What Is Your Fitness Foodprint?

Unless my memory is playing tricks, choosing what to eat is more complicated than ever. Only yesterday, it seems, arguments focused on which diet was preeminent, and most of the heated discussion involved how best to trigger weight loss.

Was it Dr. Dean Ornish’s low-fat diet or the Atkins limited-sugar-and-carbohydrate diet? Was it the Weight Watchers program or the Zone, a diet that relies on a strict formula balancing fat, carbohydrates and proteins? How effective was the Perricone Prescription diet that focuses on eating foods containing antioxidants and omega-3 fatty acids, found in nuts, olive oil and salmon, while avoiding foods high on the glycemic index? Various versions of vegetarianism were also debated, along with lesser-known diets, such as the macrobiotic diet and the raw-food diet.

In retrospect, the heated debates among the proponents of the various diets seem almost irrelevant, as if they belong in a history book where stories of past events are dustily stored. I say that because today’s issues regarding food choices seem far more serious in their implications.

Take safety, for instance. Consumers are now questioning the safety of many foods, both domestic and imported. Are there cancer-causing pesticide residues on our produce? Has the food been genetically modified? Does the fish we eat contain harmful chemicals? Given an outbreak of Salmonella poisoning in 23 states, are fresh tomatoes safe to eat? Does the ground beef contain the deadly E. coli bacteria? In 2006, for example, 200,000 pounds of beef were recalled. The following year, the number jumped to 25 million.

Food choices also raise ethical issues. For example, should we buy coffee that is not fairly traded? Should we buy produce that is brought to market by underpaid field hands working in unsafe and unsanitary conditions? These and other ethical issues are discussed in a position paper originating with the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations.

Food as medicine also represents a profound change in how we view eating. For example, we’re encouraged to consume sufficient phytonutrients to maintain our health. What are phytonutrients? The term covers a host of classes of plants, from carotenoids to flavonoids, saponins and terpenes. (Clears that up, right?) To understand these complex issues, you almost need to be a chemist or registered dietitian to be certain you are consuming sufficient phytonutrients.

And speaking of adequacy of food, heated discussions on the nutritional value of organic versus nonorganic food are underway, along with the issue of natural versus bioengineered meat and produce. Yet a more far-reaching issue is just now surfacing—the introduction of nanotechnology into food processing and packaging. Nestle, Altria, H. J. Heinz and Unilever, along with lesser-known companies, are investing millions of dollars to create foods with enhanced flavor and nutrition that carry medicines and vitamin supplements. These companies anticipate that foods incorporating nanotechnology will be more easily produced and less costly.

In the middle of this tidal wave of issues, we are confronted with an even more compelling issue: the impact of food choices on the environment, based on the connection between food production and global warming.

Over the past few years, we have become increasingly aware of the impact of fossil fuels on the changing global environment. Now we are beginning to realize that food consumption choices have an impact equal to or greater than that of fossil fuel. Agriculture is estimated to contribute up to one-third of the world’s greenhouse gas emissions, with half of that attributed to livestock production. Consequently, a food choice such as beef contributes significantly to the production of greenhouse gases. The problem is compounded when food is transported from foreign lands and across the country.

Many of us are consciously working to lighten our fitness footprint. We don’t need to become obsessive orthorexics fixated on righteous eating, but we can take steps to lighten our carbon foodprint while getting FIT:

F: Follow the seasons when choosing foods. Find local growers and purchase regional and seasonal foods for your table. Finish eating before you are full—eat less.

I: Incorporate meatless and dairy-free recipes featuring grains and vegetables into your diet. Invent creative ways to use leftovers so food is not wasted. Investigate composting and consider raising your own vegetables and fruit.

T: Tabulate the impact of your current choices. Tackle the challenge of making changes to reduce your foodprint. Teach yourself and others about the importance of making informed food choices and their impact on the environment.

Every bite we eat—or don’t eat—affects not only the bathroom scale but also the environment. We can lighten both by making environment-friendly food choices part of our daily routine. Adopting this approach will lighten our carbon foodprint and help Mother Earth stay fit.