Welcome to the Climate Kitchen newsletter, a new content universe for climate-curious parents.

Trying to Eat More Climate-Smart Foods? You Probably Already Are

By Sophie Egan

For most families, the reality is that climate ranks low on the list of factors to prioritize in their food choices. For years, the International Food and Health Information Council (IFIC) has been tracking the top drivers of Americans’ decisions about which foods and beverages to buy, and since at least 2010, environmental sustainability has ranked 5th out of 5 purchase drivers. In fact, its importance has gone down over time. Taste is by far the most important driver, and it has been #1 for as long as anyone can tell. Price, health, and convenience come next.

I often get asked, “So I guess this means people just don’t care about sustainability?” Au contraire. People care about sustainability, they just don’t care about it as much as they care about other factors, like whether their kid will like the food enough to actually eat it. There’s a lot competing for families’ budgets, too, with about 1,000 things they need to buy in a given month (school supplies, laundry detergent, soccer fees, sunscreen, and the fact that children grow, so somehow we need new socks again…). So, affordability really matters. We also care about how foods make us feel—both physically and mentally, like having enough energy after a meal, and the peace of mind of giving our kids nutritious foods to grow their minds and bodies. And of course, no one is more time-poor than parents, so convenience is hard not to have in the equation.

All to say: If you’re trying to eat more sustainably but wind up prioritizing other things—guess what? It’s OK. We get it. We’re all just doing the best we can. But we’re here to show you that you might accidentally be eating foods that just so happen to be good for the planet. 

Climate-conscious eating does not only = expensive analogues like fancy plant milks or pricey meat alternatives. Nor does it mean giving up the foods you love or adopting completely new ways of eating. Exhibit A: peanut butter and jelly—the OG sustainable sandwich! Seriously, that’s climate-conscious kid food in a nutshell. Bean and cheese burrito? Check. Pretzels and hummus? Check. All three of these examples use legumes, which are climate superstars. 

Oh, and my favorite example: fruits and vegetables. Almost nothing ranks lower in terms of environmental footprint. The classics like carrot sticks or an apple. Climate-smart for the win. We’ll talk later about whether they’re local, seasonal, organic, imported, all that good stuff. For now, just take pride in the sustainable foods you’re already eating. It’s hard business feeding a family day in and day out, so give yourself some props and take the pressure off.

3 Kid-Friendly Meal Ideas That Are Delicious, Affordable, Healthy, and Convenient—and Yes, Sustainable Too

• Breakfast: Oats in any form. Granola, oatmeal, muffin, granola bar, etc. (Just watch out for too much sugar in some kinds.)

• Lunch: Leftovers from dinner. And yes, that includes cold pizza from three nights ago. Eating what you already have in the fridge means reducing food waste—the ultimate climate-smart food habit. 

• Dinner: Noodles. Throw them together with a little soy sauce, cooking oil, teriyaki, marinara, pesto, soup, sauce, spread, or other pantry staples, maybe some frozen veggies, and call it dinner. P.S. Adults like simple dinners too! Easy clean-up and total comfort food. 

Your Questions — Answered!

As part of the feedback we received since our launch, we got many questions from readers about climate-smart diets, so we’re launching a monthly reader question section. Send us all your questions here.

“Dear Climate Kitchen, if I shift my family toward a plant-based diet, will we get enough protein?”

Yes, your family can definitely get enough protein on a plant-based diet. Protein is found in a wide variety of plant-based foods, including nuts, seeds, whole grains, and legumes (think: beans, lentils, tofu). Even vegetables. That’s right, there’s protein in your vegetables. Broccoli, peas, spinach, artichokes, mushrooms…the list goes on.

To be fair, we get this question a lot! This concern about protein deficiency from plant-forward eating is a widespread myth that’s really a trio of sub-myths:

1. We think we need more protein than we do.

2. We believe most of us aren’t getting enough protein.

3. We’ve heard/been told that we can only get enough protein if we eat animal-based foods. Not true!

In fact, the recommended daily protein intake for adults is about 46 grams for women and 56 grams for men, and most Americans eat about 100 grams per day—roughly twice the necessary amount!*

In reality, it’s easy to meet these requirements by consuming a variety of plant-based foods throughout the day. For example, two tablespoons of peanut butter gives you over 7 grams of protein. A cup of lentils has nearly 18 grams. It all adds up!

*Actually what many of us are deficient in is fiber, but that’s a topic for another day.

-Team Climate Kitchen

Our Favorite Reads

Curated by Sonalie Figueiras

In every issue, we’ll share 3-5 good reads— think: the best climate-smart shopping/eating/nutrition advice and thought-provoking essays.

• Should we be worried about vegan ultra-processed foods? The misinformation around vegan ultra-processed foods over the past year across the mainstream media has been relentless. Disappointingly, very few journalists have accurately reported on the topic, and in many cases, they have misrepresented study results. This BBC article by Christine Ro is the first I’ve seen in months that offers nuance and balance. It’s a worthy read for busy parents who cannot always cook up a whole-food, climate-smart meal for their families. It’s perfectly okay to lean on packaged foods and meat substitutes sometimes.

• Climate change Is an unspoken reason parents are so stressed: This short essay by journalist and mental health author Anya Kamenetz (who is also an advisor to the Climate Mental Health Network and the Aspen Institute’s This Is Planet Ed) about the mental health toll of climate change on parents was a jolt. I spend more time than I care to admit despairing over the world we are leaving our children. I love that she is asking for a family-friendly policy to include an assessment of climate change—it made me think about how powerful it would be if parents could voice this collectively.

• Why ‘chaos wheat’ may be the future of bread: If you enjoy nerding out on food and farm science (as I very much do), then I recommend this Washington Post piece by Michael J. Coren about King Artur Flour’s Climate Blend Flour and the journey towards regenerative wheat farming. I am fascinated by how the climate crisis will change what’s in our fridges and pantries. We need to bulwark our everyday staples (from wheat to rice to coffee and chocolate) against the roulette wheel of supply chain disruption, extreme weather, increasing emissions regulations, and food inflation that will increasingly dictate what we eat and how we grow it.

• Say Goodbye to Harmful Plastics With These Top Kitchen Utensils: The non-toxic pots and pans link we shared in our last issue was one of the most clicked-on of the whole newsletter. People are clearly worried about toxins in their kitchenware (and it’s warranted) so here’s a follow-up roundup from Food & Wine on plastic-free tongs, scrapers, mashers, slotted spoons, and more. Note: we have more in the pipeline on this. I’ve been avoiding plastics, PFAS, hormone-disrupting plasticizers, microplastics, and other toxins in my home and kitchen since 2007, so I’ve got lots to share, and I am passionate about helping families navigate through the minefield that is this issue. So. Much. Greenwashing.