3 powerful ways your food choices can benefit the planet

Food is so much more than what you eat — it's a powerful tool for change. The choices you make extend beyond what you put on your plate.

Tackling climate change is a vital initiative for TED. Since 2019, we’ve been committed to championing and accelerating the ideas and solutions that lead to a cleaner, healthier, zero-carbon world. This includes the launch of our TEDCountdown initiative in partnership with Leader’s Quest and prioritizing sustainable event practices, especially when it comes to the food at our events.

For example, TED events only serve lower-impact proteins — you won’t see beef or lamb on the menu. We partnered with Klimato to add a label to all of the dishes served at our events to improve transparency about how much Co2e is on our attendee’s plates, allowing them to make more informed choices about meals. TED barista bars serve oat milk, which has a lower environmental impact compared to other milk alternatives. In an effort to reduce food waste, TED also donates extra food from all events to local charities in host cities.

We’re proud of the work we’ve done to host more sustainable events (our team even won an  IMEX-Events Industry Council Innovation in Sustainability Award) and aim to continue to transform food spaces, both on and off stage. This is why in June 2024, TEDCountdown hosted a TED Dilemma Series in NYC all about food. 

Inspired by the impactful ideas presented by speakers at this and other TEDCountdown events, here are 3 tips to help you make more sustainable choices with the food you eat. 

1. Choose food grown from farmers committed to sustainable practices

Rice is one of the most popular foods eaten around the world — but how it’s grown uses a lot of water and emits a lot of planet-warming methane gas. That’s why father-daughter farming duo Jim Whitaker and Jessica Whitaker Allen are hard at work to innovate sustainable ways to grow it better. In their TED Talk, they explore how they invented a new technique for growing rice on their Arkansas family farm — and how they’re sharing what they’ve learned with their neighbors and farmers around the world to help them grow more rice with less water. 

2. Rethink your relationship to meat — and not in the way you think

Not everyone is ready to go vegetarian or vegan — and that’s ok. The good news is that there is a way to eat hamburgers and chicken nuggets without harming the planet. Enter: Cultivated meat. In his TED Talk, cardiologist and entrepreneur Uma Valeti shares how meat grown from cells is not only better for animals, but for humans and the environment, too.

In fact, he says growing cultivated meat at scale could reduce planet-warming emissions by 90%, use 90% less land and reduce the risk of infections like e-coli and salmonella. 

3. Focus on food waste

According to research from Project Drawdown, the simple act of reducing food waste is the number one most powerful lever that humanity has to solve the climate crisis — above electric cars, solar power or even a plant-based diet.

If you’re not sure how to start, try these tips from entrepreneur Tessa Clark’s TED Talk, which include utilizing wilting produce and donating your uneaten food to people in your community who need it most. 

Tell us in the comments: What's one climate-friendly food choice you plan to make this month?

If you’re interested in exploring more food-focused insights, stay tuned for more TEDCountdown talks coming soon. Plus, join us at TEDNext on October 22-24 in Atlanta, Georgia where we’ll be exploring Sustainability — as well as 5 additional learning journeys. Learn more about how you can join us here.