Eat more vegetarian
Your choices you make every day make a difference. One simple thing you can do to reduce your carbon footprint is to eat less meat.
Different foodstuffs produce different environmental and climate impacts. Plant-based food generally has a lower climate impact than meat, dairy products, fish and poultry.
Climate-smart food
- Consume less meat: The most climate-smart food is vegetarian.
- Start small: Make it a habit with one or more vegetarian days a week. Then expand.
- Eat beans, lentils and peas which are high in protein. Legumes also provide iron and can therefore replace some of the meat on your plate.
- Blend the meat: Mix in more vegetables in the food, for example minced meat mixed with beans, lentils or root vegetables.
- Try meat substitutes: Continue to cook your favourite recipes, but try replacing the meat with vegetarian options – for example, tofu, tempeh or different veggie mince.
- Choose oat rice or wheat instead of rice. Rice is grown on waterlogged land that emits a relatively high amount of greenhouse gases.
- Choose shelf-stable vegetables and root vegetables such as carrots, cauliflower and broccoli. They have a minimal impact on the climate.
- Build your own plate: With the World Wildlife Fund diet calculator below, you can easily compare different foods and see how much greenhouse gas emissions each food causes.
- Keep it simple: Find simple dishes you like and make them often. See recipe suggestions below on the World Wide Fund for Nature website.
The Recipe Bank, World Wildlife Fund website
Diet calculator, World Wildlife Fund website
If you eat meat or fish
- If you choose meat, eat less – the Swedish National Food Agency recommends a maximum of 350 grams of red meat per week for health reasons.
- When you eat meat, choose with care. Preferably choose Swedish eco-labeled meat such as naturally pastured meat, KRAV-labeled or organic. Grazing animals help keep land open, which is important for biodiversity.
- Reduce the amount of dairy products. Dairy products produce relatively high emissions of greenhouse gases, which are mainly due to grazing animals ruminating and releasing methane gas.
- Choose fish and seafoods that are sustainably caught and labeled with KRAV or MSC (Marine Stewarship Council).
- Keep an eye on the type of fish you eat. Some types of fish can contain too much environmental pollutants, such as dioxins, PCBs, PFAS and mercury.
- The Swedish National Food Agency recommends reducing the risk of ingesting harmful substances by eating different types of fish, and not just a few types. Children, young people and pregnant women need to be extra careful.
- With the World Wildlife Fund food guide below, you get help choosing sustainable meat, fish and vegetables.
