Eat like the Aussies do

It's not just shrimp on the barbie anymore, mate—Australia is revising its national dietary guidelines, which are looking much greener now than before. The new policy takes into account overall health and disease prevention by promoting healthy food, sustainability by considering food's impact upon the environment, and promoting the availability of whole foods for everyone.

In part to help combat social health problems and the increasing obesity of the population, these new guidelines indicate an understanding that a population's food choices have a huge environmental impact, on everything from agriculture, manufacturing, refrigeration, transport, packaging, retail, home and waste. Australia's new guidelines not only support increased healthy whole food intake, but also recommend limits on or complete avoidance of foods that contain high amounts of salt, processed meats, sugary drinks, and the like.

Australia could well be providing a much needed example within Western culture for an overall move toward a diet that not only is good for people but is also good for the earth.

One question remains—just how green are shrimp on the barbie, anyway?

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Anonymous (4:47 AM on Sat Mar 13, 2010)

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