Day 4 of NRDC No Impact Week Focuses on Food

NRDC Simple Steps has been hosting an 8 day no impact week as a simplified version of Low Impact Man Colin Brevan’s year long experiment in no impact living. The program aims to bring awareness to which modern conveniences contribute to quality of life and which are suboptimal uses of time and money. Day 4, Wednesday, was about food and, in reviewing the blog comments for the day, it appears that the focus on food presented some of the biggest challenges to participants for the week so far. One of the suggestions for day 4 was to define a radius and choose foods grown within that radius. By not purchasing processed foods, no trash would be generated. The participants who were buying from CSA’s seemed to find it easier to stay within their radius, with grocery stores offering less of a selection of locally grown produce this time of year. Local sources of protein were particularly difficult, as tofu and seitan tend to be inefficiently packaged and transported and locally grown dried beans might not be readily available. The experiment generates thought about what one is eating and those who participated should be commended for making the effort. For anyone interested in trying the experiment, Simple Steps offers a guide. The inspiration for the program came from a no impact week sponsored by the Huffington Post.