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With heightened awareness around the carbon emissions produced by the meat industry (meat accounts for 60% of all greenhouse gases from food production), increasingly more of us are opting to help save the planet by cutting out meat. In fact, it’s been predicted in a report by Sainsbury’s that by 2025, vegans and vegetarians will make up a quarter (opens in new tab) of the UK population.
Whilst eating a more plant-based diet can help prolong the health of the planet, buying meat alternatives can be expensive. And, getting into the groove of eating meat-free, while still consuming all the vitamins and nutrients you were used to getting from meat, can initially feel tricky. That’s why we called on plant-based chef Bettina Campolucci Bordi (opens in new tab) so she could spill all her secrets on how to eat more sustainably, easily.
Here are Bettina’s top 5 simple tips for eating a more plant-based diet:
Flex it up
Eating more plant-based food doesn’t have to mean cutting meat out completely. Simply try to start incorporating more vegan ingredients into your cooking. You don’t need to commit to a totally plant-based existence – even making small changes to your diet is a way of taking ‘action for climate’ by making a big difference to our planet’s health. Aly Findlay, nutritionist at allplants, suggests easing yourself in by swapping out milk or meat with vegan alternatives. ‘Almond milk is rich in healthy nutrients, and there are many other options such as oak milk, cashew milk, hazelnut milk and soy milk.’
(Image credit: Future / Noor & Zee)
Secure a veg box subscription
One really effective way of incorporating more plant-based food into your diet is by subscribing to a local vegetable box. Whether it contains organic produce or wonky vegetables that people tend to not want to eat, there’s tons of different vegetable box subscriptions out there to choose from, like Oddbox or Riverford. These subscriptions are a wonderful way to get out of your comfort zone and start cooking from scratch.
(Image credit: Getty Images)
Go seasonal and local
Buying seasonal, local ingredients is one way to guarantee a delicious meal – because most elements of the dish will be in their prime. Buying a poster for your kitchen wall that has pictures of the best ingredients for each season is one way to gain inspiration whilst exploring new recipes. Buying seasonal and locally-grown food is a wonderful way to support the environment because it doesn’t have to travel far – and you’ll also be supporting the farmers within your community that grow the food.
(Image credit: Getty Images)
Keep it simple
If you’re not sure where to start with plant-based eating, start simple. Pasta dishes are a great way to ease yourself into vegan cooking as you can pack any type of vegetable you want into a pasta sauce – and all year round, too.
(Image credit: Getty images)
Eat root to shoot
Root-to-shoot is when you use the whole vegetable in your cooking. It’s a great way to add texture to your dishes, like using beetroot tops in salads. You can also make pesto with leftover carrot tops or boil leek leaves for soup. It’s a brilliant way to make the most out of the food in your fridge and chase waste away from your kitchen.
Feeling inspired to eat more sustainably? See more of Fashion’s DIgest and E.ON’s Change Maker series where we speak to the wonderful Bettina Campolucci Bordi about how she’s helping to tackle climate change from her kitchen table. And be sure to visit E.ON, where you’ll find more inspirational stories from people who are taking action for climate.
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