You Are What You Eat... And You're Eating Trash Beth Buczynski - Care2.com
go to original July 25, 2012

It was 1942 when nutritionist Victor Lindlahr published a book called You Are What You Eat: How to Win and Keep Health with Diet. The saying stuck with us, and people still use it to remind each other that food choices should be based on more than flavor and convenience.

But watching what you eat isn’t just about being a careful shopper. The majority of the world’s food is grown and raised outdoors, which means the health of the environment is inextricably linked to the quality of our food system. Pollution anywhere on the planet, even far from farms and fields, has an uncanny ability to work itself into the things we eat on a daily basis. Sometime more directly than we could have ever imagined.

According to research by the Natural Resources Defense Council, plastic trash accounts for 60 – 80 percent of the litter now swirling around in our oceans. Because these plastics take centuries to degrade, its can wash up on our shores, entangle and kill seals, or destroy coral reefs.

Smaller bits of plastic look a lot like the plankton and tiny creatures that fish like to eat. And then we eat the fish. See where this is going? Scroll down for more info on why you’ve probably had trash for dinner.



Related Reading on Care2.com:

10 Most Common Types Of Ocean Trash

Great Pacific Garbage Patch Leads To Boom In Ocean Bugs

How Bad For The Environment Can Throwing Away One Plastic Bottle Be?

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