COP26 and what climate change has to do with your diet

by sarah-linda

I have this feeling that thoughts about change in the food system are starting to become a little more popular. Maybe it’s just because of what I’m constantly reading and watching, but in light of COP26, it could also be a real thing.

Finally, leaders across the globe are agreeing that change needs to happen in our food system and that agriculture has to become much more sustainable in order to “keep the 1.5 alive”. Or are they?

In my opinion, goals are still too low and deadlines too far away, and we’ll have to see what changes will actually be implemented. But I mean, who am I... and it’s certainly better than nothing. It’s something to build on and hopefully it will give the message more importance.

The global importance of soil
“Conventional” agriculture has been destroying healthy & fertile soil for a few decades, since the implementation of chemical fertilisers & pesticides and the massive switch to intensive monocultures, which happened after WWII.

This open letter from Soil Heroes to the president of COP26 explains it all very clearly. Our current food system is one of the largest drivers of climate change, while it could be the opposite. In fact, by changing our food and agricultural systems, we could reverse the situation and start to sequester CO2 in the soil, instead of emitting it into the atmosphere.
The solution is literally under our feet. It’s called regenerative agriculture .

Here’s a very simple fact: healthy soil means healthy humans. Unhealthy and depleted soil means unhealthy planet and sick humans. Or no humans at all.
But depleted soil also means food without nutrients, and without flavour. At the moment I’m reading The Third Plate by Dan Barber (the chef from Blue Hill at Stone Barns, that you might have seen on Netflix’s Chef’s Table). It’s a fantastic book, packed with knowledge about the food system and how to change it, with real life examples of farmers, breeders, chefs and other food pioneers. It’s very inspiring but most importantly, it sheds light on the connection between healthy soil and amazing flavour.

Without healthy, living soil that’s packed with nutrients and microorganisms, you just won’t have good flavour. It makes so much sense, right? Unfortunately, modern crops are being bred and planted for yield; for quantity, size and aesthetics, and not for quality, nutrient density or flavour.

We’re in a viscous circle. But I’ve already written a rant about that, which you can read here.

Why I donate 1% of my sales to soil regeneration projects
In short, it’s clear that we have to switch to generative agriculture – globally, in order to keep the planet and humans alive. In order to accelerate this slow process, I think we need to support initiatives, non-profits, farmers, educational centres and people involved in this change, so they can involve and educate more people, and regenerate more soil.
The whole reason I started my tableware brand, was to reconnect people with their food and the soil, to create more appreciation for real, pure food.

That’s why I’m a member of 1% for the planet, and donate 1% of my sales to non profits working on soil regeneration and education.
It really excites me to see change happening and knowledge spreading, to watch chefs using their power to educate and inspire, to hear the word regenerative popping up more often.

It gives me hope. And on a more selfish level, it means I will get to eat more flavourful food in general. And that’s what I live for really, delicious food.

What you can do
If you want to contribute to this change as well, and eat more delicious food as a side effect:
-support your local (regenerative) farmers, go to the farmers market
-eat more seasonal: it will have travelled less, contain more nutrients and have more taste
-avoid (cheap) supermarket chains. They’re all about maximizing short term profit and actually push farmers to be big and unsustainable
-eat grass fed meat
-every bite counts, even the slightest changes in your diet have an impact
-spread the word! Inspire by telling the stories and sharing the food
-oh and if you purchase something in the webshop, you’ll automatically be donating to soil regeneration!