Why Oh So Tasty! Is Good for the Planet
Wildfires, hurricanes, tornadoes, floods—it seems like there’s a never-ending stream of natural disasters ripping up property and lives. Whether you believe climate change is caused by human activities or not, the truth is that the damaging effects of climate change are real and projected cost upwards of $7.5 trillion over the next 25 years.
While the issues facing us seem insurmountable on the individual level, there are many things we can do to help mitigate climate change. It’s true that many of the actions we can take individually seem small and therefore might feel insignificant. But we live in a highly interconnected, global society where our actions have an impact; we may not see the effect we have on the environment, but even small actions when taken by many people can have a huge difference in our future.
At Oh So Tasty! we work hard to develop products that have as small of an environmental impact as possible while also packing a nutritious punch in every bite. To that end, here are a a couple of reasons why eating our instant soups are good for the planet—and your tummy.
Eating Vegan Reduces Carbon Impact
According to a recent study, eating a vegan diet can reduce an individual’s carbon footprint by as much as 73 percent! Another study found that beef production emits 60 kilograms of greenhouse gases (GHG) per 1 kilogram of beef. That’s a huge tradeoff, but other meat-based foods also produce significant amounts of greenhouse gases:
- Lamb – 20 kg GHG/1 kg produced
- Cheese – 20 kg GHG/1 kg produced
- Pork – 7 kg GHG/1 kg produced
- Poultry – 6 kg GHG/1 kg produced
To put this into serving sizes, cutting a single standard 8-ounce portion of steak (1/2 pound) from your diet eliminates approximately 13 kg of greenhouse gases. That’s the equivalent of:
- 5 gallons of gas consumed
- 7 miles driven
- 1,581 full smartphone charges
And that’s just from a single meal for one single person! Some people eat beef every day or even three times per week. Now imagine the savings we would get if just 10 people replaced beef once/week with a vegan meal. As you can see, little changes can indeed add up to big impact.
Seaweed Counters Climate Change
One of the main ingredients in Oh So Tasty! Soups is the kanten new’dle, which is made of seaweed. It turns out that growing seaweed is an excellent counter to climate change. For example, one study found that using just 3.8 percent of federal waters on the California coast for seaweed production would neutralize the emissions cost of California’s $50 billion agriculture industry. What’s more, growing seaweed helps to keep our oceans in balance, reducing acidification and deoxygenation, which threaten marine animal populations. Seaweed is also one of the best ways to absorb carbon emissions directly naturally, an important benefit given that we are losing approximately 28 million hectares per year.
So, when you eat Oh So Tasty! soups, you’re doing more than just filling up your belly with a nutritious meal or snack. You’re helping to protect a growing industry that is literally good for the planet.
Ready to help the planet by eating less meat and more vegan foods? Our full line of vegan soups is an easy way to get started!