You can make a bigger difference than you think to the environment by making small changes to what’s on your plate.  We’re talking about food today, and we have Hannah Levbarg joining us to talk about how to green your plate. Hannah will be discussing the benefits of plant-based nutrition, and she will explain the effects of a plant-based diet on the environment. About Hannah Hannah is a realtor in Sante Fe, New Mexico, with Berkshire Hathaway Home Services. In her spare time, she is a passionate amateur in plant-based nutrition, and how the way we eat affects the environment.  Hannah is originally from Austin, Texas, and she went to Oklahoma University. Most of her friends and family are still in Austin.  Health issues in Texas In Texas, there’s a huge population of twenty to forty-year-olds being hospitalized for COVID, and many of them have issues with being overweight, diabetes, and early-stage heart disease.  Hannah’s passion for food Hannah has a huge passion for food, and she’s been an avid cook for all her life. She’s always had a broad palate, and she particularly enjoys ethnic cuisines.  How Hannah became interested in food Hannah was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis in 2017. She was carrying too much weight at the time as a result of her job and her lifestyle, so she decided to get things under control by setting herself off on a course to maximize her health.  Packing more produce into her diet Hannah made an effort to optimize her health. She started watching vegan cooking shows to get some inspiration for ways to pack more produce into her diet because she thought that would help. She had no intention of going vegan at the time, and she didn’t think she was a fit for that kind of lifestyle.  A rabbit hole of information Hannah got taken down a rabbit hole of information that included a lot of medical data about diet, nutrition, and disease patterns.  Changing the way she was eating Two years ago, Hannah realized that she had to change the way she was eating. When she discovered that there were correlations between diet and some of the biggest killers, like diabetes, autoimmune diseases, and heart disease, her husband also agreed to go along with a radically changed diet.  Since then, Hannah has been learning whatever she can about eating for optimum health. A certificate in plant-based nutrition This spring, Hannah got a certificate in plant-based nutrition from eCornell. She chose to do that particular course because it counts as medical continuing education for medical professionals. So, although she’s not yet a nutritional expert, she is a pretty well-schooled amateur.  Environmental impacts  Hannah started learning a lot about environmental impacts shortly after she and her husband changed their diet to a plant-based one.  When the UN also released their 2018 report on climate change, it strongly implicated animal agriculture in many of the environmental problems that we are currently experiencing. A big change in diet Hannah thinks that it was probably a lot easier for her to change her diet than it would have been for most other people because she has been a life-long cook, and she knows how to handle all kinds of food.  Following a plant-based diet can be socially isolating Hannah discovered that following a plant-based diet can be a bit socially isolating. Even so, she advises people who are interested in doing it to impact their health, to go all the way with it because in that way they are likely to see results very quickly, and that is very motivating. It’s not so hard to do if you know how to cook Hannah explains that making the change is not so hard to do. All you have to do if you’re used to roasting a chicken and a tray of vegetables, for example, is to take off the chicken, and rather have some puy lentils with the roast vegetables, and perhaps some nut cheese.  If you know how to cook, it’s not that hard to tweak things around and make sure that you’re getting all the things you need in your die