The Paleo diet is about as popular as it is controversial at the moment. Based on the concept that the best diet is the one our bodies were ‘designed for’, its basic rule of thumb is eat what our Palaeolithic ancestors would have eaten. That means no grains, breads, or processed foods, and a diet rich in red meat, fruit and nuts, which would have been readily accessible to hunter-gatherers.
It’s not an easy diet to stick to, not least because of the confusing rules about what constitutes pre-agricultural food, but those who manage it claim to experience substantial weight loss and multiple health benefits too, including curing skin conditions and improving sleep patterns.
But is there more to think about than just whether you can maintain the diet? Some diet choices involve moral decisions as well as health ones.
Paleo encourages a high meat content, but is it sustainable? Ten thousand years ago, there were maybe only 5 million people on the planet, not so many mouths to feed. But even so, there are some who think that many animals were hunted to extinction. It’s been suggested that the rise of agriculture came about to fill a need as other sources of food became more scarce due to over-hunting.
On today’s overcrowded planet, there are constant worries about the sustainability of meat farming. Already, we struggle to provide enough meat to fulfil the demand. As the population continues to grow, supply will shrink. That’s likely to push prices up and encourage producers to cut corners the way we saw with the horse meat scandal. Animal welfare will likely suffer. So is it good timing to encourage more people to switch to a diet that relies so heavily on meat? Won’t that just strain the market even further?
What about the environmental effects? Livestock are responsible for huge amounts of greenhouse-gas emissions. Not only because of their own bodily emissions, which produce methane and nitrous oxide, but because of the fuel required in every aspect of raising and slaughtering them. Your carbon footprint from eating a pound of beef has been compared to driving 45 miles, as opposed to only 1 mile for eating a pound of whole wheat.
Pound for pound, beef production requires at least ten times as much water as wheat production, and calorie for calorie, it uses almost twenty times as much energy. That’s reflected in the cost, for sure, but of course it also has a lasting effect on the planet.
Of course, you can be vegetarian on a Paleo diet, it doesn’t have to involve meat. But that makes it even more restrictive than it already is. But increasingly these days, scientists and producers are looking at ways to address the environmental effects of meat. We have witnessed the first artificial beefburger, admittedly to fairly mixed reviews, but it’s still early days in the research. It’s a real possibility that the future could bring genuinely tasty artificial meat.
Others are looking into alternatives to traditional meats – locusts and other insects provide a high protein content with much lower environmental effect involved in the farming. We may struggle in the West with the thought of this, but they are already commonly eaten in many parts of the world, and can apparently taste delicious. Find the right way to present them, and they could ease the burden on the meat market. Plus, they would certainly fit within the ethos of a Paleo diet in a way perhaps artificial meat might not.
So while enthusing about the benefits of the diet, should Paleo advocates also be encouraging more sustainable farming techniques, and debating the uptake of insect farming as well as livestock?
It’s certainly something to think about, and reminds us that diet choices are about more than just calorie levels and allergies.
Like the rest of the Western world, we’re not quite ready at Total Diet Food to serve insects, but whatever your diet choice, be it Paleo or vegetarian, or vegetarian Paleo, we can serve all your dietary needs, freshly cooked and delivered to your door.
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Paleo and the Environment | Total Diet Food - London's Fresh and Personalised Diet Delivery Service
