Earth to Table: Tasting the Future of Sustainable Food
Climate-smart food choices for driving meaningful change
The case for plant-rich diet is robust. For individuals to give up meat in favour of options lower on the food chain, those options should be available, visible, and tempting.
- Project Drawdown
Our June event ignited inspiring conversations about the impact of our food choices on the planet. Held at the Centre for Social Innovation in Toronto, the event featured engaging speakers such as Kristy Sadler of Zestyplan, Anita Krajnc of the Plant Based Treaty, and Dihan Chandra of The Spent Goods Company. Attendees explored climate-smart eating, advantages of plant-based food system, and local upcycled food solutions, all while enjoying delicious plant-powered food catered by Animal Liberation Kitchen.
📖 SUSTAINABLE RECIPES
Sustainable Eating is Cheaper, Healthier and Better for The World
“Sustainable eating is cheaper, healthier and better for the world”, advocates Kristy Sadler, Co-Founder & CEO of Zesty Plan - an AI-powered climate-smart meal planning platform.
Why it matters:
According to Sadler, we eat a lot of high impact food and we waste 30% of the food we bring home which costs Canadians more than $1500 a year in spoiled food.
Quoting John Deere, author of Speed and Scale, she informed us that if all of us were to opt for low-emissions proteins once every four meals (just 25% of the times), we would reduce global emissions by as much as 3 gigatons by 2050.
3 Pillar for Climate-Smart Eating:
Because bringing about dietary change is not simple — eating is profoundly personal and cultural — Kristy recommends a three-pronged approach.
Technology Integration: Technology by the way of user-friendly apps and tools should seamlessly integrate into daily routines, making climate-smart eating simple and convenient for everyone.
Educational Outreach: Promoting climate-smart eating through diverse content, sharing informative articles, engaging social media posts, and hosting events to educate both tech-savvy and traditional audiences.
Community Connection: Fostering a supportive network for climate-smart eating, organizing collaborative events and introducing individuals to innovators in the field to build a strong, informed community.
All to say that meal planning has never been more important. That’s why platforms like Zesty Plan need to become more prevalent - it saves you time, reduces food waste and helps you make more climate-friendly decisions about what you eat.
Fun Fact: Through the Zesty Plan app you can take a picture of your fridge or pantry and the app will create a recipe for you. Give it a try.
🌾 PLANT-BASED TREATY
A Shift Towards a Just, Plant-Based Food System
The Big Picture:
Anita Krajnc, co-founder of the Plant-Based Treaty, emphasizes the urgent need to transform our global food system to meet climate targets. The Treaty seeks to curb the environmental impact of animal agriculture, which breaches several planetary boundaries and significantly contributes to global warming.
The Treaty is built on three main principles:
Relinquish (stop the expansion of animal agriculture)
Redirect (transition towards plant-based foods)
Restore (reforest and rewild land)
Why it matters:
Animal agriculture is a leading contributor to environmental degradation, including deforestation, greenhouse gas emissions (one third of all GHG emissions), and biodiversity loss.
Transitioning to a plant-based food system can significantly lower these impacts, helping to meet global climate targets and ensuring a sustainable future.
Playbooks and Campaigns:
The Plant-Based Treaty offers practical resources, including playbooks that outline best practices for various sectors such as early childhood education, universities, and senior care homes. These playbooks provide actionable steps for integrating plant-based policies and practices.
Campaigns focus on public education, city endorsements, and advocating for policy changes at global climate talks. With over 151,000 individual endorsements and support from multiple cities, the Treaty is driving a global movement towards sustainable food systems.
Safe and Just Report and Vegan Donut Economics:
The Plant-Based Treaty’s Safe and Just Report outlines the environmental and social benefits of transitioning to a plant-based food system. It includes the concept of Vegan Donut Economics, which integrates the principles of planetary boundaries and social equity to create a sustainable and fair food system.
This approach highlights how plant-based diets can contribute to both environmental sustainability and social justice.
Sign the plant-based treaty now as an individual.
🍞 BEER BREAD
Upcycling Barley Spent in Brewing Beers for Delicious Baked Goods
Every year, approximately 16 million kilos of brewery grains are disposed of in Ontario. Traditionally used as animal feed, the majority of these grains end up in landfills, which leads to greenhouse gas emissions.
Spent Grain:
In the craft brewing process, once barley has been boiled to release sugar, the grains are considered ‘spent’ and disposed of.
Better solution:
A foodie himself, Dihan Chandra asked an important question - what if we made food with spent grains instead? Looking for an answer to this brewing question gave rise to The Spent Good Company, where he and his team make fighting climate change more delicious than ever.
The company focuses on viable food by-products, like brewery barley grains, that is typically discarded and transforms it into food products like sourdough bread, bagels, burger buns, beer baguettes, etc.
Why it matters:
According to Dihan, if we upcycled all of the grains spent in breweries to make food, we could feed every Ontarian 20 loaves of bread every year while delivering more nutrition than most breads bought from big-box stores!
At the same time it stimulates a circular economy that’s frankly a win-win for businesses and the planet.
“We enable any food producing business to cost effectively incorporate viable food by-products that are typically discarded, turning them into “upcycled” foods (aka spent goods) while addressing food safety, consumers’ emotional needs as well as business financials”, concludes Dihan who is also a proponent of supperclubs as a medium to meet new friends and foster local communities over the love for food.
Supper Clubs to check out: FulCircle, MysteryEats, Depanneur and Dinner with Strangers.
💰GENEROUS SUPPORT
Thank You Centre for Social Innovation (CSI) and Animal Liberation Kitchen
Our location sponsor for this event, Centre for Social Innovation (CSI) is a Toronto-based community hub dedicated to fostering social change. By providing shared workspaces, resources, and a supportive network, CSI empowers social entrepreneurs and innovators to develop impactful solutions for community challenges.
Serving us delicious treats was Animal Liberation Kitchen, a Toronto-based vegan eatery that offers wholesome, plant-based meals crafted from fresh, local ingredients. Their mission is to provide delicious food that promotes health, sustainability, and animal welfare.
🗓️ UPCOMING EVENT
Keep an eye out!
Stay tuned for the details of our next in-person event (likely on July 23rd) as we continue to explore and champion sustainability together with an educational workshop.
🤝 ASKS
Lend a helping hand:
Climate North is small but mighty and we’re always open to any volunteer support. We are currently in need of support with:
Speaker Coordinator and Recommendations
Event Sponsorship
If you’re interested, please write to us at hello@climatenorth.com expressing which you would be interested in supporting us with.
Spread the word: Everytime you share this newsletter with your network or bring along a plus one to our events, you exercise your power of influence in making our world more climate-conscious. Thank you for putting your force behind us.
We’re built for our community and by our community… Any help is appreciated :)
Thanks for your ongoing support! See you in July :)
Rebeka (Becky) Romanovsky, Fab Barrillot, Chloe D'Agostini
Written by Tejas Shah