Chris Eng

This was relatively easy. I have been aware of the palm oil situation for sometime now and that transition happened years ago.  I do not have a huge sweet tooth so cocoa was not hard either.  However ss I have started drinking coffee black, I started scrutinizing my coffee more in terms of region, roast and retailer.  A very interesting aspect I learned recently was how there are now bird friendly certifications for plantations and growers. "Three-quarters of the world's coffee farms destroy forest habitat to grow coffee in the sun and often use harmful pesticides and fertilizers that poison the environment. When forests disappear, migratory songbirds disappear, too. In order to combat population and habitat loss, Smithsonian scientists created the Bird Friendly certification.

Instead of clearing rainforest, Bird Friendly coffees grow underneath shade trees that sequester carbon, fight climate change and provide habitat for birds, including migratory species whose impressive journeys can take them from the backyards of the U.S. and Canada all the way to coffee farms in Latin America.

I probably would not have made the connection between birds and coffee for sometime, if ever.  But yet again i you look at the whole interconnected/dependant ecosystem it makes complete sense.

Certainly the largest component of my diet and deforestation is animal protein, which I have cut down significantly in the past 10 years.  However South American sourced soy products are big and  of course palm oil from Indonesia.  Actions: always read labels, look for credible certifications on packaging, keep abreast of alternative names manufacturers use for ingredient names and eat less meat and dairy.   

2019 will be a watershed year and milestone for plant based alternatives. I was most impressed with the proliferation of plant based meat alternatives and how they are scaling in terms of retail outlets, geographically and financially.  Here are some to name a few Beyond Meat, Impossible, JUST,  Patagonia Provisions (Long Root a Kernza brewed beer).