Living a green lifestyle is essential for tackling issues such as deforestation and global warming. When you embrace the green lifestyle, you influence how people around you think about the environment. No you don't have to make dramatic changes to live an environmentally conscious life. Little things such as purchasing biodegradable containers reduce pollution significantly.

A green lifestyle is also beneficial for your health because chemical-free food is the most advisable to consume. Initially, the changes you make might seem difficult, but the outcome will justify the effort. 

Here are some of the benefits of going green and living sustainably:

Do you think green food is bland and unexciting? James Oliver’s green food recipes will show you otherwise.  Jamie is an advocate for maintaining a green eating lifestyle and he has shown his advocacy by coming up with interesting recipes that can replace processed foods and improve our health.

Jamie has been in the business of cooking healthy food for more than 10 years. He has written a lot of cookbooks on green foods where he shares his special green recipes. His foods are not only nutritious but also very delicious. 

Here are the recipes and methods of preparing his special mac ‘n’ cheese explained in one of his cookbooks titled "Ultimate Veg." 

GREENS MAC ‘N’ CHEESE

Leek, Broccolini & Spinach, Toasted Almond Topping

Ingredients

• 1 large leek

• 3 cloves of garlic

• 3 tablespoons unsalted butter

• 14 oz broccolini

• ½ a bunch of fresh thyme (½ oz)

• 4 cups reduced-fat (2%) milk

• 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour

• 1 oz Parmesan cheese

• 16 oz dried macaroni

• 5 oz sharp Cheddar cheese

• 1¾ oz flaked almonds

• 3½ oz baby spinach

Method of preparation

Step 1

• Preheat the oven to 350°F

• Wash and trim the leek and cut it into half 

• Wash the garlic and peel off its back

• Slice the broccolini stalk into fine thin layers. Ensure that you save the florets for later 

• Put the sliced veg in a large casserole pan, add the butter to the veg, and place over medium heat.

• Add your thyme to the veg and allow it to cook for 15 minutes or until it is soft. Do not forget to stir continuously. 

• Stir in the flour, next add the milk and allow it to cook until thickened. Ensure you stir as it cooks. 

• In a different pot, add some water and salt and allow it to boil. Next, add your pasta and allow to cook for 5 minutes. After which you strain the water and keep the pasta. 

Step 2

• Grate your parmesan, add most of the cheddar into it and mix well. 

• Add your spinach and transfer all these into a blender. Whiz until it is very smooth. 

• Add your seasonings (salt and black pepper)

• Add this to the pasta and broccolini florets and stir. If the need be, you can add some milk to loosen it

• Transfer this to your 14×10 baking dish. Scatter your almond in it and great over the remaining cheddar

• Bake for at least 30 minutes until it is golden brown.

• Add the spinach and a little bread crumb to make it more crunchy. 

Your greens mac ‘n’ cheese is ready, tasty, and yummy!

To learn more about how to cook more delicious green foods, you can get one of Jamie's cookbooks especially his "Ultimate Veg."

Aside from encouraging viewers to adopt a healthy lifestyle and sharing great recipes through his cookbook and programs, Jamie has helped to revamp the lunch program of at least 60 schools in the United States. Jamie's target is both adults and children in this program. He was quoted saying that, "43 million children under 5 are overweight or obese. Our kids are growing up overweight and malnourished from a diet of processed foods and today's children will be the first generation ever to live shorter than their parents. It's time for a change." He is a proponent of these 2 principles:

• Our Health Is Dependent On What We Eat. 

As a renowned chef, Jamie Oliver believes that what we eat determines how healthy we become. He emphasizes on eating healthy natural food, especially green foods. According to Jamie "real food doesn't have ingredients, real food is ingredients itself." He goes further to say "Homicide is 0.8% of death while diet-related diseases are 60%, yet no one talks about it."  That is quite a profound statement. To Jamie, we are what we eat and when we eat more green and fresh food, we will enjoy the fruits of good health. 

• Train Your Child To Eat More Green Food

Aside from encouraging adults to eat more healthy food, Jamie also believes it is essential to train our children to eat more greens. He stated that children are obese and overweight not because they are eating more foods, but because they eat too much processed food that provides them with little or no nourishment. 

He emphasized on feeding children with the right kinds of food. Food that nourishes and build their body. Food that can help them to retain a longer life. In one of his quotes, he says, "Imagine a world where children are fed tasty and nutritious; real food at school from the age of 4 to 18. A world where every child was educated in how amazing food is, where it comes from, how it affects the body, and how it can save their life." He added that "your child will live a life ten years younger than you because of the landscape of food that we've built around them."

To Jamie, we can rescue the present generation from the diseases caused by diet by teaching them to eat the right kind of food which comes from mother earth.

Share Your Own Story And Testimony.

People are often more convinced by other people's stories and testimonies than by mere fact and speculations. If you are someone who lives the green lifestyle, sharing your story and journey with people should not be difficult. Tell people why you adopted the green lifestyle and how much you have benefited from it. Sharing your story will tug at the heart of your audience. It makes it easy to take the step and join you on the journey. 

Share The Health Benefits

As much as it is good to share your green life story with people, understand and know that you will be questioned. One of the questions you would be asked is what are the benefits you have enjoyed. There is no better way to share the benefits of the green lifestyle than by starting from the health benefits. Tell people about the health benefits you have enjoyed eating more green foods. Tell them how strong you have been and how many calories you have burned. Tell them the benefits of truly living eco-friendly. Everyone wants to live long and enjoy good health. Sharing the health benefits of the green lifestyle is one of the best ways to get them to live it. 

Tell Them How Much It Helps You To Save

One of the greatest misconceptions about the green lifestyle is that it is too costly. However, and contrary to opinion, the green lifestyle is not as expensive as one might think. Sharing this just might get there attention. Share with people how much the green lifestyle has helped you to save on electric bills and other household expenses. Share with them how much you have saved from adopting a more healthy eating lifestyle by cutting the rate at which you eat processed food. 

Getting people to adopt a green lifestyle is not supposed to be a difficult feat. The only thing that has made it so is because we focus less on the benefits of the lifestyle. If you are focused on getting people to adopt the green lifestyle, start by telling them about the positive side of the lifestyle. Show them how much they stand to gain by living green. When you do this, living green can be an easy and adoptable feat for everyone.