I'm all for sustainability - I actually ran a Sustainability Living Community in my undergraduate and was involved with a number of sustainability-related groups. The intersect between the food system, nutrition, and the environment has always interested me, and the vast array of opinions on the topic always gets a nice scientific debate going.
That being said, there are some efforts that aren't always the best for you. I was at Whole Foods today and saw milk being sold in glass bottles, advertised that it came from a small farm with a nice picture of a happy cow on the front. After having just gone through Vitamins week in the class I teach, photolysis was on my mind.
Milk is the highest source of riboflavin for those consuming a typical Western diet. However, riboflavin in milk is particularly susceptible to photolysis - light degrades the biochemical structure of riboflavin (1). Those glass bottles that milk is being sold in may be re-usable and considered better for the environment, but they allow for the pretty rapid degradation of riboflavin in milk.
Don't get me wrong - others good sources of riboflavin exist, including soybeans, dark leafy greens, and mushrooms. If one is consuming these foods regularly, riboflavin degradation in glass jars may not be as big of a concern for you. I'd worry about this more with children, who aren't necessarily eating their dark leafy vegetables but generally drink milk.
Not trying to scare anyone or discourage sustainable practices - just keep the sensitivity of nutrients to the environment in mind.
1. http://ajcn.nutrition.org/content/77/6/1352.full
That being said, there are some efforts that aren't always the best for you. I was at Whole Foods today and saw milk being sold in glass bottles, advertised that it came from a small farm with a nice picture of a happy cow on the front. After having just gone through Vitamins week in the class I teach, photolysis was on my mind.
Milk is the highest source of riboflavin for those consuming a typical Western diet. However, riboflavin in milk is particularly susceptible to photolysis - light degrades the biochemical structure of riboflavin (1). Those glass bottles that milk is being sold in may be re-usable and considered better for the environment, but they allow for the pretty rapid degradation of riboflavin in milk.
Don't get me wrong - others good sources of riboflavin exist, including soybeans, dark leafy greens, and mushrooms. If one is consuming these foods regularly, riboflavin degradation in glass jars may not be as big of a concern for you. I'd worry about this more with children, who aren't necessarily eating their dark leafy vegetables but generally drink milk.
Not trying to scare anyone or discourage sustainable practices - just keep the sensitivity of nutrients to the environment in mind.
1. http://ajcn.nutrition.org/content/77/6/1352.full
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