Simple Steps to Eating Sustainably   

1. Eat low on the food and marketing chain by buying direct from farmers, co-ops or free-trade distributors.  Visit TBCoop.org for information on a local Piedmont co-op. Visit Slow Food Piedmont Triad (http://www.slowfoodpiedmont.org/lfghome.html) for an on-line local food guide.
2. Stick with organic or sustainably-grown produce when possible. A study found that children who ate only organic produce had one-sixth the level of pesticides in their bodies of those who ate conventionally grown fruits and vegetables.
3. Support our local community.  Buying locally-grown products keeps that money in the pockets of the growers in our community. Supporting local family growers and producers creates and saves local jobs.
4. Purchase meat and diary from animals raised humanely.  Sustainably-raised animals are permitted to carry out natural behaviors such as rooting in the dirt and pecking the ground. Factory-farmed animals are crammed together in unsanitary conditions, where they suffer horribly and are often sick.
5. Move towards eating what is in season locally, which will avoid carbon emissions produced by transportation used to bring out-of-season fruits and veggies to the Piedmont.
6. Reduce your beef consumption.  Beef production has a high impact because of land use, water use and, well, stomach gas (cow burps are made of methane).
7. Support responsible land development.  Small, local farmers and grower co-operatives act as buffers against development and sprawl; their survival helps preserve open space and the quality of the land.
8. Enjoy your food.  Food grown organically and sustainably tastes better.  Why wouldn’t it?  Fresh food grown with no chemicals on healthy land by fairly paid farmers using healthy processes is bound to taste better!

View a printable handout: Simple Steps to Eating Sustainably