How to Help

What You Eat

A good way to make sure you're eating sustainably is to follow the LOFTy method, which involves eating local, organic, and Fairtrade foods. You can purchase local foods at one of the 50 farmers' markets around Los Angeles. Organic foods can be found in most grocery stores and identified with the USDA Certified Organic logo on them. USDA requires their certified organic foods to be pesticide-free, grown/raised in natural living conditions, and free of artificial dye and flavors. Fairtrade certified foods are typically for produce grown outside of America. Their organization ensures its farmers are paid fair wages and the food is organic.

Composting

If you have a garden or yard space, a compost bin is a great investment. A compost bin is a container where food waste is transformed into nutrient-rich soil for plants. In the bin, food waste decomposes aerobically (with oxygen) creating carbon dioxide. In landfills, waste decomposes anaerobically, creating methane which is a greenhouse gas x21 more powerful than carbon. Utilizing a compost bin reduces waste in landfills and reduces personal carbon emissions by 50%-90%.

Recycling

Plenty of food packaging is recyclable, but there are certain ways to ensure that your packaging gets recycled properly. All recycling labels have the numbers 1-7 on them, and this determines where they can be recycled. Numbers 1-3 can be recycled at most facilities in Los Angeles, however, 4-7 have to be taken to a special recycling facility. The reason why is that certain plastics can jam and break machines, so if a plastic is brought to the wrong recycling facility, it will end up being incinerated or put in a landfill. Always remember to clean your recyclables as well, because dirty plastic and paper will be thrown out.

Supporting Sustainable Businesses

Many restaurants around Los Angeles try to make a difference by using sustainable foods. It's important to support these local businesses and promote sustainable eating so other restaurants follow.

Gracias Madre

Gracias Madre is a vegan Mexican restaurant in West Hollywood. In addition to being plant-based, the restaurant only sources from local, non-GMO, and organic farms. What truly sets this sustainable kitchen apart is its no-waste cooking, meaning that all food scraps are used in stalks, soups, vegetable patties, and more instead of being thrown away. All items are around $20 and taste amazing.

Bar Nine

In Culver City, there is a coffee shop called Bar Nine. This business only uses biodegradable and compostable materials for their coffee making and uses glass cups for takeaway coffee. An important aspect of Bar Nine is their transparency, so they include all of their ingredient sourcing and new updates on their push for sustainability on their website

Backyard Bowls

Backyard Bowls is a plant-based eatery with locations in Silver Lake and West Hollywood. Focusing on acai bowls, smoothies, and hot porridge, these places are perfect for breakfast and lunch. Their three main points of sustainability are organic foods, nutrition, and lasting impact. They believe that eating real, fresh ingredients with no preservatives is the key to proper nutrition, and strive to have a carbon-neutral footprint.

Sustainable vs. Everyday Shopping

I wanted to find out what a realistic sustainable diet would cost, so I did a week's worth of shopping for my family at Whole Foods and bought only organic/sustainable-certified foods. I also went to Ralphs, my local grocery store, to compare the prices.

*= certified organic, != local, #=non gmo/no added hormones, %= free range, ^=American humane

RALPHS WHOLE FOODS

Cinnamon toast crunch … $4.49 Cascade Cinnamon crunch cereal *# $5.49

Ruffles chips … $5.99 Late July salted tortilla chips *# $10.58

Kroger eggs(18 pack) % $4.99 Vital Farms eggs (18 pack) *#%^ $12.99

Bananas ...$1.09 Bananas *# $1.50

The Greek Gods Greek yogurt … $4.99 Stonyfield greek yogurt #* $6.79

Kroger sourdough bread … $3.49 Wyoming sunflower sourdough bread ! $5.79

Driscoll blackberries !#* $4.99 Driscoll blackberries !#* $4.99

Driscoll strawberries #* $4.99 Giant farms strawberries #*! $4.99

Fairlife milk #^ $5.49 Clover Sonoma 2% milk #^! $5.39

Decco pasta # $3.99 Whole Foods Market rigatoni pasta *# $2.29

Avocados x3 *# $5.00 Hass large avocados x3 !*# $8.07

DULC mini watermelon # $4.99 SDLS mini watermelon !#* $5.99

Nature valley granola… $5.49 Ocean smthing granola *#! $10.49

Kroger unsalted butter … $4.99 Strauss salted butter #*! $10.99

Jennie-O ground turkey $4.99 Mary farms ground turkey %#*^ $7.99

Kroger rice cakes … $2.99 Lundberg Cinnamon rice cakes *#! $5.39

Oreos … $4.79 WFM chocolate cream cookies # $2.99

BHRD hummus # $4.49 Cedars hummus #! $3.99

Knudsen cottage cheese # $2.89 Clover Sonoma cottage cheese #*! $7.29

19 items for $85.12 19 items for $123.99

The main difference between Ralphs and Whole Foods was the price. With 19 items each, Whole Foods costs almost 35% more than Ralphs. However, some Whole Foods products were less expensive than Ralphs products, like the rigatoni pasta and the hummus, while still being local and/or organic. I expected it would take more time to shop at Whole Foods because I would have to find out what kind of sustainability each product had, but that was not the case. Instead, the shelves were labeled in local, non-GMO, and Kosher sections. I noticed that when shopping sustainably, there are tradeoffs when choosing what brands to buy. Some are local while others are organic, and it's up to you as the shopper to choose what you value more.