Focus on Changing Food Habits

The return of the Ricky Festival this year was a resounding success, with the sun shining on record crowds. Visitors enjoyed the large range of food stalls and vans this year, with a buzz around local Caribbean street food outlet The Funky Elephant.

Food was a focus in the Environment Fair area, too where Sustainable Three Rivers had a stall inviting festival goers to rethink their food choices to help the planet.

We created a colourful display of plant-based food brands to show that meat-free days don’t have to be a bean-only affair. Our new Three Rivers Community Calendar  – which will be available on the Lovedup Reloved stall at the monthly Ricky Street market and at street stalls throughout the summer – includes favourite plant-based recipes from local residents, plus easy-to-follow tips on how to reduce carbon emissions across all areas of life. It even has stickers to mark your meat-free and car-free days and feel good about the changes you’ve made.

“If local families replace just one meat meal per week, then that will have an immediate, lasting impact on our district’s carbon emissions,” said Sustainable Three Rivers’ Gillian Lipton. According to climate action charity WRAP, as much as 35% of the UK’s greenhouse gas emissions comes from food and drink (figures from 2019).

Gillian agrees that deciding which lifestyle changes to make, to reduce our carbon footprints, can be a confusing prospect. “With our stall this year, we wanted to help Festival visitors feel motivated and enthusiastic about helping our local environment and the planet,” she said.

“We’re so excited that local photographer Deborah Chambre Young donated so many of her beautiful photos of local landscapes to our community calendar, alongside other contributors,” added Rosi Jordon, Chair of Sustainable Three Rivers. “We wanted to design a calendar that’s not just a source of practical, clear advice but also that celebrates our gorgeous local countryside and reminds everyone what we’re all working to protect!”

To find out more about the way your diet impacts on the planet’s health, visit out Sustainable Food article.