Food

We all need food, but scientists warn that we're eating too much unhealthy food and not getting enough nutrition. Malnutrition is a growing problem all over the world, and even overweight people are often deficient in a variety of nutrients. 

In this section we highlight the changes suggested by the World Health Organization to better understand how reducing the production of some products like sugar and salt could reduce our health problems while also reducing our impact on the planet and the growing strain on Earth's limited resources.

The WHO recommends that all adults eat:

• "At least 400 g (i.e. five portions) of fruit and vegetables per day (2), excluding potatoes, sweet potatoes, cassava and other starchy roots." or 0.88lbs per day

• 30% less salt down from the current global salt intake, in other words: "Less than 5  g of salt (equivalent to about one teaspoon) per day (8).  Salt should be iodized."

• "Less than 30% of total energy intake from fats (1, 2, 3). Unsaturated fats (found in fish, avocado and nuts, and in sunflower, soybean, canola and olive oils) are preferable to saturated fats (found in fatty meat, butter, palm and coconut oil, cream, cheese, ghee and lard) and trans-fats of all kinds, including both industrially-produced trans-fats (found in baked and fried foods, and pre-packaged snacks and foods, such as frozen pizza, pies, cookies, biscuits, wafers, and cooking oils and spreads) and ruminant trans-fats (found in meat and dairy foods from ruminant animals, such as cows, sheep, goats and camels). It is suggested that the intake of saturated fats be reduced to less than 10% of total energy intake and trans-fats to less than 1% of total energy intake (5). In particular, industrially-produced trans-fats are not part of a healthy diet and should be avoided (4, 6)."

• "Less than 10% of total energy intake from free sugars (2, 7), which is equivalent to 50 g (or about 12 level teaspoons) for a person of healthy body weight consuming about 2000 calories per day, but ideally is less than 5% of total energy intake for additional health benefits (7). Free sugars are all sugars added to foods or drinks by the manufacturer, cook or consumer, as well as sugars naturally present in honey, syrups, fruit juices and fruit juice concentrates."

For Infants & Young Children

"In the first 2 years of a child’s life, optimal nutrition fosters healthy growth and improves cognitive development. It also reduces the risk of becoming overweight or obese and developing NCDs later in life.

Advice on a healthy diet for infants and children is similar to that for adults, but the following elements are also important:

• Infants should be breastfed exclusively during the first 6 months of life.

• Infants should be breastfed continuously until 2 years of age and beyond.

• From 6 months of age, breast milk should be complemented with a variety of adequate, safe and nutrient-dense foods. Salt and sugars should not be added to complementary foods."

- https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/healthy-diet

Land Needs

Scientists have estimated that we need to protect 50% of our planet from human interference to keep the ecosphere healthy enough to produce the clean air and water, medicine plus other benefits that nature provides, keeping human civilization intact. By understanding how we currently waste space, we can make sensible changes that will benefit both us and the planet.

Food-Growing Space

We use far more land for growing our food than anything else. By changing the way we eat, we can drastically increase or decrease the amount of land we need to keep everyone alive and healthy.

It is vital that we put more protections on our remaining wild spaces, but by switching to less impactful methods of food production, we may be able to feed more people with less land.

Currently it is believed that if we didn't waste so many resources on wasteful practices such as raising livestock, we already produce enough to feed around 12 to 14 billion humans. 

The USA alone could feed an additional 800 million people buy giving the grains currently fed to livestock, to humans directly, even though the USA only has a population of around 332 million people.

Scientists have warned that grazing livestock is far less efficient, using more resources including space, and causes more pollution than factory farmed animals.

Too Much Stuff (Clutter) Harms Us & The Environment

A Cluttered Life: Middle-Class Abundance 18:55 minute video "Follow a team of UCLA anthropologists as they venture into the stuffed-to-capacity homes of dual income, middle-class American families in order to truly understand the food, toys, and clutter that fill them."

Helpful Books for Decluttering

• The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying "A Simple, Effective Way to Banish Clutter Forever" by Marie Kondo

• The Hoarder in You: How to Live a Happier, Healthier, Uncluttered Life by Robin Zasio

How Much Do We Use Stuff? How Much is "Enough"?

Tools & Calculators

Minimize My Mess: Personalized Simplicity Plan

Clothing

• Minimize My Mess: Clothing Calculator

Suggested Reading

• Restyle & Restitch for Little Ones shows you simple ways to turn old adult clothing into free or affordable baby clothing. The Swedish author provides pretty photos showing where pieces were cut from, traceable patterns in the back pages, the front pages are full of useful tips for total beginners and intermediate crafters. If you don't understand any of the instructions, look for step-by-step guides online as there are many with photos as well as videos that are great at demystifying sewing terms and techniques. One of the bags is sewing machine free, and several ideas in this book could be sized up for older children of even adults.

Maps

International

• Average Books Read Per Year by Country (interactive) hover over or click on a country to see their statistics.