Hi! We are Fien H, Evelien and Fien B, and we would like to introduce ourselves!
Hi, I’m Fien H! I’m 14 years old and in my spare time I play volleyball twice a week, and I hangout a lot with my friends. So It’s nice that we are still allowed to do that here, in the Netherlands, but in a few weeks we might not be allowed to do that anymore. When I can’t hangout with anyone I listen a lot to music and I draw a lot. I like this subject because I love to eat food and I would like to find healthier alternatives of some of the things that I eat that aren’t that healthy. I'm the videographer of this group!
Hi I'm Fien B! I'm 13 years old. I'm the group leader of our group and I'm also the editor. Lately I've been thinking more about what type of foods I put into my body, that's why I really like this subject! I do gymnastics 3 times a week and I help the smaller children who are doing gymnastics when I don't have a training. I have a lot of hobbies but not a lot of free time... I like to make jewellery, baking, cooking and of course gymnastics! I have two younger sisters and one younger brother and together we eat a lot of food! They all eat fairly healthy but don't really care about it as much as I do!
Hi! My name is Evelien and I'm 14 years old. I don't really know much about food, except for the basics, but I'm curious to learn more about it! In my spare time I also like to hang out with my friends, though I don't mind being alone either. I don't really have many hobbies, but I do have a few, such as dancing, drawing and listening to music. What mostly eat in a day are 4 sandwiches, 2 in the morning and in the afternoon, and in the evening, we always eat something different every day. My favourite food are pancakes, which in not very healthy, but my favourite healthy meal is a salad! I'm the photographer of this group!
Together we will make sure this project will be the best it can be!
What do we eat in a day?
Fien B- It really depends on what I eat in a day. Now that we have online school again, I put a little bit more effort in my lunches. When I am at school I usually eat 2 slices of whole grain bread with 100% peanuts peanut butter. I LOVE peanut butter! My parents usually cook dinner, only on monday's I cook because I have the time. I really like putting effort in my meals because I love food. We have Hello Fresh 3 times a week. Hello Fresh is a meal service which is a service from which you can choose recipes and they will bring you the ingredients. This is what I ate when I was had online school: For breakfast I had oatmeal with an apple and chia seeds. My go to breakfast is oatmeal with a banana and chia seeds! I felt really cool with my lunch and decided to make a couscous 'salad'. I added couscous, mais, cucumber and a bit of pesto. It was delicious! For dinner I made coconut rice with some chicken, cucumber, yellow carrot, yoghurt and coconut. I had some snacks but it was probably something easy like fruits or rice cakes with peanut butter 🤤
Evelien- The first picture is my breakfast, it's a cracker with blueberry jam, and a banana. On the second picture you can see my lunch, which are two slices of bread with meat and a tangerine. And the last picture was my dinner, which consists of chicken, sprouts, potatoes and red cabbage. 😁
What should we eat in a day?
Fien B- Looking at my what I eat in a day, I've come to the conclusion that I could swap some of my food for better 'green meals'. I should have an extra piece of fruit a day as a snack to come to 250 gr of fruits, I usually already do this but on this day I didn't. It shows that I should eat a piece of fruit as a snack everyday. I could fill half of my plate with veggies at dinner and substitute the chicken for (for example) tofu. Looking at this what I eat in a day, I could use some more protein. I can do this by swapping my oatmeal for 0% fat Greek yoghurt with some fruits and homemade granola on top. Making your granola at home gives you control over what you put into it because most store bought 'healthy' granola's contain lots of sugar. For extra healthy fats I could add half of an avocado on top of my lunch. If I would want a dessert I would go for one of my healthy baked goods, like blueberry banana bread This recipe is so nice and fluffy! The recipe for the best blueberry banana bread: 400 grams banana's 4 eggs 1 tsp vanilla extract 100 grams almond flour 150 grams flower 2 tsp baking powder 1 tsp baking soda Pinch of salt 140 grams blueberries Preheat the oven on 180°C, then puree all of the wet ingredients except the blueberries. When you've pureed all of the wet ingredients, you mix in the dry ingredients. Last you add the blueberries and carefully mix that through. Pour the batter in a baking tin lined with parchment paper. Pop into the oven for 50 minutes (it's done when a skewer comes out dry), let it cool and enjoy the best 'cake' ever!
CO2 emission:
When we googledthe Carbon Dioxide footprint of the food industryit was a shock. The averageemissions of green house gasses per 1 serving of meat is 7.5 kg! People fromthe Netherlands usuallyeatmeat 6 times a week. There are 52 weeks in a year. Sothat are 6 x 7.5 = 45 kg of CO2 emissions per week and 45 x 52 = 2340 kg of CO2 emissions per year per person! The Netherlands had around 17.5 millionpeople.Ifyou do themaththat means that in thethe Netherlands thereisaround4.095 x 1010 kg of greenhouse gas emissions on meatalone!We thinkit's safe to say thatwhenyou'reeatingmeat 6 times a week itisn'treallygoodforyour Carbon dioxide footprint. Examples of thefoodswiththeleast Carbon dioxide emission are: lentils, fruit, milk, vegetables, beans, nuts. Generally these foodscontain a lot of goodnutriensandbecause of thatwould fit perfect in a healthydiet.
CO2 emissions of different food groups in %
In the Netherlands we like meat and cheese, this really adds up to our CO2 emission. On the 'voedingscentrum' (nutrition centre) website there is a test to see your food print. We use 1.2 hectares farmland per person. This is more than the 0.9 hectares farmland per person which should be available for everyone. But our water print was around 1435 L per person per day, which is less than the 2740 L per day which should be available for everyone.
Making a green meal.
What does the Netherlands think is a healthy meal?
In the Netherlands we have the 'Voedingscentrum' which is a nutrition centre. The 'Voedingscentrum' helps us make the right and healthy choices. It advices us to eat 250 grams of vegetables and 250 grams of fruits every day. A balanced day of eating should contain the following nutriens:
Here is our top 5 list of products that are high in protein: 1. Eggs 2. Almonds 3. Chicken breast 4. Oats 5. Greek yoghurt Our top 5 list of products with good fats: 1. Avocados 2. Cheese 3. Fatty fish 4. Nuts 5. Extra virgin olive oil Our top 5 list of products with good carbohydrates: 1. Oats 2. Bananas 3. Sweet potatoes 4. Blueberries 5. Kidney beans Our top 5 list of products with natural sugars: 1. Pineapple 2. Pomegranate 3. Milk 4. Full-fat yoghurt 5. Kiwi Our top 5 list of products with fibre: 1. Spinach 2. Rice cakes 3. Whole wheat spaghetti 4. Pear with the skin on 5. Lentils
The 'Voedingscentrum' has made a 'Schijf van 5' which is translated in the 'Disk of 5.' In it, it says what your plate should look like with every meal.
One part of it contains grain products: like whole-wheat bread, potatoes, whole-wheat pasta and every other type of grains. Another part contains vegetables and fruits, the yellow part contains spreads- and cooking fats. Drinks also have a part in the disk. The last part contains of fish, legumes, meat, eggs, nuts and dairy.
What do we think is a healthy meal?
What a healthy meal is depends on your point of view. Overall we think it's very important to eat balanced. Vegetables and fruits are very important in a healthy meal! We think protein are very important because proteins help you grow muscle. Some people think that carbs are bad, but we don't. We think carbs are delicious and they contain a lot of good carbohydrates! Drinking is often overlooked but it's definitely a very important part of a meal. Water is super healthy and it's important to drink with every meal! It's important to eat everything in moderation, you can have a piece of cake on your birthday, as long as it doesn't become part of your everyday meal.
Interview with family.
Evelien's mom often thinks about the enviroment when she is cooking. She avoids vegetableswhich have been sprayedwithchemical pesticides because they are bad for YOU and bad for the ENVIRONMENT. Evelien's mom is very aware of what she eats. She eats as little sugar as possible and a lot of vegetables. But she said that she doesn't mind to eat a little unhealthy from time to time. I think this is a very common view on 'healthy food' in the Netherlands. Lots of vegetables, little sugar but sometimes something not so healthy. On an average day she eats yoghurt with muesli with fruits and nuts, she doesn't snack often but if she does it would be a piece of fruit. As a lunch she eats two slices of bread with biological jam and sandwichspread. She uses biological jam because it contains less processed products. For dinner she likes to eat vegetable soup!
Fien's mom loves healthy food, but she also loves sweets! My mom says that she always tries to eat healthy at the start of the week, but that she loves sweets so much! She doesn't really think about the environment. Fien's mom does have Hello Fresh which is better for the enviroment and for you. She eats a lot, this what she eats in a day. As breakfast she always eats yoghurt with fruit and oats, she loves fruit so later as a snack she will eat another two pieces. Her lunch really depends on the day, she eats whatever she is craving. I think this is a very good way on looking at food, she eats intuitive! She likes a piece of toast with celery salad. Later on as a snack she eats some of Fien's homemade 'healthy' snack, like a healthy oat and blueberry muffin. For dinner she loves traditional Dutch food like 'stamppot'. Stamppot is a dinner made from vegetables and potatoes which you mash. For dessert she likes a piece of chocolate of a cookie with a cup of tea.
Stamppot
Interview with professionals.
We interviewed a view experts about what a green meal is. We interviewed someone from the nutrition centre, we are very happy with their cooperation!
We wanted to know on what the 'Schijf van Vijf' is based on, because we could use that information for our idea of a healthy meal. The 'Schijf van Vijf' is made using recommendations from the State institute of Public Health and Milieu, experts and the RIVM. The nutrition centre calls something a green meal when it's good for the environment and good for you, they think a good example of a green meal is more plant based, because it's better for the environment and for you. In fruit there's a lot of sugar, these are good sugars but that still doesn't mean that you should eat a lot of it. They advice to NOT eat more than 250 grams of fruit a day. Only 30% of the Dutch eat enough fruits everyday. With vegetables it's even worse: only 21% eat enough vegetables everyday. Research does show that the average Dutchman is more mindful about what they eat. We can improve our way of eating by eating more plant based. Of the 23 tons of emissions a year per average household, 2,9 tons comes from animal products. If we would all cut down on those products, we would have just over 20 tons. Every small change helps!
Conclusion
For the past few weeks, we have looked into what a 'green' meal is. We have learned a lot about this subject, and now know what it means to eat a 'green' meal. A green meal is good for the environment and good for you, a meal is good for the environment when it doesn't have a high CO2 emission, the waste that it produces is low and when it isn't harmful for animals. A meal is 'healthy' when it gives you all of the right nutrients and vitamins in one serving. It's hard to combine eating healthy and eating green as some of the nutrients come from meat, but meat is not green. Luckily there is a solution to that, there are great meat substitutes. If you don't want a meat substitute you can eat something high in protein and in fat, as meat is the primary source of both those nutrients. Beans or tofu would be a great substitute. Having looked at what a green meal is, we think this is what your ideal plate should look like. Half of your plate should be covered in fruits and/or vegetables, a quarter should be filled with protein rich food (if you don't have inspiration for protein rich food look at our list on top) and the last quarter should be filled with whole grain food.
Evidence of communication
Comparison
When we looked through the website of the Indian pupils we noticed some differences in our opinions and what we think a green meal is. The Indian pupils wrote down that a green meal is mostly eating plant based products like coconut oil or curry. We think that eating a green meal or just eating healthy is all about balancing your diet. Not eating too much fats and carbs, but you do need them, so you eat a proper amount that is still healthy. Our looks on what’s a healthy meal is a bit different, but still quite similar! We were surprised by what the Indians eat in a day, in the Netherlands it's unusual to eat something warm like noodles or pasta for breakfast. In the Netherlands, most people just stick with bread for breakfast. We noticed that the recipes called for ingredients which are also easy accessible to us, which we love because we would like to recreate some of the dishes! The Indian pupils said that in order to eat greener, you should cut back on foods which contribute to high CO2 emissions and to eat more fruits and vegetables. We (as the Dutch students) focused way more on having a balanced plate: enough protein, fats, carbohydrates, fibre and of coarse enough fruits and vegetables too!
Conclusion
We absolutely loved this project! The Indian students were so nice and we feel like we have gained a few extra friends. Comparing the Indian food with the Dutch was very interesting and exiting. We have learned a bit more about their culture and daily life through their 'What I eat in a day'. Which we think is fascinating because you truly do learn more about someone and their culture by researching what they eat. We loved the subject and learned a lot more about it! Overall we feel like we eat fairly healthy in the Netherlands. But healthy does not mean green, the Dutch may eat fairly healthy but definitely not very green! The Dutch really value their meats and dairy which both aren't good for nature. To eat truly green in the Netherlands we should be more open to substitutes for meat and dairy. This will, we hope, get better over the years. We will our best to make more green choices in the future. This subject really caught our attention and even though the project is over, we will not stop learning and researching more about 'green meals.' We truly loved the Indian pupils and we would like to thank them for their cooperation. We wont lose contact!