How can we help our planet?

“Maintaining proper nutrition and a healthy diet means being aware of the whole agri-food supply chain and requires a conscious commitment to sustainability. Well-being at mealtimes means rescaling the dimensions of our kitchens.”

January puts us to the test. Our diaries still have space to jot down a few new ideas. One phrase I noted down recently keeps popping up in my mind: “One minute a day is better than nothing.” I am not even sure exactly where I heard it. But, driven by good intentions for 2022, I decided to put it into practice. Now, I admit that I am no sportsman, but this is hardly an excuse for not spending one minute each morning exercising.  One minute to look at the problem more closely. Could this be a tool to trigger change?

 January is also time for taking stock, including of the internet. I am always intrigued to discover the most frequently searched words of the year just gone. Language is a very clear mirror of the society in which we live: it records its changes, transformations, challenges and failures. Needless to say, terms related to the pandemic with all its neologisms came out on top. Nevertheless, a little space remained for users to ask the internet a question that concerns us just as directly: “How can we help our planet?” The first suggestions list those “small things we can do every day” to engage in the shared challenge of adapting to a more sustainable model. The challenge of sustainability encompasses many areas of our daily lives, especially the way we eat and our dietary habits. Understanding this leads us to examine the enormous problems along the agri-food supply chain: the overexploitation of the planet’s resources, the negative impact of food production, the vast amount of food wasted every day, as well as the harmful health consequences of poor decisions at the supermarket and in the kitchen. Well-being at the dinner table (or breakfast bar etc.) now extends beyond the edges of whichever flat, often rectangular surface we choose to eat our meals at each day. In fact, our meal preparation begins long before the food even enters our homes: it starts with the way crops are cultivated and concerns the rights of workers, the environment and animals. The repercussions of our eating habits do not end at our front doors: they are a metaphor of our entire planet.

There is an indissoluble link between healthy individuals, healthy communities and a healthy planet. And this link is reinforced through our food choices. Sustainability is synonymous with sensitivity, attention and care. It affects everyone. No one is excluded. This is why the one-minute-a-day strategy can also be a good thing for the new year. Of course, it cannot be the only tool. The planet requires much greater effort, more radical changes. However, no deed is too small, no action is pointless. Today we are in ever greater need of new perspectives, fresh ideas, good intentions and a deep desire for change.