recipes to help those creative juices flow when it comes to figuring out what to do with the fruits and vegetables that grow best together. What makes these recipes (and companion planting itself) even more special is that each plant companion enhances the flavor of the other — making each dish even more appealing and delicious!

1. Veggie Scrap Bouillon

Have you found that when you grow alliums (onions, garlic, leeks, chives) they just keep coming? Well, if you have a surplus of these aromatic plants, a great way to use them is with our Veggie Scrap Bouillon. This easy-to-make recipe requires just a handful of ingredients and a food processor to transform vegetable scraps into a whole-food veggie paste. Plus, this recipe is companion-planting friendly, so feel free to swap out some of the ingredients for any other veggies you’d like to use in a wholesome vegetable broth!

2. Strawberry Spinach Salad

We love few things more together than the sweet and earthy pairing of spinach and strawberries in a fresh garden salad. Vibrant and fresh green leafy spinach and bright and juicy red strawberries are the perfect way to show off your garden harvest. When you toss them together with crunchy pecans and umami red onion, it makes a wholesome plant-pals dish!

3. Watermelon Radish and Cucumber Carpaccio

Cucumber and radish are a hydrating, calming, and nourishing duo that is a delight to plant together. Not only do they make great growing partners, but they become tasty best friends in this recipe, too! This dish is vibrant, refreshing, and nourishing and is perfect to serve as a flavorful appetizer or light side after a fun day of gardening!

4. Summer Squash, Lima Bean, and Corn Medley

Summer Squash, Lima Bean, and Corn Medley is an outstanding vibrant, fresh, and colorful dish to enjoy the flavors of summer. What makes this dish so special is the balance of flavors and sweetness thanks, in part, to these three crops. Beans, corn, and squash are a natural pairing, which is why they also make wonderful planting companions in your garden.

5. Grilled Mediterranean Eggplant “Steaks”

Eggplant, tomatoes, and parsley make a tasty trio in this mouthwatering Grilled Mediterranean Eggplant “Steaks” recipe. Not only are they stellar in this recipe, they are best buds in the garden, too! Eggplant, tomatoes, parsley, and a few other crops grow well together, so if you are curious about the benefits of companion planting, give these wholesome plants a try!

Plants Need Companions, Too!

By choosing plants that naturally support one another, you not only cultivate a beautiful garden but also nurture an ecosystem of mutual benefit among plants. From deterring pests and enhancing flavors to nurturing soil health and creating mutual support, you can create a gardening world full of connections.

From ancient traditions to modern organic farms, this practice has woven itself into the fabric of sustainable gardening, offering a natural approach to cultivating the vibrant, harmonious garden of your dreams. Let us take inspiration from proven Indigenous practices like companion planting, and emulate the natural harmony that exists in the natural world in our own gardens.

Tell us in the comments:

• Have you tried companion planting in a garden?

• Which species did you pair?

• What companion crops are you inspired to try together in your next garden?

Featured Image: iStock.com/andreswd

Read Next:

• Starting a Food Garden: How Growing Your Own Vegetables Can Ease Food Supply Anxiety & Support Health

The post Companion Planting: Your Guide to Knowing What Plants Grow Well Together appeared first on Food Revolution Network.

We know that meat has a substantial impact on the planet and that plant-based diets are more environmentally sustainable. But exactly how much impact does the food we eat have on environmental outcomes, and what difference would following a vegan diet make compared to consuming a high-meat, or even low-meat diet?

We studied 55,000 people’s dietary data and linked what they ate or drank to five key measures: greenhouse gas emissions, land use, water use, water pollution, and biodiversity loss. Our results are now published in Nature Food. We found that vegans have just 30% of the dietary environmental impact of high-meat eaters.

The dietary data came from a major study into cancer and nutrition that has been tracking the same people (about 57,000 in total across the UK) for more than two decades. Those who participated in our study reported what they ate and drank over 12 months, and we then classified them into six different groups: vegan, vegetarian, fish eaters, and low-, medium-, and high-meat eaters based on their self-reported dietary habits.

We then linked their dietary reports to a dataset containing information on the environmental impact of 57,000 foods. Crucially, the dataset factored in how and where a food is produced — carrots grown in a greenhouse in Spain will have a different impact from those grown in a field in the UK, for instance. This builds on past studies, which tend to assume, for example, that all types of bread, or all steak, or all lasagna have the same environmental impact.

By incorporating more detail and nuance, we were able to show with more certainty that different diets have different environmental impacts. We found that even the least sustainable vegan diet was still more environmentally friendly than the most sustainable meat eater’s diet. In other words, accounting for region of origin and methods of food production does not obscure the differences in the environmental impacts between diet groups.

Vegans vs Carnivores

Unsurprisingly, diets containing more animal-based foods had higher environmental impacts. Per unit of food consumed, meat and dairy have anywhere from three to 100 times the environmental impact of plant-based foods.

This can mean huge differences between the two extremes, vegans and high-meat eaters. Vegans in our study had just 25% of the dietary impact of high-meat eaters in terms of greenhouse gas emissions, for instance. That’s because meat uses more land, which means more deforestation and less carbon stored in trees. It uses lots of fertilizer (usually produced from fossil fuels) to feed the plants that feed the animals. And because cows and other animals directly emit gases themselves.

It’s not just emissions. Compared to the high-meat eaters, vegans also had just 25% of the dietary impact for land use, 46% for water use, 27% for water pollution, and 34% for biodiversity.

Even low-meat diets had only about 70% of the impact across most environmental measures of high-meat diets. This is important: You don’t have to go full vegan or even vegetarian to make a big difference.

Global Impact

These findings are crucial as the food system is estimated to be responsible for around 30% of global greenhouse gas emissions, 70% of the world’s freshwater use, and 78% of freshwater pollution. Around three-quarters of the world’s ice-free land has been affected by human use, primarily for agriculture and land use change such as deforestation, which is a major source of biodiversity loss.

In the UK, meat-eating declined over the decade to 2018, but in order to meet environmental targets, the National Food Strategy and the UK’s Climate Change Committee recommend an additional 30%–35% reduction.

The choices we make about what we eat are personal. They are highly ingrained habits that can be difficult to change. But our study, and others, are continuing to solidify evidence that the food system is having a massive, global environmental and health impact which could be reduced by a transition towards more plant-based diets. We hope that our work can encourage policymakers to take action and people to make more sustainable choices while still eating something nutritious, affordable, and tasty.

Tell us in the comments:

• Does sustainability factor into your food choices?

• Are you surprised by these findings?

• Will these results change how you eat or think about your diet?

Featured Image: iStock.com/Aamulya

The post Vegan Diet Has Just 30% of the Environmental Impact of a High-Meat Diet, Major Study Finds appeared first on Food Revolution Network.

If so, you might be a plant-based eater. Or (are you sitting down right now?) you might instead adhere to quite the opposite: a carnivore diet.

Carnivore diets — and yes, there are several — have surged in popularity in the last few years. Starting on the far fringe of nutrition and wellness, the carnivore movement has burst more into the mainstream through books by doctors, publicity on podcasts, and testimonials from popular wellness influencers and online personalities.

While low-carb diets are nothing new (Atkins, South Beach, and keto are all examples), carnivore diets take this trend to a whole new level. Instead of just low-carb, many of them are “zero-carb,” promoting the exclusive consumption of animal-derived foods while shunning most (or all) plants.

Carnivore diet advocates claim that eating nothing but animals is the optimal way for humans to eat. They believe that by doing so, you can achieve your ideal weight, grow big muscles, alleviate autoimmune disease, cure brain fog, and improve your digestion. And if the diet seems extremely limiting, don’t worry; advocates believe you can still get every nutrient you need from animal products alone.

So in this article, let’s explore if there is any scientific basis for these carnivore claims. And while we’re at it, we’ll also look at the diet’s environmental impact. Rather than fan the flames of this particular culture war, let’s separate fact from fiction to make well-informed decisions about our nutritional paths.

What Is a Carnivore Diet?

A carnivore diet means getting the vast majority (or all) of your calories from animal products. A typical carnivore menu includes red meat, game meat, fish, poultry, and organ meat. Some versions also include dairy and eggs, or small amounts of low-starch vegetables like avocados and cucumbers, while others do not. The diets are either extremely low-carb or often no-carb, which means, by definition, excluding all or most plant-based foods.

Carnivore diets are similar to certain forms of keto (ketogenic) and Paleo (Paleolithic) diets, which are often meat-heavy and plant-poor, but carnivore dieters go an extra step. Instead of meat being the centerpiece of every meal, it’s basically the only piece. This puts eaters into ketosis, the body’s “emergency state” that allows it to convert stored fat (and, in extreme cases, protein) into ketone bodies that can be used for fuel when the body’s preferred fuel, carbohydrates, isn’t available.

But for die-hard carnivores, avoiding plants isn’t just about achieving ketosis. There’s also an avoidance of plants because of “antinutrients,” a refrain also seen with Dr. Steven Gundry’s warnings against lectins.

Proponents of carnivore diets make the case that animal products are easier to digest than plants. Asking followers to “[T]hink about it from a plants [sic] point of view,” Dr. Paul Saladino claims that since plants can’t run away or fight back, they create their own pesticides to deter over-predation. And so animals like us experience compromised health because those compounds mess with our digestion, preventing us from absorbing some nutrients and causing intestinal and immune distress.

But in reality, many animals do eat plants (and thrive off them). And many of the antinutrients in plants have profound health benefits and are mostly eliminated anyway during cooking.

We’ll see in a bit if the facts support or contradict this dietary approach. First, though, let’s go deeper into the weeds — or the organs, if we’re relying on flesh-based metaphors here — to explore the prominent subtypes of carnivore diet you’re likely to encounter.

Carnivore Diet Subtypes

The Carnivore Diet

The “standard issue” Carnivore Diet was popularized by Shawn Baker, a former orthopedic surgeon and diet influencer. Baker had his medical license revoked in 2017 by the New Mexico Medical Board for ethical violations and “incompetence to practice as a licensee.” (To some of his fans this only proves that Baker is a truth-teller fighting a corrupt system.)

Baker’s version of the diet allows the consumption of only meat, fish, and other animal products like eggs and certain dairy products.

The Ancestral Diet

The Ancestral Diet is similar to the Paleo diet but prioritizes meat over all other foods. In a nod to reality, it includes seasonal fruits and vegetables in small amounts. It also allows some dairy and fermented foods. Ancestral Diet adherents characterize it as more than just a diet; they see it as a comprehensive philosophy of living that includes a return to nature.

Pros of the Ancestral Diet include avoidance of processed foods and inclusion, although limited, of some plant-based foods.

The Lion Diet

The Lion Diet is where carnivore meets elimination diets. Those on a Lion Diet limit themselves to beef, salt, and water. It got a lot of press when Mikhaila Peterson, daughter of best-selling Canadian psychologist Jordan Peterson, promoted it as a cure for depression, rheumatoid arthritis, muscle weakness, night sweats, asthma, insomnia, PTSD… and a whole lot more. Jordan Peterson adopted the diet as well, and promoted it on The Joe Rogan Experience podcast and his own popular YouTube channel.

The Nose-to-Tail Diet

The Nose-to-Tail Diet has been popularized by Dr. Paul Saladino and Brian Johnson, an online influencer known as the “Liver King” due to his propensity to consume raw liver on the regular. The muscle-bound Johnson has nothing but scorn for most modern men, whom he accuses of being submissive, sub-primal, and weak. They have been brainwashed to eat vegetables rather than dominate, kill, and eat other species, he argues, and so lead mediocre and unsatisfying lives.

Theories of human development aside, this diet consists of eating all parts of the animal, including organ meats, connective tissue, and bone marrow (essentially nose-to-tail of an animal), as well as some fermented plant foods.

The Plant-Based Backlash

When you listen to the rhetoric of some of the carnivore movement’s most enthusiastic proponents, you might get the idea that, in addition to any health benefit or scientific claim, there’s also a significant element of backlash to plant-based diets.

Traditionally, meat-eating has been associated with masculinity and machismo (although films like The Game Changers are starting to challenge that association), so the rise of plant-based eating has triggered a “culture war” response that goes far beyond nutrition. There’s a lot of name-calling and invitations to settle differences through MMA cage matches, for example.

I haven’t personally been invited into the octagon by a carnivore enthusiast to duke it out, but I do have a number of friends who adopted a carnivore diet approach and initially experienced some of the promised benefits. Their inflammation lessened, and most lost weight — at first.

None of them stuck with it long-term, because they found it — and I’m quoting them all here — “gross.” But still, their stories left me with questions. How could they possibly benefit, even for a short time, from a diet so diametrically opposed to the plant-based diet that most science shows is the healthiest for humans? Isn’t too much meat bad for everything from heart disease to type 2 diabetes to obesity?

Let’s dive in to explore the health claims of carnivore diets, and what the research really says about eating this way.

Health Claims of Carnivore Diets

Carnivore advocates claim a broad array of health benefits. I don’t have the space here to examine every single claim, so I’ll focus on the most common ones: weight loss, brain health, reduced inflammation and remission of autoimmune disease, and improved digestion.

Spoiler alert: The scientific evidence supporting these claims is — and I’m being extremely charitable here — limited and inconclusive. There are no long-term, large-scale clinical trials that specifically examine the effects of carnivore diets on any of these aspects of health. Instead, there are a lot of anecdotes, a few online surveys, and small studies of limited scope and duration.

Carnivore Diets and Weight Loss

Currently, no studies have been conducted that looked at weight loss with carnivore diets. However, the theory that low-carb diets are supposed to lead to weight loss is known as the Carbohydrate-Insulin Model (CIM) of obesity.

Proponents assert that eating carbs triggers a release of insulin, which, according to this model, leads to hunger and overeating, and ultimately, fat storage and excess weight.

One study did show that low-carb diets high in animal foods can lead to weight loss. But, the diet did include some plant foods. The bigger issue, though, was its severe calorie restriction. The study’s average low-carb dieter took in fewer than 1,500 calories per day — an amount that all but guarantees weight loss in most people, regardless of the foods consumed.

A clinical trial published in the prestigious journal Nature Medicine in 2021 tested a low-fat, minimally processed, plant-based diet against a low-carb, minimally processed, animal-based diet.

Participants could eat as much of their assigned diet as they wanted — no limits other than personal preference and satiety. And the results directly contradicted the predictions of the Carbohydrate-Insulin Model. Those eating the low-fat diet consumed almost 700 fewer calories per day than the low-carb eaters. “Despite the large differences in calorie intake,” the researchers reported that “participants (expressed) no differences in hunger, enjoyment of meals, or fullness between the two diets. Participants lost weight on both diets, but only the low-fat diet led to a significant loss of body fat.”

Indeed, other studies have shown that the most weight-loss-friendly foods are, in fact, plants. A study published in the British Journal of Nutrition even concluded that each additional year of adopting a vegan diet decreases the risk of obesity by 7%.

Meanwhile, increased fat intake and high-fat diets (looking at you here, carnivore diets) actually have a strong association with increased body weight and risk of overweight and obesity.

Carnivore Diet and Brain Health

Proponents of carnivore diets often describe better cognitive function and improved mental clarity. But, as of this writing, no scientific studies have been conducted to investigate these claims.

The only evidence I could find was a survey of people who belonged to carnivore groups on social media. Of course, a survey is inherently lacking objectivity in some pretty big ways. For one thing, only people who had been on the diet for at least six months were invited to take the survey. It stands to reason that if someone had a worsening of symptoms after, say, two months — they would probably stop the diet. And, for another, the group of people “surveyed” were themselves members of identity groups that subscribe to the ideology of the diet enough to belong to a group of fellow adherents.

This seems kind of like asking a group of fish if they enjoy swimming; you’re unlikely to get an unbiased opinion.

Nevertheless, in the context of this less-than-objective methodology, many of the survey respondents reported high levels of satisfaction and improvements in overall health and well-being, including cognitive and psychiatric symptoms, which they attributed to their diet.

There are many possible reasons for these alleged improvements. Of course, the carnivore diet could have been helpful, at least in the short run, for this particular collection of people. Or it may be a case of the placebo effect, which can, at least in the short run, lead to dramatic benefits for a great many people.

But mental gains can also be plausibly explained by what carnivore dieters have eliminated: substances like alcohol, refined sugars, and processed foods. It’s not hard to imagine many people feeling better after giving those up.

Diet is one of the key lifestyle factors that can be modified to significantly reduce the risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease. But it’s plant-based diets that contain key nutrients like polyphenols and fiber that protect against the insulin resistance that can lead to Alzheimer’s.

There’s also solid evidence that plant-based foods can boost mood. Plus, the more saturated fat (remember that for most people the vast majority of the saturated fat in their diet comes from animal products) that people consume, the higher their risk of developing neurodegenerative disorders. Mono- and polyunsaturated plant fats, on the other hand, reduce that risk.

If there’s one food that you can think of as a brain superfood, it’s actually leafy greens — although greens are not allowed on a strict carnivore diet. However, in one study, those who ate the most greens were the proud owners of brains that were functionally 11 years younger than those who ate the fewest.

Other brain protectors include berries — eating blueberries and strawberries delayed cognitive decline by two and a half years in one study. Some interpretations of the carnivore diets do allow fruit — ostensibly because plants “want” us to eat their fruit to spread their seeds.

Carnivore Diets, Inflammation, and Autoimmune Conditions

In the same somewhat dubious survey discussed above, some respondents wrote that adopting a carnivore diet led to improvements in various inflammatory conditions. Out of hundreds of survey respondents with prior autoimmune conditions, 10% claimed complete resolution, and another 14% reported improvement.

Mikhaila Peterson also claims she healed her autoimmune issues through the “Lion Diet” and referenced those survey results in her TEDx talk as corroborating evidence. (TEDx refused to publish her talk, explaining that it failed to adhere to their content guidelines and lacked nuance, offering a purely anecdotal experience and no actual scientific evidence.)

A core mechanism of autoimmune disease is a malfunctioning immune system. While we don’t yet understand the causes and initial triggers of many autoimmune conditions, we know that lifestyle choices, particularly related to food, can play a key role in managing and, in some cases, even reversing many of these diseases.

But it’s plant-based diets that have been proven to help with inflammation and autoimmune disease. Meat and high-fat, animal protein-rich diets on the other hand, especially red meat, have consistently been associated with more inflammation.

So how do we reconcile the science with the experience of Mikhaila Peterson and other carnivore diet adherents? It’s possible that a body in an inflamed state could find certain compounds in plants triggering, and that, in some cases, taking a break could provide relief.

But this is not a great long-term solution. Rather than live in a metaphorical “food bubble” in which nothing challenges the chronically inflamed body, the goal should be to bring down inflammation so that eating plants — which offer myriad powerful health benefits — doesn’t cause symptoms. Traditional elimination diets can allow for a more methodical and less draconian approach.

Carnivore Diets and Digestion

A study that is objectively even less rigorous than the social media study already mentioned asked a couple hundred carnivore dieters about their “beliefs and experiences.” Here as well, dieters claimed improvements in inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), and Crohn’s disease.

But again, the vast majority of objective research points to carnivorous dietary patterns contributing to a greater likelihood of IBD, not remission from it.

Advocates of carnivore diets claim that plant foods are high in toxins and harmful compounds like antinutrients, those nasty compounds plants produce to discourage us from eating them.

And it’s true that when isolated from the foods that contain them, antinutrients may lead to some unwanted effects. But when consumed as part of a varied whole foods diet, they participate in diverse and complex interactions with vitamins, minerals, and the gut microbiome, and can actually contribute to significant health benefits.

Another explanation for why some people experience improved digestion during the initial phase of a carnivore diet is the complete absence of fiber. However, if someone was already consuming low amounts of fiber — and only 6% of the US population gets the recommended amount — they likely lacked the microbial diversity required to adequately digest that fiber.

Fiber increases microbial diversity and gut health; studies show those consuming the most fermented and fiber-rich plant foods had a more diverse gut microbiome — and a stronger immune system, with decreased inflammatory markers — compared to those who consumed less.

Meat, of course, contains zero fiber, and therefore a meat-only diet is not a recipe for long-term health. On the contrary, one meta-analysis study found every 10 grams of fiber consumed per day cuts mortality risk by 10%.

Carnivore Diet Risks and Side Effects

We’ve looked at the purported benefits of carnivore diets. But what about the risks? Is there the possibility of unwanted and serious side effects?

In fact, there are many anecdotal reports of unpleasant and sometimes dangerous side effects with extremely low-carb or zero-carb diets. These include diarrhea, constipation, weight gain, muscle cramps, hair loss or thinning, insomnia, dry skin, itchiness, heart rate changes, brittle fingernails, and menstrual irregularity.

Bowel irregularity, whether diarrhea or constipation, is typically caused by a lack of dietary fiber. But many of the other symptoms are attributable to nutritional deficiencies and imbalances that can occur in any extreme diet that lacks diversity. The carnivore diet, in particular, is missing not just fiber but also antioxidants, polyphenols, vitamins, minerals, probiotics, and prebiotics — all of which are essential for good health.

Without vitamin C from fruits, vegetables, or supplements, carnivore dieters are actually at risk for scurvy, putting them in the company of 17th-century British sailors. And vitamin C and other antioxidants are important for combating free radicals in the body. How serious is that? The buildup of free radicals, or “oxidative stress,” is a leading cause of deterioration and disease, including memory loss, autoimmune disease, heart disease, type 2 diabetes, and cancer.

Most dietitians, even those who don’t advocate for plant-based diets, consider carnivore diets dangerous for humans. Animal protein is associated with heart disease and poor markers of metabolic health such as type 2 diabetes, insulin resistance, and nonalcoholic fatty liver disease. Red and processed meats are considered carcinogenic, with particular contributions to colorectal cancer. And as we saw earlier, high animal product consumption is also associated with Alzheimer’s, inflammation, and autoimmune diseases.

Meat also promotes the growth of unfavorable bacteria that leads to the production of TMAO, which inflames the endothelium (the inner lining of blood vessels) and further promotes heart disease.

And high-meat diets can deliver worrisome quantities of heme iron, which has prooxidant effects that promote cardiovascular disease.

Eating plant foods, on the other hand, has consistently contributed to a reduction in chronic diseases like heart disease and cancer while promoting longevity.

All in all, relying almost solely on animal-derived foods goes against most medical and nutrition advice which is that eating more whole plant foods and less meat, eggs, and dairy is actually the healthiest way to eat.

Carnivore Diets’ Environmental Impacts

When we evaluate the health of a diet, it makes sense to look at how it impacts not just the individuals following it, but the planet as a whole. And eating mostly meat has serious implications for the environment.

Adopting a meat-free, and especially beef-free, diet is one of the most powerful things an individual can do to help fight climate change. That’s because animal agriculture is like a protein factory in reverse, cycling amino acids through animals instead of sourcing them directly from plants.

Shifting from animal to plant foods can also significantly decrease the amount of land required for agriculture, which in turn can lower greenhouse gas emissions.

Animal agriculture is a leading cause of deforestation, especially in the Amazon rainforest — one of the most biodiverse regions in the world. Forests are being cut down not just to provide grazing land for cattle, but also to create fields to grow crops that get turned into animal feed. And grass-fed meat is not much better either, as it can use even more land per pound of food produced.

Additionally, most cattle feed in the industrialized world is bioengineered (aka GMO), which contributes to a number of environmental and health problems globally.

At the risk of stating the obvious, eating nothing but animal products is not great for the animals either. More demand for meat means more animals slaughtered to meet that demand. And the overwhelming majority of that meat is produced in factory farms.

Animals so confined are given huge quantities of antibiotics to fatten them up and to keep them alive — drugs that are contributing to the alarming rise in antibiotic-resistant superbugs.

In short, what’s bad for the animals also ends up being bad for us.

Carnivore Diets Are Not Healthy — for People or the Planet

The carnivore diet’s alleged benefits have sparked fierce debate in the wellness world. But the scientific basis for these claims remains limited and inconclusive at best. While some individuals report success alleviating autoimmune conditions and experiencing weight loss through total elimination of carbohydrates, and of course I wish these people nothing but the best of health, there has so far not been a single comprehensive study suggesting that the results are replicable or sustainable.

Given what we do know about nutrition, it seems likely that you can achieve similar or better results using moderate caloric restriction, or with an elimination diet. And both of these methods are likely going to be far more healthful than eating nothing but meat and other animal products.

There are also concerns about potential nutritional deficiencies, chronic disease impact, and environmental ethics of meat-centric diets. From a global perspective, these diets magnify the environmental harms associated with meat production. And by eliminating plant foods, carnivore diet followers are missing out on powerful dietary compounds proven to increase longevity and improve health outcomes.

As researchers continue to investigate the impact of diet on our well-being, it’s evident that incorporating a wide array of nutrient sources, not limiting them, holds the key to promoting both individual health and global sustainability.

Tell us in the comments:

• Do you know anyone who’s adopted a carnivore diet?
• What do you think of the carnivore diet?
• How much do environmental concerns influence what you eat?

Featured Image: iStock.com/Luke Chan

Read Next:

• What’s All Wrong About Annals Of Internal Medicine’s Red and Processed Meat Advice

The post The Carnivore Diet: What the Research Really Says About its Impact on People and the Planet appeared first on Food Revolution Network.

If wasted food is not composted, it ends up in a landfill. There it releases the greenhouse gas methane, which is 21 times more potent than carbon dioxide. What’s more, the bacteria formed from the decay of food in landfills can run off into freshwater, where they form toxic algae blooms that threaten humans, fish, and entire ecosystems. 

What’s shocking is that in the United States alone, 30–40% of fresh produce ends up in the trash due to spoilage. According to the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), approximately 17% of this is happening in restaurants and American households. And, not just to call out the US — food waste is a major issue around the world.

Here’s another shocking statistic: The food that is wasted could feed 1.26 billion hungry people worldwide — every year. 

Given that the amount of wasted food can put a dent in your wallet, contribute to climate change, contaminate freshwater, and potentially feed hungry people, it’s important to consider ways of keeping produce fresh and using up food before it becomes inedible.

How to Keep Produce Fresh in the Fridge

As you watch the accompanying video, you’ll get several tips on how to preserve fresh fruits and vegetables in the refrigerator. 

But one of the most effective tips in keeping produce fresh for longer is to separate out ethylene gas-producing fruits and vegetables. Ethylene-producing produce, like apples and peaches, can accelerate ripening and lead to spoilage of nearby produce. So unless you want to ripen something quickly, store these produce items in the crisper drawer of your refrigerator either in a designated produce bag or paper bag to keep them separate. 

A note about your crisper drawer — it’s designed to have just enough humidity and air circulation to prevent things from going limp and losing moisture. Some refrigerators may have drawers that allow you to adjust the humidity or temperature separately. But in general, the rule is vegetables prefer high humidity, and fruit prefer low humidity.

The take-home message? Use your crisper drawer for what it’s made for — produce storage (not for storing your plant-based cheese or leftover soup!). 

While we’re on the topic of moisture, it’s a tricky thing when it comes to storing your produce. Somewhat like Goldilocks and the Three Bears — you want just the right amount of moisture to prevent produce from drying up, but not too much to cause it to get slimy and moldy. 

First and foremost, ensure that your produce is completely dry before storing it in the refrigerator. One way to ensure this is to wash fruits and vegetables just before use rather than as soon as you get them. 

Also, set your refrigerator to the appropriate temperature, usually between 33-40°F (0-4°C), to keep your food from spoiling. While this may be obvious, it’s worth checking the temperature you’re refrigerating at (go ahead, I’ll wait while you check!). 

For more on food storage, visit our article, Food Storage & Preservation: Why It Matters and How to Do It Properly. 

How to Keep Produce Fresh on the Counter

Root veggies (like potatoes, carrots, beets, and turnips) and certain fruits (like bananas, tomatoes, avocados, and melons) do best when stored on the countertop at room temperature. You’ll want to ensure there’s good airflow to prevent moisture buildup, which can lead to mold and spoilage. 

And while some fruits like tomatoes benefit from a little sunlight to ripen, prolonged exposure to direct sunlight can cause them to spoil quickly. Keep countertop produce away from sunlight. Root veggies also do best when stored in a cool, dark area on the counter, or in a cupboard or root cellar. 

Finally, keep those ethylene producers separate from produce that is ethylene sensitive (I’m looking at you, onions and sweet potatoes!), which will prevent accelerated ripening and help extend shelf life.

Further Tips on Avoiding Food Waste

Aside from proper food storage, there are a number of ways you can reduce food waste in the kitchen, including making use of excess produce, produce about to spoil, or food scraps.

Watch the video below for 11 tips on how to store your produce, keep it fresh, and use it up.

Recipes to Use Up Produce

Sometimes figuring out what will last the longest can feel like a full-time job. But if you’re struggling to keep up with the freshness of the fruit and vegetables you bring home from the market, these recipes can easily help you figure out what to eat now and what to eat later. These tasty, minimal-waste recipes are a great way to help you prepare your ingredients ahead of time and encourage creative utilization during peak freshness and nutrition. What’s more, if you are a fan of batch cooking, each of these recipes offers ideas for how to extend the life of your produce!  

1. Slow Cooker Apple Butter

Slow Cooker Apple Butter is a great way to use up any surplus of apples. Depending on how you cut the apples, the only items left behind are the seeds and the stems. Once the apples have been stewing, they transform into a silky smooth butter that makes a wholesome addition to your favorite bowl of oats, a topping for breakfast hotcakes, or as a sweet dipping sauce for a delicious fruit board. What’s more, if you prepare this recipe in large batches, you can prolong the usability of your apples by freezing the apple butter for up to three months. 

2. The Shine Brightly Salad

The main ingredients in this salad are a few common produce items that often go to waste. So this salad was created to allow you to experience the textures and unique qualities that these plant-based foods have to offer, especially when combined. With proper preparation and storage, you can let the full flavor and nutrition of spinach, blueberries, red onion, and toasted sunflower seeds shine. Then, once you’re finished eating the Shine Brightly Salad, don’t be surprised if you’re also shining from the inside out!

3. Creamy Mushroom Soup with Chickpeas and Kale

Creamy Mushroom Soup with Chickpeas and Kale is a super cozy bowl of nourishing plants that provides nourishment in more ways than one. In addition to the soup’s mouthwatering flavors from mushrooms, chickpeas, kale, and cashews, it does double duty in the no-waste department. Whether your produce is on the verge of decline or you want to make it completely zero waste, toss in all the veggies (plus stems — just be sure to chop them finely) and enjoy a savory, nourishing, and comforting meal that’s good for you and the planet!

Don’t Let Produce Go to Waste

To avoid food waste, save money, preserve nutrition and flavor, and support the health of the planet, you may want to adjust the way you store fresh produce. Having a better understanding of which fruits and vegetables should be stored in the refrigerator and which thrive best on the counter — and which to store together or separately — can also minimize spoilage and maximize the nutritional value of fresh produce. 

Using up fresh produce before it goes bad and reusing food scraps can also further decrease contributions to worldwide food waste. By implementing these simple yet effective food storage tips, you can play your part in reducing food waste and creating a more sustainable food system.

Tell us in the comments:

• How do you store your produce?

• Which one of the 11 tips to reduce food waste from the video will you try first?

• What’s your favorite way to use up produce that’s nearing its end?

Featured Image: iStock.com/VioletaStoimenova

Read Next:

• How To Reduce Food Waste
• How to Use Food Scraps to Reduce Kitchen Waste

The post How to Cook: How to Keep Produce Fresh to Avoid Food Waste appeared first on Food Revolution Network.