Sustainable diets

Over the last few years, a great deal of information has been shared about the sustainability of our food. We are often encouraged to consume more plant-based products and eat less animal-based products. Such a rule is rather general and lacks nuance regarding the nutritional value and environmental impact of different products. In the case of plant-based products, differences in nutritional value and environmental impact can be significant. The same goes for animal-based products.

More insights into sustainable diets

The Optimeal® calculations provide more insights into a sustainable diet. By entering a change in your diet, the Optimeal® Tool provides a healthy alternative and shows what effect this would have on CO₂ emissions,  and the price of your groceries.

This video explains how the Optimeal® Tool works and how dietary changes can affect CO₂ emissions and your grocery bill. Watch it here:

An alternative diet should contain the same amount of nutrients

For any change in your diet, the Optimeal® Tool will provide an alternative diet that contains the same amount of nutrients. If you use less food from one productgroup in your diet Optimeal® will provide an alternative diet containing more food from other productgroups. The alternative diets in the Optimeal Tool contain the same amount of nutrients.

What does the Tool calculate?

If you for instance take dairy out of your diet, you will need to eat considerably more vegetables, fish, beans and pulses to get the same amount of nutrients. These products also have an impact on the environment. The Optimeal® Tool calculates the change in diet on CO₂ emissions. The Tool shows that a change in diet does not always lower your CO2 emissions. As affordibility of food is important in a sustainable food system, the Optimeal® Tool also calculates how expensive the alternative diet is. Replacing dairy with foods containing the same amount of nutrients often  increases the costs of the groceries considerably.  

Getting started

Want to know how changes in your diet would affect CO₂ emissions and your grocery bill? Use the tool below. Move your cursor to raise or lower the amount of a certain food group; the Optimeal® Tool will then provide a healthy alternative diet and show you what effect this will have on CO₂ emissions and the price of your groceries. Questions about the calculator? Send us an email at info@nzo.nl.

• Interview | 'Make sure consumer diets don’t become more unhealthy due to sustainability concerns’
• Article | The place of animal products in a more sustainable diet
• Brochure | Decreasing the environmental footprint of our diet with frontpage