How much do YOU know about sustainable food?

This month as part of our Sustainability Campaign we are looking at the tasty topic of Sustainable Food! Check out this great video by Digital Ambassador Judith for some facts about sustainable grocery shopping and eating.

So, some small ways each of us can shop and eat more sustainably are:

• Buy locally produced food
• Don’t buy food that is wrapped in plastic
• Bring your own reusable shopping bag to the grocery store
• Eat less meat and dairy
• Recycle food waste

Now, are you ready to put your sustainable food knowledge to the test? Try out our quiz!

1. a) 1.3 thousand tonnes
   b) 1.3 million tonnes
   c) 1.3 billion tonnes

2. a)Spain
   b)France
   c)Sweden

1. a) Potato
   b) Chili
   c) Cabbage

2. a)Spotify
   b) Karma
   c) Blocket

3. a) Masters Programme in Sustainable Development at Uppsala University
   b) Masters Programme in Sustainable Food Systems at SLU
   c) Both of the above

4. a) Lamb
   b) Beef
   c) Chicken

5. a) Taverna Averna
   b) Raw Food House
   c)Hermans

Answers

1.The answer, unfortunately, is c), 1.3 billion tonnes – roughly one-third of the food produced in the world for human consumption- is wasted every year.

2. The answer is…… *drumroll*….. SWE….. wait, it’s NOT Sweden?! Sweden is so good at sustainability I was pretty sure it was going to come out on top in this list, but in fact, the country that ranked highest for food sustainability in 2018 was b), France! Sweden did, however, come in at a respectable 8th place.

3. The crop most widely grown in Sweden is a), the humble (and delicious) potato. If you want to eat sustainably, locally-produced food is a great option because it reduces CO2 emissions by reducing food miles (the distance food travels from farm to consumer). This is lucky for me because I LOVE potatoes. They’re so versatile! Boil ‘em, mash ‘em, stick ‘em in a stew… or, my personal favourite, turn them into chips. YUM.

4. While Blocket is great for second-hand bargains or house-hunting, b), Karma, can link you up with supermarkets and restaurants that have leftover unsold food. This would usually be thrown away, but users of the app can buy it at a discounted price.

5. If you were paying attention during our last sustainability quiz, you might have guessed that the answer to this question is c)! The Master programme in Sustainable Development at Uppsala University ↗️ has a course on food sustainability, while Master programme in Sustainable Food Systems at SLU ↗️ is entirely focused on food. There is a big focus on sustainability in Swedish education – search universityadmissions.se ↗️ for related programmes.

6. This one took significant amounts of intensive googling to work out, but apparently a) Lamb has the highest carbon footprint of all the meats… but it’s just a tiny bit higher than beef. Basically, they BOTH have a pretty big impact on the environment as sheep and cows produce a lot of methane, which is even more damaging to the environment than carbon dioxide. Going meat-free for just one day a week can have a huge positive impact on the environment – but if you feel like going full veggie or vegan, even better!

7. If you wanna have a nice sustainable dinner in Stockholm, you can visit c) Hermans ↗️, where they serve “planet-friendly food” which is plant-based. Impressively, they recycle all their food waste, the work clothes are made with organic cotton and the company car rolls on biofuel! Taverna Averna ↗️ is an eco-friendly restaurant in Gothenburg whose produce is so local it’s grown on the restaurant’s roof, and Raw Food House ↗️ is one of Malmö’s most sustainable places to eat!

0-1: Still a little way to go at the Study in Sweden Sustainability School, but good try!

2-4: You definitely always remember to bring your reusable shopping bags to ICA. Nice work!

5-7: You grow your own food, are vegan and you don’t even know what a plastic bag IS. Sustainable Food Fanatic, you are brilliant! Congrats!

We want to see your photos/videos on the theme of Sustainable Shopping, Cooking and Eating!

We would like you to take any picture/video that is related to sustainable grocery shopping, cooking and eating! Show us your plastic-free grocery shopping, favourite local products or a tasty dish made with sustainably sourced food. Maybe you grow your own food or are part of a farming co-op? Show us your sustainable world!