How to make sustainable choices at the supermarket

today i want to bring back some of those

good old game boy memories and play a

little game with you

but i have to warn you this game is far

less innocent than tetris

it takes place in one of the absolute

worst places on the planet it is hell on

earth

if you’re a millennial

with a bit of decision stress

trying to do something about climate

change

i call this place

the cave of consumer traps

now you’ve probably been to this place

before maybe even hundreds of times you

just know by different name

the supermarket

which is a terrible name because there’s

nothing super about it

but before we go in there we need to

choose our character

ah this guy looks a bit too nervous

it’s cute but nah not really my thing

ah

that’s more like it

let’s go with frank a naive dutch guy

with typical millennial issues such as

fomo

when frank was about 15 years old he

first learned about the horrible and

unfair effects of climate change and

ever since then he’s been trying to find

ways to do something about it

like most people for a really long time

frank only heard about all the problems

and had no idea about the solutions

until he found his book drawdown where

scientists calculate the 100 most

effective ways to reduce emissions

and oh by the way his favorite food is

hamburgers

so frank is not a chef

but he decides to make a cookbook for

climate change to make it easier for

himself and his friends to be part of

this food solution

so he goes deep down the rabbit hole of

climate change and food and that’s where

we start the game

by the way if you haven’t noticed yet

i’m frank

okay

let’s do this

i press start the screen turns black and

then i hear the old gamer music and

frank walks into the cave

the objective is simple enough

i just need to find some coconut milk so

frank can make a curry for his friends

so i work my way through the isles but

then i stop

this game is about climate change and

isn’t there a lot of damage for flying

coconut milk halfway around the world

maybe it’s a trap but wait most of the

things from far away they come by boats

so the missions for products are really

low so it’s fine okay just continue

i turn around the corner and there i

spot it the coconut milk but

nobody told me that there would be 13

different kinds of coconut milk how am i

supposed to choose

okay can or carton

what’s inside usually makes a bigger

difference than the packaging okay can

is fine maybe organic but then next to

it there’s another option fair trade

i’m trying to solve this riddle when to

my left i see an old woman walking

towards me staring at me she is

definitely judging if i can pass this

test

okay

if you want to save the world you’ve got

to at least choose the right coconut

milk

i’m sweating my heart is pounding and

the woman keeps staring i feel like tom

cruise has to cut the red or the black

cable and if i choose the wrong one the

whole thing is going to explode

organic fair trade organic fair trade i

close my eyes and choose a can

it’s organic and then

silence

nothing happens the store doesn’t

explode and the woman walks on i quickly

head for the exit and take another look

at my can

what

what if not buying the fair trade option

means that the farmers can’t buy food

for their children and they have to

leave the village in a storm to catch

fish and then the boat capsizes and they

all die oh what have i done but it’s too

late i pay and head out in the cold

night

how am i ever going to give people

advice about eating sustainably i can’t

even get it right myself

sure i made it out alive but this is not

what winning looks like this feels like

game over

so i walk back home with my coconut milk

and i feel small and powerless

what can one person do about climate

change

despite having a few more moments like

this i continue working on the book and

slowly i start to connect the dots

and see the bigger picture maybe it’s

possible to break down this huge

challenge into smaller steps

in a video game you also don’t start by

fighting the end boss you work your way

through all the different levels so you

get character gains more and more

experience until you’re strong enough to

take on the final mission so frank needs

to go level by level

what might be those first couple of

levels of food and climate change

the biggest problem is definitely meat

but oh come on becoming a vegetarian

that’s not a small step

isn’t there some kind of entry level

let’s see if we take all the world’s

wild birds and mammals including the

ones from the sea like dolphins and

whales and then on top of that we add

all the world’s chickens sheep goats

horses and pigs

the weight of all of these animals

combined

it’s less than the weight of all cows in

the world

planet earth it’s more like planet cow

no wonder we have to cut down forests to

feed all of them

and on top of that cows also burp

methane a powerful greenhouse gas

so i know what level one is replacing

beef and you don’t even have to replace

it with tofu

one research calculated that if you

replace beef with pork or chicken so

you’re not even eating less meat just a

different kind of meat this could

already reduce your footprint

of your food by 21

now of course replacing all beef with

chicken is not really the end goal of a

sustainable diet

but it already makes a huge difference

the overall goal is more about enjoying

meat as a luxury product for the weekend

turning beef into a luxury is a great

first step to restore the balance and to

tackle the underlying cause of climate

change

because beef is a great way to unlearn

overconsumption

so frank reduced his beef

turned his favorite food from hamburgers

into curry and passed level one

[Applause]

the other big problem with food and

climate change is food waste so surely

level 2 must be about food waste

that reminds me of a friend who really

doesn’t like breadcrusts

whenever she buys a loaf of bread she

was so honest to admit to me

she throws away both crusts

now

if you came here today you are probably

a super sustainable person who would

never do this

but the statistics say that if i were to

go to your home and open up the trash

bag i would find a lot of bread

because one in every five slices is

wasted

and worldwide more than half of all

wasted calories come from cereals like

bread or pasta

of course we waste a lot more than just

bread crusts but i think eating all

those slices is a great solution for

climate change

first of all there was a study that

showed that people eat their bread

crusts they waste less food in general

but for me breadcrusts have an even

bigger power i think they can help us to

remember what’s most important in life

yes you’re never going to look at bread

crust the same way again

the reason that we waste so much food in

the first place is because because we’ve

kind of forgotten its value

food is our first basic need but it no

longer feels that way because it has

become part of our efficient factory

system so sometimes it’s just cheaper or

more convenient to throw it away

and that’s where the humble breadcrust

comes in every time you buy a loaf of

bread and you open up the bag and you

find this dry piece of crust the symbol

of unwanted food

you have a chance to practice a new

perspective

to see food as one of the most valuable

things in the world to see food

as something priceless

so

frank developed a new superpower

to eat all the breadcrusts that come his

way

past level two

[Applause]

now it starts to get more complicated

what might be level three

maybe if we have so many cows i almost

don’t dare say it

less cheese

i’m not sure i like where this is going

what if i need to become a vegan and

live in a tiny house and move far away

in the forest

of course that would

minimize my footprint but it would also

minimize my interaction with other

people

i don’t just want to reduce my negative

footprint i want to make a positive

impact on the world

let’s see if

replacing b3 can if replacing beef can

already reduce your footprint by 21

maybe that means that convincing one

other person to also replace beef makes

a much bigger difference than the rest

of the steps that i still have to take

what if we worry less about making

perfectly sustainable decisions by

ourselves

and more about

hosting sustainable dinner parties

cooking for your friends has this

mysterious power

i think maybe it can even help us to

change the system

after all in the ultimate consumer world

cooking is for losers instead you just

order a complete meal produced in an

efficient food factory delivered right

to your doorstep

and that kind of makes me feel like one

of those people in the movie wally

where all humans live on a huge

spaceship because earth was too polluted

and they drive around in their

entertainment chairs and they get their

lunch in a cup

and then one day a robot brings back a

small plant to the captain of the ship

and for the first time in his life he

learns about all these magical things

like grass and dancing and putting a

seed into the ground and getting food

from it

they’ve been living on a spaceship for

so long that all the consumer needs are

fulfilled but they’ve totally forgotten

what it means to be human

now

i don’t live on a spaceship like that

but i do live in a concrete jungle

full of ads and screens that constantly

seduce me to buy more stuff and make my

life more convenient

even though that doesn’t make me happy

at all

if we want to escape this consumer

system

we need to replace it with an

alternative vision of

the good life

we need to focus much more on all the

things that money can’t buy

from going into nature and having micro

adventures to having dinner parties

cooking especially together with other

people

cooking especially together with other

people can lay the foundation of this

new version of the good life

we can replace beef and unlearn

overconsumption we can eat our bread

crusts

and we learn that food is something

priceless

so

frank invited his friends over for

dinner to make a delicious coconut curry

past level three

now

it’s time

to return to the cave of consumer traps

once more and see if frank is strong

enough this time to make it out alive

without feeling miserable

ok

i press start and the screen turns black

and then i hear the old game of music

and frank walks into the cave

here we go

organic or fair trade

why can’t i just choose coconut milk

like a normal person

i want to give up but no i can’t voting

between the lesser of two evils is still

better than not voting at all

and then to my left i see the same old

woman walking towards me what does this

woman want for me

i want to ignore her but then i

accidentally catch her eye

okay quick try to smile

and then

she smiles back

and she asks me where she can find the

cashews

oh i know that just take a right and let

the wine bottles take a left and look to

the bottom right shelf

man i know how to get around in this

part of the store

and then it hits me i know this part of

the store with the nuts and beans i know

it much better than the meat aisle

in fact i can’t even remember when i

last walked through there

ah i must be doing something right

and in fact today i even had some

breadcrusts for lunch and tonight i’m

making a plant-based curry for my

friends

here i am obsessing over which type of

coconut milk to buy but maybe it makes a

much bigger difference then i’m standing

here in this part of the store buying

coconut milk

rather than being in the meat ow buying

beef

okay

i’ll take organic for now it’s not like

my decision is set in stone i can always

come back and choose fair trade the next

time

so head for the exit and take another

look at my can

sure it’s not perfect but together with

everything else i buy i think it points

in the right direction it points towards

a world where we give back space to

nature farm in harmony with our

environment and pay farmers a fair price

so pay and head out into the cold night

full of fresh air

the supermarket is still a horrible

place

with a terrible name but now i know how

to play the game

frank defeated the cave of consumer

traps

[Applause]

so walk back home with my coconut meal

i walk back home with my coconut milk

and i feel excited that i live in a time

where something so mundane as grocery

shopping can have such a powerful impact

three times a day i can use my food to

practice a new version of the good life

three times a day i have a chance to

vote in what kind of world i want to

live

now i love the hard work of cutting the

vegetables and i’m making a huge mess in

the kitchen and then serving my very own

coconut curry to a group of friends

this is what it feels like to be human

rather than a consumer

i’m only at the beginning of my journey

of cooking for a better world but i’m so

excited about everything that lies ahead

i can’t wait to see what’s behind those

mountains and who else is going to join

me on this adventure

i wish you all the best on your own

journey

and may the forks be with you

thank you