Is 2025 The Year Of Food Consumption Patterns That “Break the Rules?” – CleanTechnica

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Food consumption is on the minds of many individuals as the new year rolls on, with nearly half of US adults saying that they’re starting a new diet. Our contemporary food selections have been carefully cultivated for taste and convenience; exotic food luxuries in many of our childhoods are now commonplace product staples.

And the culture of food must necessarily continue to morph with the times — about three-quarters of all global agricultural land is vulnerable to substantial climate disruptions. NASA’s Jonas Jägermeyr predicts that food systems must veer into new directions to sustain the planet’s population. “Mostly everywhere you look, things will change in one way or the other.”

Through it all, culinary tastes are evolving, producing individual, positive health results and sparks of inspiration. Creating space for food innovation, however, means a deep dive into producing nutritious, safe, and affordable food — a complicated blend of contemporary ingredients.

Environmental Degradation from Industrial Agriculture: Are There Viable Solutions?

With $3 trillion in damage to the global environment a year, industrial agriculture is the leading driver of water pollution and shortages, deforestation, and biodiversity loss. It generates one-fourth of the greenhouse gases that heat up the planet. It has overrun about two of every five acres of land on the planet; in fact, that loss of acreage causes carbon dioxide to be released when wild landscapes are converted into farms and pastures. Razing greenscapes causes damage that is worse than or nitrous oxide from fertilizer — rich countries that have already deforested their arable land should help poor countries improve their yields and protect their own forests, many advocates argue, but the money should flow only on the condition that the forests are actually protected.

Industrial agriculture is a bad combination of hazards: methane from cow burps, inhumanely caged animals, toxic insecticides, crops that deplete the soil, and smothering of the small farms. Robert F. Kennedy Jr., once-and-future President Donald J. Trump’s pick for health secretary, says industrial agriculture foments illness and increases human obesity.

Decades of industrial farming have taken a heavy toll on the environment and raised some serious concerns about the future of food production. “Efficient farming is not just a matter of production,” says James Lomax, a UN Environment Program manager. “It is also about environmental sustainability, public health, and economic inclusivity.”

How do we reconcile such environmental degradation with the enormous amounts of food industrial agriculture produces? By 2050, the world will require about 50% more calories to adequately feed nearly 10 billion people.

Michael Kotutwa Johnson, member of the Hopi Tribe in northern Arizona and an assistant professor at the University of Arizona, wants to open pathways to provide foods that are healthy for indigenous communities here in the United States. Part of that effort reinforces place-based crops that have been grown for thousands of years and “that have allowed indigenous people to thrive and survive in the different regions of the United States.”

The Biden administration has invested more than $20 billion into “climate-smart agriculture,” which is focused on regenerative practices that revive the pastoral wisdom of our ancestors. Kennedy has called upon the Trumpsters to expand those initiatives. Edie Mukiibi, president of Slow Food International, wants to see agroecological farms and farmers at the forefront of food system transitions. Mukiibi says it may be a way to overcome challenges from climate change and ending hunger and poverty in most of the food producing areas.

Opponents argue that “old-fashioned” regenerative agriculture is worse for the environment than intensive industrial agriculture. They describe the regenerative movement as a fantasy that misinforms the ways in which farming is in harmony with nature, sequesters billions of tons of carbon in our soils, and transforms agriculture from an environmental problem to a climate solution.

Instead, opponents outline how the food system goal should be to produce more and protect more.

Saru Jayaraman, co-founder and president of One Fair Wage, points out the plight of working people, who are immersed in “an affordability crisis.” The food system, Jayaraman explains, needs to raise wages and exemptions for farm workers “so that everybody who’s working is able to feed their families and meet the cost of living.” Even where politics are relatively stable, market incentives are often perverse, infrastructure is often insufficient, and support systems are lacking for smallholder farmers trying to innovate their way toward greater crop stability and abundance.

Denmark recently unveiled sweeping new reforms that include a very big stick: a nationwide tax on agricultural emissions. The revenues will be earmarked to help its already efficient farmers get even more efficient, and eventually restore nearly one-fifth of its farmland to forests and wetlands, which is why it attracted support from Denmark’s agricultural as well as environmental lobbies. Denmark already had some of the world’s strictest climate laws, and was decarbonizing the rest of its economy so fast that its farmers were under unusually intense pressure to start doing their part.

Plant-Based Eaters across History — and Now in January

Did you know that many of history’s famous folks haven’t been meat-eaters? The list includes Pythagoras, Leonardo da Vinci, Mary Shelley, and Mahatma Gandhi — and me, your intrepid correspondent.

Partially, the rationale for rejecting meat has been borne of a conscientious struggle over killing and eating animals. There’s quite the conundrum afloat, however: while half of US adults and three-quarters of UK adults oppose the factory farming that produces almost all of their meat, yet only about one in 10 follow a meat-free diet. If they did, over 80 billion animals a year would be spared slaughter, and 75% less environmental damage would accrue.

Once you learn how to cook a plant-based diet, you’ll find it’s less expensive, quite delicious, good for your health, and contributes much fewer environmental emissions.

Now that it’s January, you could give it a try. Veganuary is a month dedicated to trying plant-based eating. In 2023 around 25 million people gave up animal products during January 2023 globally. Post-Veganuary monthly data analysis indicates that over 80% of people who have joined in definitely reduce their everyday meat consumption afterward. Why is that?

Giving up meat is hard for most people because of the strong positive emotions and high cultural value associated with eating it. Yet, on average, people report after a month of no meat that they enjoy it less, with some even finding it disgusting. Participating in Veganuary appears to shift people’s identity from seeing themselves as a meat eater to more of a “meat reducer” or “meat excluder.” A 2021 study showed that 73% of vegetarians can be classified as “meat disgusted” and that meat disgust predicted meat intake better than self-control in omnivores and flexitarians at baseline.

Some other factors associated with greater success during Veganuary, and beyond, include increased feelings of personal control and improvements in practical skills and knowledge supporting a meat-free diet. Difficulties emerged, too, such as having to navigate food choices in social settings, a lack of plant-based options when eating out, missing non-vegan foods, and the perceived inconvenience of plant-based cooking.

Final Thoughts about Food Consumption 2025

National food writer Kim Severson spoke recently about trends in food consumption on a podcast. “We’re in a very break-the-rules moment,” Severson explained, with young people especially looking for authentic food choices. Disingenuous food marketing will turn off Gen Z-ers, who are fans of scratch cooking but also appreciate cheap eats at restaurants. If affordable, they prefer pasture-raised eggs– yet they also really like fun food.

Whether you’re young or not, if you’re ready for a different kind of food consumption challenge, why not consider one that the New York Times is hosting? Starting tomorrow, January 6, 2025, you can participate in a week of evidence-based tips that will help you understand more about ultra-processed foods. What’s in them? How can you identify them? What small changes can you make to your plate for better health?

The Times assures us that this week-long challenge is not about overhauling your diet. They say it’s full of fun, illuminating experiments that will help you get a closer look at ultra-processed foods and your relationship to them. There will be taste tests, recipes, a trip to the grocery store, and other surprises. Give it a try and see what you learn about food consumption, your cultural relationship to ultra-processed foods, and how the new year can ring in healthy dietary change.



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