Here some recommendations for easy things anyone can do on a daily basis to become an advocate for food justice and healthy food access, and to adopt diets, shopping and other habits that support healthy living, local businesses and the planet.
- SHOPPING
- Shop at your local farmers markets & farmstands
- Find a farmers market that accepts EBT cards (SNAP/CalFresh Nutrition Assistance benefits)
- Buy organic food (especially Regenerative Organic if you can find it)
- For online shopping, check out healthy grocers such as Thrivemarket.com, Whiteleafprovision.com, Patagoniaprovisions.com, or grocers that reduce food waste such as Imperfectfoods. Buy brands that produce products using regenerative farming and production that increases biodiversity, increases soil health & carbon sequestration, improves water and air quality, and helps mitigate climate change. Here a few examples of brands offering regeneratively produced products: Lundberg Rice, Numi Tea, Nature’s Path, No Evil Foods, Moonshot Snacks, Kettle & Fire, Alter Eco Foods, Lotus Foods, La Tourangelle, Organic India, Quinn Snacks, etc.
- Buy from Land to Market Certified brands.
- EATING
- Adopt a climate-friendlier diet: decrease meat consumptions, especially red meat. Focus on quality instead of quantity: choose local, grass-fed, grass-finished meat. Shift to a less resource-intensive foods like vegetables, fruit and legumes to help meet global climate goals.
- Reduce food waste: only buy what you need, eat your leftovers, use vegetable scraps to make broth, compost
- Eat at farm-to-table restaurants
- GENERAL ADVOCACY
- Check out the California Food Policy Council to see if you could join a local council or volunteer at one of their events
- Check out your local Slow Food Chapter for options to get involved and events
- Educate yourself on food, farming and climatesmart ag/food topics, certification labels such Regenerative Organic Certified, Demeter (biodynamic), Land to Market Certified (Savory Institute)
- Ask your local grocer to carry a particular organic, or regeneratively produced product you like
- Talk to your family and friends about food, food waste, healthy food choices, climate smart purchasing choices, etc.
- Sign up for the Roots of Change newsletter to get action alerts.
Let us know if you would like us to add more options to this list; email us at [email protected]
Image credit: Doris Meier