The Eco Diet

OK so I hope by now we all have a very healthy environmental conscience... but are we all healthy EATERS??

I pondered this while consuming a cheeseburger stunner meal from Hungry Jacks ("would you like to upsize to a large today?"... "Sure!"). For those unfamiliar, this is cheeseburger, fries, coke AND a chocolate sundae!! Butterfly was sleeping in the car and I was lamenting the loss of my midmorning nap... I usually sleep when she does, and if she falls asleep in the car I can't move her or she will wake :(

I do loves me some junk food. I am a bit of a food addict. I am so careful to make sure bub eats well, but I don't do the same for myself. So I thought I'd give it a bit of a spin, hit me right in the eco conscience!!

Lets think about one little burger meal. (Although truth me told it wasn't that little... nor was my stomach after consuming it!)

The Cheeseburger... bread (at least 10 ingredients), beef, onions, pickles, tomato sauce (at least 10 ingredients) and mustard (at least 10 ingredients)

Fries... potatoes and oil

Coke... awww man I hate to think, conservatively 10 ingredients

Sundae... Ice Cream (?5 ingredients) and chocolate topping (?10 ingredients)

Really I have no idea on how many ingredients there would be in all these things, I think I'm underestimating.

AND packaging

One cheeseburger wrapper, printed
One fries box, printed
One Soft Drink cup, printed plus one plastic straw
One sundae cup, printed, with plastic lid and plastic spoon
One paper bag, printed

OK so... around 60 ingredients. EVERY SINGLE ONE started out innocently enough, growing somewhere. Each had to be picked, sorted, packaged and transported (think petrol consumption) to another location for processing (carbon emissions), transported AGAIN to be made into the final product, and AGAIN to the stores to be sold. I'm sure there are heaps more processing and transporting steps than I am aware of.

Then there are the emissions caused in the production of the packaging. Sure, some of it is made from paper and will break down, but that doesn't mean it doesn't impact on the environment.

THEN there are the methane emissions produced after consuming the meal, especially if you ordered onion rings...

So next time you go to get a burger, or reach for a bag of snack size kit kats, think about the impact on the environment your naughty snack is having.

A BANANA only requires picking and a quick truck trip ;) ... or better yet, picked straight from your own yard!

I type this while consuming a M&M McFlurry with caramel topping... but in my defense, I didn't ask hubby to bring it home, and after all those emissions it took to make it, I couldn't waste it...