I may or may not have consumed my weight in jelly beans today and, sure enough, as I was browsing through David Suzuki's Green Guide for inspiration for a post tonight, I come across a section about consuming fewer calories. Automatic guilt trip.
However, as I read on, it had some neat things to think about:
-More calories takes more energy to produce. Substituting higher quality foods (fruits, veggies, whole grains and nuts for example) for chips and *sigh* jelly beans helps cut out bad calories and highly processed foods. My housemate started drying apple and pear slices in her dehydrator and they are so delicious and 100% natural made from local organic apples! I think I may have found a wonderful Jelly Bean substitute!
-One 591 ml bottle of Coke has the equivalent of fifteen spoonfuls of sugar.
-An organic apple generally costs less than a chocolate bar and it has less packaging as well as a smaller ecological footprint.
- In the UK between 1995 and 2006, calorie intake increased 17% and the average Canadian ate 18% more calories in 2002 than in 1991.
-Less calories means less land needs to be cleared to raise the food (or...the food for the food), less energy is required, less chemicals/pesticides are used, less packaging and waste is created and... less material is needed to make clothes for our increasing waistlines.
That is definitely some food for thought. Those jelly beans that I ate were probably 300 empty calories that probably took a lot of resources to make and didn't really benefit me in any way. So next time I am craving a sweet I think I will grab some apple chips or a slice of bread and I will also make sure that I eat appropriate meals when I am hungry instead of snacking on junk food! It will be good for me and the environment!
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