Ways to produce food without harming the environment

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Ways to produce food without harming the environment by Mind Map: Ways to produce food without harming the environment

1. Improve sustainability of commodity crop production Why: Fertilizer is the engine of agriculture, but inefficient use contributes to air and water pollution. How: Help farmers improve on-farm conservation practices. With Walmart asking suppliers to improve fertilizer efficiency, food companies are starting to support farmers' efforts to reduce environmental impact while improving their yields.

1.1. production

2. Bring back home-cooking Take control of the food you eat and base your meals on natural foods such as vegetables, fruits, whole-grains, beans and lentils with a little meat and fish: discover the simple pleasures of preparing and eating your own meals check out Vegetarian Recipes for lots of tasty ideas improve the health of you and your family – see more at Vegetarian Nutrition plan your meals ahead to reduce wastage save your leftovers and create a new meal with them if you can, make your own compost with uncooked vegetable scraps.

2.1. home cook

3. Shop wisely Think before you buy! Do you actually need this? Can you find a better, greener alternative? use a shopping list to avoid those impulse purchases avoid products that use lots of packaging buy in bulk to save money and reduce packaging check the label – a long list of ingredients generally means a heavily processed item with a high carbon footprint frozen food has the highest carbon footprint, followed by canned, plastic, glass, then cardboard and please don’t buy bottled water.

3.1. correct shoping

4. Grow your own food A great way to save money, get fit and reduce your carbon footprint is to grow your own fruit and vegetables. If you have a garden or backyard, then it is a fun way to make sure your family has access to affordable, healthy, pesticide-free food. And even if you live in an apartment, what about using your balcony or even the communal outside areas? Failing that, there is a growing movement (ha!) in Australia and The States to set up community gardens. Food’s Carbon Footprint – how to reduce your carbon footprint by eating healthily.

4.1. growing your own food

5. protect the wildlife Why: Our current system to protect at-risk wildlife isn't working, and it depends too much on regulation, often a heavy burden on landowners. How: Establish habitat exchanges that allow landowners to get paid for maintaining habitat that houses vulnerable species, like the monarch butterfly. Taken to scale, these practices pay off for wildlife, too.

5.1. wildlife

6. Reward farmers for smart water use. Why: Demand for water is outstripping supply in arid regions like the American West. How: Remove barriers to water trading [PDF] and create incentives that reward farmers and ranchers – the region's largest water consumers – for practices that return water to rivers.

6.1. smart water

7. Reuse and recycle Think creatively about how you can reuse and recycle. Glass jars and plastic containers make great storage options. Take your own shopping bags and say no to plastic bags. Take reusable produce bags for your fruit and vegetables – if you use the ethylene-absorbing bags it prolongs shelf-life too. And when you can’t reuse, make sure you recycle whatever you can.

7.1. recycle