Eco Friendly House And Garden

Eco Friendly Food Has Just Got Really Tiny – And Really Crunchy!

If there was a nutritious food that you could buy in the shop, that wasn’t a cow or a pig – would you consider eating it for the sake of the planet?

Bearing in mind that meat production – especially beef – is currently one of the biggest concerns in the ‘fight’ against world hunger and deforestation (thus a curse to humanity and biodiversity!) – and then think of a way to get the same animal protein but at a much smaller environmental cost.

Below are a list of this new foods eco friendly qualities – and decide for yourself:

1) Living Space:
This food supply does not need a very large space to live in -  therefore there will be no need to leave millions of acres of land bare just to graze them – and the rainforests can stay standing!

2) Living Requirements:
This food supply comes in many different forms so can quite easily be farmed anywhere in the world without any extra requirements such as heat, specialist foods or disease resistance.

3) Food Supply:
As this food source has only minimal food requirements as an adult – there will be no need to use valuable farmland to grow food for our food (i.e.cows) to eat rather than for our people to eat directly.

4) Land Supply:
This food will not be affected by rising sea levels or other changing environments that prevent food being grown – so supply can continue to be produced regardless of the weather events.

5) Land Requirements:
Due to the way this food would be farmed – there are no specific land needs other than not too polluted or too cold.  Therefore you could use wasteland, roof space, disused factories and any salty, exhausted or otherwise useless farmland, etc.

6) Human Interest:
This food already has a successful market around the world although it has never really been a favourite of the developed world.  Millions of people around the world already eat this food almost every week and there are a whole host of recipes and uses already being used for these foods.

photo credit: waywuwei

So what am I going on about here?

Well, the UN are now starting to take the current food crisis seriously and are looking for serious solutions – and they have come up with insects.

Weight for weight; grasshoppers hold almost as much protein as ground beef, crickets are high in calcium and red ant eggs are great for carbs (and low in calories).

What if you could breed millions of insects in every town or city in just a large warehouse and feed hundreds of families nutritious food that is grown at low environmental cost and using only a fraction of the land and resources of cattle farming?

I know the thought of eating bugs doesn’t immediately appeal – but think what is in black pudding and all but the best sausages.  What is the other 40% in most hamburgers these days and even the ingredient breakdown of different cheeses doesn’t make for good reading!

Think about it.

Source: National Geographic Magazine 2010

In the UK you can buy meat products that are from a known source.

So you can rest assured that the animals were treated with the basic standards we would expect, received medication when necessary and were not cooped up alone for weeks on end.

So what does the Freedom Food label actually tell you?  It’s not organic, it’s not fair trade – so what is it for?  It has been in place since 1994 so it is obviously here to stay and is taken seriously.

Below I have summarised the 5 main points from their own leaflet, so that you can be sure of these things when choosing this type of meat product over the other similar products on the shelf that don’t have the RSPCA Freedom Foods logo, (or those that are certified organic as this has a similar set of criteria).

Labelling in all countries allows for certain words and images to be used on meat products that are not a true representation of how the animals were treated or where they were kept. 

For example the words ‘natural’ and ‘fresh’ mean absolutely nothing with regards to how the animals were reared or lived, and ‘produced in the UK’ doesn’t mean the animals ever saw the UK while alive – they could have been factory farmed in any other country in the world and shipped here after slaughter.

In addition, this RSPCA label (among others) is not connected to any food brands or food manufacturers, so you know it is only the animals they have in mind rather than profits!

So, here are the summarised points that mean that you could be making a difference to how your food is farmed:

1) Freedom From Hunger & Thirst:
These animals will have had access to fresh water and a suitable diet that maintains health and vigour.

2) Freedom From Discomfort:
These animals will be provided with an appropriate environment including shelter and a comfortable resting area.

3) Freedom From Pain, Injury Or Disease:
These animals will be living in an environment that helps prevent accidents and illnesses and offers rapid diagnosis and treatment if any of these are found.

4) Freedom To Express Normal Behaviour:
These animals are provided with sufficient space, proper facilities and the company of other animals of their own kind.

5) Freedom From Fear And Distress:
These animals will live in conditions that avoid mental suffering and offer a certain level of respect and care.

And due to this continuity of checks, Freedom Foods can be traced from their farm, through to their haulier, the abattoir and even right to the store!  So you know that the animal you are about to eat has been cared for through it whole life.

The meats included in this scheme cover everything you could imagine, from eggs to beef, pork to duck and salmon to cheese!  All meats and animal products are covered by this, so you can rest assured when buying any of them.

Just look for the label!