I completed the Eating Green Activity and was surprised by my "Uh-Oh" results. This was the lowest category rating for this quiz. My highest health score was for fruit. I consume fruit nearly daily and this has a positive impact on my health according to this quiz. On the other hand, I scored lowest for my milk/ yogurt category in the Health category. I was surprised by this result because I have always thought of calcium as a positive Health Category. However, there is a significant amount of saturated fat and cholesterol in cheese which has a negative impact on our health and would fall into the milk/yogurt category. All of my Environmental scores were negative. I was concerned by these results so I did a little experimenting on the quiz. Even if you state that you consume 1 serving of any given category you still receive a negative number on the Environmental score. Are we really not allowed to eat anything without harming our environment? This is a scary thought. I was also concerned that all of my Animal Welfare categories were negative numbers; this was true even after my number exploration.
What would they like us to consume so we don't receive a negative score in all of the categories? I try to consume fresh produce and low fat meat but my score was still negative in the Health Category. This quiz would be much more effective if they would suggest personal ways to change your diet directly after the quiz in order to improve your Health and decrease your Environment and Animal Welfare impact. One positive aspect of this quiz, however, is that they broke down the categories on how they graded them. This made the results a little clearer but I was still frustrated.
In order to improve my results I will consume more environmentally friendly foods. This can be done by purchasing more organic and locally grown products. In order to increase my Heath score I will increase positive categories such as fruit, vegetables, fat-free dairy, extra-lean beef, and fish. I will also attempt to reduce my animal products in order to increase my Animal Welfare score.
Alyssa,
ReplyDeleteI too was dismayed that they rate so harshly for even dairy products. I imagine that's because dairy farms can be considered bad for the environment. However, dairy is a very important source of calcium and protein. It would be extremely challenging to meet one's dietary needs for calcium without milk. I think meat and dairy foods are one of those areas where we will always have disagreement over whether the importance of the food source is "worth" the perceived negative impact to the environment.
It is weird that the quiz will give you a negative on the environmental score no matter what you put as a serving. It does make you wonder if there is anything that we can eat that will not harm the environment. Sounds to me that this quiz has some negative things but also some positive things as well. I guess that goes for a lot of things in life. That something might be a negative but that it will also have a positive to it as well.
ReplyDeleteI understand how you feel on this Alyssa. I've started to think of these tests in a different way to make my efforts towards healthy eating not be disqualified. There's no way we can get a perfect score on these tests because perfection doesn't exist. Also trying to get a great score on these would probably require so much time that we may not be able to achieve our goals and dreams. I try to think of these tests as a way to show my weak areas so I can brainstorm on how to bring them up to a good status rather than being in the uh oh's. Just give efforts to make small changes that can make a big difference and call it good. If we stress over this too much it might discourage us into not wanting to continue this journey of becoming more eco-friendly. Every effort you make, makes a difference so look at the good rather than the bad.
ReplyDeleteRemember that the first step to solving a problem is raising awareness, which i'm guessing is the main objective of these quizzes. Maybe look at them as a tool to help you!