Ideally, my food choices involve some degree of environmental and health considerations. However, these are limited by context and my own tastes. With both the environment and healthy eating habits in mind, I have cut red meat and pork from my diet for over two years. The decision to do this was probably equally about the environment as about healthy eating. These two animals (cows and pigs) require a large amount of land to live and produce their food. They are not viable for the energy output they produce. Neither are particularly healthy, other than the protein they provide, which I get from other sources.
Despite the relative ease I was able to cut out these products from my diet, I have not been able quit poultry or seafood. While I try to eat them sparingly, and I made efforts to stop eating them all together, I have been unsuccessful so far.
I am limited by my budget and the context I find myself in. As a college student with barely enough money for rent, I cannot afford the option of local, organic produce consistently. These options are not readily available at the local Giant anyway, and the opportunity to get to the farmer’s market is not always available for me.
Additionally, when I look at my recent eating habits, my job forces me into eating habits that are not always healthy or environmentally-friendly. I work in Friendship Heights and to avoid spending eight dollars or more for dinner every day, I often bring a meal. These meals are often leftovers or frozen meals, which require a microwave to cook. I try to avoid using the microwave as often as possible, however to heat up these little meals there is not another option available. The energy required to heat up a frozen dinner in two minutes requires a disproportionate amount of electricity, which I know is more likely than not coming from fossil fuels. It does not help either that these meals are packaged and wrapped and packaged again in plastics that will never go away.
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