A ‘Greener’ Way to Food Portions
Have you ever considered that your food portioning methods may be effecting the environment? An article by Jennifer Otten, over at Rudd Sound Bites, has prompted my thought process! She recently had an interesting discussion with her weight loss group, who “raised the issue that as they try to control their portion sizes, they are finding themselves battling their environmental conscience.”
She gives the example of one participant who controls the amount of sugar in her coffee by using individual packets instead of the large, glass sugar shaker, however she feels guilty for doing this, due to the unnecessary waste of the individual paper packets.
Others had concerns over buying individual servings of yoghurt. They used to buy the larger bulk yoghurt containers, however they found they couldn’t control their portion size as well.
What are your thoughts on this? Do you have any environmentally friendly portioning tips?
Here are a few suggestions:
- Educate yourself on what a food portion should look like using everyday items as a guide.
- Don’t purchase unnecessary items of food to prevent wastage.
- Use a plastic lunch box, such as the wonderful Laptop Lunches.
- Choose fruits and vegetables - they provide a natural serving.
- Don’t buy bags of pre-portioned fresh fruit in plastic wrappers, instead cut up raw fruit, or vegetables, at home, and store in re-usable plastic bags/containers.
- Buy in bulk:
- Yoghurt/fromage frais - divide larger tubs into enough smaller plastic containers for the week ahead, store in your fridge for a quick ‘grab-and-go’ snack.
- Crackers/rice cakes - divide larger packets into portions, store in re-usable plastic bags, and place inside an airtight container, to help retain freshness.
- Mixed nuts - buy larger bags, again divide into portions, and store, as above.
- Mixed dried fruit - buy a large bag, divide into portions for storage, this will prevent using individually portioned boxes.
- Water - why not purchase a home filtration system? You can then pour the filtered water into small bottles, store in the fridge, ready for work, or the gym.
- Don’t use juice boxes, or small milk cartons, opt for larger bottles/cartons, separated into smaller bottles.
- Use re-usable bags for carrying your lunch, or better still a plastic lunch box, as mentioned above.
- Jennifer gives a couple of really great suggestions - a sugar shaker that produces one exact teaspoon on every pour.
- She also suggests a larger yoghurt container with serving markers on the side of the container - I think this is a great idea!
- Starbucks also have a great waste reduction incentive, with their ‘Commuter Mug Discount’ option - customers who use their own mugs receive a $0.10 discount, encouraging consumer to opt for a re-usable mug.
What other suggestions do you have? Please do get involved!
Did you enjoy this article? Please be kind enough to share it -
You may also like to read the following:
Oct 9, 2007
In Europe there are supermarkets where many items are sold loose allowing you to fill your own containers in order to increase recycling. When we go to farmers markets, I BYO recycled containers, bags and netting bags for citrus fruit and onions.
I wish we had more biodegradable packaging options here. It took me ages just to find biodegradable garbage bags. Not that we produce much waste, given that we eat mostly fresh food (and a weekly takeaway or meal out), with the worms eating the scraps, hair and paper, and the pets chewing up any bones.
The crux of the portioning dilemma is that most people don’t realise that they eat way more than the body actually needs. I read a comment in another dietary blog that someone was considering eating a 2kg steak - which they didn’t comprehend is more protein than even a marathon runner would require.
I’m sorry to bang on, but I think it’s an easy/lazy excuse for people to blame packaging for not portioning, instead of admitting that they may be being greedy. In fact it almost sounds like these same people consume food straight from the vessel/packaging instead of serving out a measured portion. I mean, why doesn’t it occur to people that you are supposed to pour sugar from a shaker onto a spoon, instead of splashing an adhoc amount into your drink or cooking? It’s common sense.
Oct 12, 2007
Stickyfingers - many thanks for your comment, and for contributing with some very interesting thoughts.
You have a very valid point - many people are looking for excuses as to why they overeat, we like to blame something, or at least give it a label it seems!
Isn’t it true that people feel better when they can say I’m “allergic to,” or I have a “hormonal imbalance,” or my “medication causes weight gain?” As if the label somehow removes the blame! Now don’t get me wrong, many of these conditions are absolutely valid, however for some reason people feel more ‘normal’ by having a label placed upon their condition.