Post 4: Environmental Geography of My Meal

In this post, I took a deep dive into the environmental impacts of my meal that include black beans mixed with brown rice, skinless rotisserie chicken, and plantain chips. This meal is very healthy, and indeed has some green qualities that can help us think about better food choices.

Global Scale

In a global scale point of view, my meal supports the concept of lower proteins and plant-based foods. Like beef or dairy carry much of a larger footprint than comparing it to brown rice and black beans. While chicken isn’t perfect, it uses fewer resources than other meats such as red meat. Plantain grows in tropical regions, which often require less use of chemical inputs than other industrial crops. If more people in this world replaced heavier impact meals with meals that included these kinds of food, it would help lower greenhouse gas emissions, in addition to reducing stress on water systems and land.

 Local Scale

From a local scale point of view, chicken, beans, and rice are widely available and accessible to buy from nearby grocery stores or local farmers. By being so easy to access, this reduces transportation pollution, supporting local food networks. In addition, you can also find chicken available at some farmers markets that were produced with better environmental practices. In addition, plantain chips support  regional food traditions, being a major food in Latin American communities. Buying them from a local market can lead to supporting small immigrant-owned businesses. In conclusion, these types of foods encourage demand for foods that don’t require highly processed production.

Micro-Scale Level

On a micro-scale level such as in a household, this meal doesn’t create a lot of food waste due to being affordable and filling as well. Leftovers can easily be reused as well. Beans and rice can also be bought in bulk, reducing extra packaging. Plantain chips are very shelf friendly, letting them be a snack that lasts for a long time. This reduces food waste since they don’t spoil quickly. This snack can replace other snacks that are ultra-processed such as cheese puffs or plastic heavy chips. You also can make plantain chips at home, avoiding packaging waste entirely. In addition, this meal overall is a very healthy balanced option. It doesn’t include any fast food items, which often comes with lots of plastic and trash.

Limitations

Even though this meal does have good green qualities, it is always going to be the perfect solution. This can be due to not everyone having the easy access or the option to afford rotisserie chicken or bulk foods. In addition, plantain chips would most likely come in plastic bags, which just adds to the plastic waste. Also If everyone switched to the same foods, there would be much of a higher demand for rice or chicken farming. This would lead to creating more land use and water stress. So this meal can inspire others for options on better eating, but it isn’t the universal solution for everyone.

This link talks about how healthy rice and beans are for you: https://www.eatingwell.com/latina-dietitian-favorite-food-combination-8636571