Exercise, sport, diet and the environment: What we eat matters
I have made a career helping individuals improve their general health and fitness or to pursue the highest levels of athletic performance and many aspects of these endeavors impact the environment. In particular, the food that we consume has a major impact on our ecosystem.
Energy for everyday life or energy for elite sport both require the right diet. When designing a diet it is all about the individual needs and goals, but perhaps we should add another parameter to our food choices?
In our quest for living a healthy life or reaching the top of the sports world, why not consider the environment. Our food choices from beef to chocolate and coffee all have a carbon footprint. From production all the way to the checkout stand, the food we eat impacts the environment.
The coffee take-out cup and its plastic lid, to the way produce is packaged, to the way rainforests are cut for cattle to graze, to the plastic bags that we put our athletic shoes in after a purchase, the environment is impacted.
The article that I reference below is a start for helping each of us recognize our daily impact on the environment. I challenge each one of you who reads this article to go out and make a difference. Find some small way to help the environment as you seek the “fuel” to help you perform in life.