Five Minutes to Feed Your Potential – Coolfoods

Added: 2026-05-28

[00:00:00][Music] are you looking for healthy ways to power your day and your life Welcome to 5 minutes to feed your potential our series of short podcasts designed for busy people just like you who are looking for easy delicious and practical ways to be healthy and happy listen along as our chefs dietitians and other experts offer insights ideas and and inspiration you know food is delicious you know food is fuel but did you know the food you choose has a real impact on our planet Kate Hanley is a sustainability expert who helps organizations improve their environmental footprint a lot of what she's learned is just as helpful for all of us as individuals as it is for the company she works with we're happy to have her here to share some cool ways to make food choices that are good for you and our planet too hi everyone my whole job is about finding ways to help improve our environment and to help others do the same so I'm really excited to tell you that great things are happening it's easier than ever to make food choices that are better for the environment and better for us too you know many people are surprised to find out that the food we eat is one of the biggest contributors to the greenhouse gas emissions that are heating up our environment food has such a big impact because the process of growing it and raising it transporting it and processing it and even preparing and serving it all create greenhouse gases like carbon dioxide and methane and it doesn't end when the food hits our plates even after we eat when the leftovers or unused food are discarded more greenhouse gases are created actually the food we eat from Farm to fork and Beyond contributes more than 1/4 of the world's total greenhouse gas emissions aramar the company I work for is committed to reducing our food related emissions 25% by 2030 and we're doing a lot to make this possible one way we're tackling this issue is by working with the World Resources Institute or wri to make it easy to choose meals that are better for the environment these planetf friendly meals have a fun name they're called cool food meals on average a cool food meal has a carbon footprint 38% lower than a typical meal the secret starts with understanding that in general beef lamb and dairy products have a much higher carbon footprint than plant-based Foods so cool food meals have less of these types of ingredients but that does not mean all cool foods are vegetarian or vegan many are but they can still have small amounts of animal products it is not an All or Nothing Choice every step we take towards eating more plant-based foods like vegetables beans and legumes and whole grains while eating less meat is a step in the right direction our chefs are serving thousands of cool food meals every day and people love them some people choose them because they're better for the planet but lots of people just choose them because they taste great let me wet your appetite butternut and black bean chili with quinoa eggplant meatballs marinara spicy shrimp and penet Portell mushroom and corn tacos and these are just a few of the thousands of recipes we have on our menus if you want to give some of our recipes a try at home they're available for free on our website at fyp 365.com making more plant forward meals at home is one good way to help the environment but it certainly isn't the only way another planetf friendly step you can take is to add more variety to your plate lots of us get stuck in a rut we tend to eat the same Foods again and again it's boring and it's also not the best thing for our personal health or the health of the planet that's because as much as 75% of the world's food supply comes from just 12 plants and five animal species that lack of food diversity is bad for the environment because of the impact of concentrated agricultural production by switching things up and very ing the fruits nuts seeds vegetables and Grains you eat and moving more from red meat to fish and poultry your body gets a wider range of nutrients mixing it up and adding more diversity to your plate is good for you and the environment too another way to make a difference is to reduce food waste did you know that about 35% of all food in our country goes unsold or uneaten it's hard to believe but it's just thrown away it's a problem we can all help solve where we serve food we're on track to reduce food waste 50% by 2030 to reduce food waste at home start with the basics always Shop with a shopping list sounds like a no-brainer right but many people don't by planning out what you need and shopping from a list you can really make a dent in the amount of food you throw away another one of my my favorite ideas find ways to get Scrappy to cut down on food waste use food scraps like onion skins and carrot peels to make a stock freeze leftover herbs toast bread ends for homemade croutons get creative with your food scraps and leftovers the good news is that our food choices can really make a difference there are so many connections between what we eat our personal health and the health of the land water and air around us I hope you give some of our cool food meal recipes and our cool food ideas a try if you like them tell a friend spread the word and help put cool food on everyone's table thanks for listening whenever you're looking for inspiration for Healthy Living our chefs and dietitians and other experts have lots of ideas to feed your potential visit our website at fyp 365.com to see all our recipes blogs podcasts and more