8th July
Allwood in his book Promise the Earth (1) advises that we not only reduce our consumption of meat and dairy but also of rice in order to reduce global greenhouse gas emissions. (2) Traditional rice growing in flooded paddies produces both methane and nitrous oxide – both powerful greenhouse gases which have a particular high impact on temperatures rises in the short term. Emissions from rice growing have doubled in the last 60 years. (3) Work is ongoing to develop rice growing techniques that reduce emissions and ensure more sustainable water usage.
Shaping our diet to be both healthy and environmentally friendly does prompt us to think – and investigate – about where our food comes from and its impact on the environment and its contribution to the wellbeing of those who produce it.
For example choosing to eat what is in season and what is grown locally, enables us to reduce resources used and emissions produced in the transport of our food. Buying locally supports our local economy and can help us build up a relationship with those who produce our food. Buying ultra locally could mean we actually see how the produce is grown or how the livestock is reared.
Equally we can choose to buy fairly traded products such as tea, coffee and chocolate so that we can be confident that those who have grown these foods have been well paid within a safe working environment. You can use Ethical Consumer (4) to research which makes and brands are best.
For more thoughts – https://greentau.org/tag/fairtrade/
- https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/promise-the-earth/31E27442471A864A6582BA751ECD239F
- https://www.cambridgebookshop.co.uk/products/promise-the-earth
- https://phys.org/news/2026-05-global-rice-paddy-greenhouse-gas.html
(4) https://www.ethicalconsumer.org/food-drink/shopping-guide/tea
The Green Tau 