9 Ways to Fix Our Food System

Hungry for change? Take these simple steps right now!

October 10, 2012

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Drink fewer sodas and sweetened beverages

Drink fewer sodas and sweetened beverages

Fact: If you replace one 20-ounce soda a day with a no-calorie beverage (preferably water), you could lose 25 pounds in a year.

Photo: Getty Images

Eat at home instead of eating out

Eat at home instead of eating out

Fact: Children consume almost twice as many calories when eating food made outside the home.

Photo: Getty Images

Tell schools to stop selling sodas and junk food

Tell schools to stop selling sodas and junk food

Fact: Over the last two decades, rates of obesity have tripled in children and adolescents ages 6 to 19 years old.

Photo: Getty Images.

Meatless Mondays! Go meatless at least one day a week

Meatless Mondays! Go meatless at least one day a week

Fact: An estimated 70 percent of all antibiotics used in the U.S. are given to farm animals.

Photo: Getty Images

Buy organic or sustainable foods with little to no pesticide use

Buy organic or sustainable foods with little to no pesticide use

The EPA says more than 1 billion pounds of pesticides are used each year in the U.S.

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Protect family farms by visiting your local farmers' market

Protect family farms by visiting your local farmers' market

Farmers' markets enable farmers to keep 80 to 90 cents of each dollar spent by the customer.

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Make a point to know where your food comes from by reading labels

Make a point to know where your food comes from by reading labels

The average meal travels 1,500 miles from the farm to your dinner plate.

Photo: Getty Images

Tell your lawmakers that food safety is important to you

Tell your lawmakers that food safety is important to you

Fact: Each year, contaminated food causes millions of illnesses and thousands of deaths.

Photo: Getty Images

Demand job protections for farm workers and food processors, ensuring fair wages and other protections

Demand job protections for farm workers and food processors, ensuring fair wages and other protections

Fact: Poverty among farm workers is more than twice that of all wage and salary employees.

Photo: Getty Images

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Max Follmer is the special projects editor at TakePart.com. He has previously covered elections and politics for the Biloxi Sun-Herald, The Huffington Post, and the Los Angeles Daily Journal.

Topics

Food, Food Inc, food safety, sustainable food

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