• Food

Dietary Guidelines Influenced By Food and Beverage Industry

• agriculture
• climate change
• planet based diet
• plant based

by Ashira Morris, ODP Staff Writer The national Dietary Guidelines for America set standards for what food gets produced and consumed, but it’s influenced by big food corporations — to the detriment of Americans’ health. The latest set of guidelines was released at the very end of 2020 after five years of work. As Civil […]

• Food

US Dairy Farms Could Lower Net Emissions to Zero in Next Five Years

• dairy
• dairy farmers
• farming
• greenhouse gas emissions
• sustainable agriculture

by Natasha Lasky, ODP Staff Writer A new study from the World Wildlife Fund found that in the next five years, US dairy farms have the potential to reduce their net greenhouse gas emissions to zero. Milk has long been heralded as a superfood in the United States through superb PR campaigns, but in actuality […]

• Food

Beyond Meat and Pepsi Collaborate on Plant-Based Products

• Beyond Meat
• PepsiCo
• plant based

by Natasha Lasky, ODP Staff Writer Beyond Meat and Pepsi have announced a new partnership to develop and distribute planet-based foods and beverages. This union will allow Beyond Meat to distribute and market their plant-based meat alternatives on a global scale.  Why This Matters: With PepsiCo’s help, Beyond Meat will be able to bring new […]

• Food

Climate Change Impacts Childhood Malnutrition As Much as Poverty

• climate change
• food
• food insecurity
• malnutrition
• WHO

by Amy Lupica, ODP Staff Writer A new study published last week found that rising global temperatures impact childhood malnutrition at similar rates to poverty, insufficient sanitation, and poor education. The 19-country study, which observed 107,000 children aged 5 and under, reviewed the impact of rainfall and temperature on children’s diet diversity. The findings shocked […]

• Food

For Thanksgiving This Year, Make Less, Waste Less and Give More

• food bank
• food insecurity
• food waste
• holiday
• Indigenous
• Thanksgiving
• tradition

This year’s smaller gatherings due to the pandemic provide another opportunity to re-set holiday traditions for the better, writes Priya Krishna for the New York Times.  She explains that sustainability is a part of Native American culture and as well as the heritage of many ethnic Americans.  Yet, the way we usually prepare Thanksgiving’s big […]

• Food
• Politics

McDonald’s Announces New Meatless “McPlant” Burger

• Beyond Meat
• burgers
• carbon
• climate change
• McDonald's
• plants
• vegetarian

This week, McDonald’s announced that it was launching the McPlant burger, a completely vegan burger created by the fast-food chain and Beyond Meat. The release is a part of the company’s effort to reduce its carbon footprint, 29% of which can be attributed to the sourcing of beef.

Why This Matters: Food production accounts for about 30% of global emissions. Beef is the most climate-damaging food on the planet, producing carbon emissions at every step of the supply chain.