This week (12 – 18 March) is Climate Week – Britain’s biggest climate change campaign.

Through showcasing real and practical ways to combat climate change, the campaign aims to renew our ambition to create a more sustainable, low carbon future.

This year’s theme is a topic very close to my heart – or perhaps that should be tummy! FOOD.

‘Climate Week Cuisine’ is all about encouraging us to think about the food we eat and how simple changes could reduce its impact towards climate change, which isn’t as hard as it sounds.

Eating a low-carbon meal is a way to enjoy delicious food, which often costs less and is better for the environment.

As I said, this isn’t as hard as it might sound at first; here are three of the easiest ways to make your meals more environmentally friendly:

  • Less – eat less meat and dairy. These ingredients have high carbon footprints. Perhaps make a veggie, or even vegan, meal every once in a while.
  • Local – eat local, seasonal ingredients. Choose ingredients that haven’t travelled halfway around the world, eat a meal with fresh produce that is in season.
  • Leftovers – eat food that might otherwise be thrown away. Turn yesterday’s dinner into today’s lunch.

One of my favourite meals is ratatouille. It’s quick, there’s no meat or dairy, I use seasonal vegetables as much as possible and it’s a great way to use up those courgettes and peppers that have been in my fridge a bit too long! I will admit though, I sometimes cook a couple of sausages with it – from the local farm-shop.

So a few simple changes to the way we eat and buy our food could have a huge impact on lowering the amount of carbon produced. You may find you are doing some of these things already – I didn’t realise ratatouille could help save the planet until I thought about it, but now I do, I think it might taste even better than before!

I’m sure there are plenty of other scrumptious and sustainable recipe ideas out there, perhaps you would like to share yours with us through this blog.

For more information on climate week, climate week cuisine recipes and other simple yet practical solutions to help tackle climate change, visit www.climateweek.com