Small Changes, Big Impact: 4 Ways Your Food Choices Matter

Sustainability means recognizing that the health and vitality of our planet are directly connected to our own. That's why we consider it a fundamental part of wellness and prioritize the choices and practices that foster a more conscious lifestyle. But it can feel overwhelming and tough to know where to start. We may even overlook the easiest ways to make an impact, like at the grocery store checkout!

For us, heading to the grocery store and stocking up on delicious, nutritious food isn't a chore—it's fun! And the grocery aisle is where we can take one of the simplest sustainable steps: choosing the brands that are taking actions to protect the planet. When we reach for products like Cascadian Farm organic granola, we use our dollars to make a statement about what matters, like their farmland resilience initiative. Alongside making cereals that our families love, Cascadian Farm is partnering with The Nature Conservancy to restore over 600 acres of farmland. Investing in farmland resiliency can help combat the impacts of climate change by recharging groundwater and creating wildlife habitat. 

Many wellness journeys include discovering the importance of reading ingredient labels. But now it's not only what's in our food that matters but how it came to be. Take almonds, a health food staple we collectively adore. Almonds are one of the most water-intensive crops, requiring an alarming and unsustainable amount of water for irrigation. Lots of nutritious foods incorporate almonds, but few brands are working to resolve the problem. LÄRABAR is invested in water-reduction solutions for regenerative almond farming. All the more reason to keep us swooning over their gluten-free, real-ingredient Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough bars.

Our individual efforts to help climate change can feel tiny. But when we support a company driven by sustainability, like Annie's, we're a part of bigger change. Annie's is on a mission to show how choosing organic food has the power to transform our individual health, while positively affecting the planet. Organic ingredients eliminate many harmful chemicals, pesticides, and artificial additives. But opting organic also supports the small, organic farms that are far more environmentally friendly than some conventional agriculture systems. When we choose Annie's, we're not just digging into a warm bowl of pasta shells and real, white cheddar cheese. We're also standing for the organic farmers out there working to make sustainable farming principles the new norm.

For all the abundance our planet provides, it deserves some appreciation. One way we can show our gratitude is through the food we choose to eat. And that doesn't mean going vegan and growing our own vegetables. But we can snack more consciously and choose meat from responsible sources. EPIC sources their beef from a supplier that incorporates more sustainable processes, like composting and converting degraded cropland into pasture. Their Beef Barbacoa-Inspired Bar, for example, is made using regenerative agriculture practices that improve soil health, biodiversity, and ecosystem functions. It's meaningful to choose a brand that sees the entire farm as an ecosystem.

The Beef Barbacoa-Inspired EPIC Bar features the Savory Institute's Land to Market™ Ecological Outcome Verification™ (EOV) Seal. Explore nature and take care of it, all in the same bite!

Illustrations by: Navina Chhabria