Mindful shopping, mindful living

With the Holiday Season approaching it's a great moment to look to our consumption behavior and see how we can be more mindful and sustainable with our presents and food choices.

While we all love to give and receive presents, it is common to get lost and overwhelmed in the endless choices we are presented during the month of December...

So, when doing your Christmas shopping try to keep in mind simple steps to make your life easier:

- Make a presents list; this way you will keep a better focus of what you want to buy and will not get lost with the many offers this period brings;

- Buy local and preferably from small shops; these are the ones who have been fighting the hardest to survive against chain shops, specially since Covid started in 2020.

- Offer an experience instead of a present;

- Buy better and buy less ; think about the lifespan of your gifts and how they eventually can be reused or recycled.

Regarding our food choices, we can try to keep the Christmas Menu traditional, tasty and healthy!

While we know that this period is regularly spent around the table, there is nothing which stops us making healthier and sustainable ingredient choices:

- If you are eating meat, remember the rule "less is more"...Try and get biologic meat from local farmers which normally has more density, superior quality, and nutrition value;

- Use biologic eggs ( think of all those Christmas deserts!)

- Why not try to make a Christmas vegetarian or vegan dish?

- Choose a variety of season vegetables, these will be less likely to have additives to provoke growth

- Avoid ordering ready made dishes; By cooking yourself or together with friends and family not only you create quality time with each other but you have a clearer view of what you are preparing and eating and you can avoid better processed foods.

These are small steps which one can take to make more conscientious choices, but of course there are much more! Follow your instinct and your heart, and have a wonderful Holiday Season!