The environmental harms of traditional Valentine’s Day meals

As we approach February the 14th, it’s nice to think about the Valentine’s traditions we enjoy with a loved one, including the all-important food. Valentine’s Day brings a plethora of tasty meals and snacks, from oysters to chocolate and steak to cheesecake, but their production is less enjoyable for the planet. Yet all is not lost, Valentine’s can still be delicious by reconsidering what you eat and replacing that with a more sustainable, ethical, and sometimes even tastier alternative.  

Chocolate poses an undoubtable risk to the planet

Perhaps the most loved Valentine’s food of all is chocolate. Comforting, reliable, and consistently good, it’s hard to accept that this familiar favourite bears a climate cost. Chocolate contains palm oil, an ingredient in as many as 50% of supermarket items, from salad dressing to laundry detergent. The production of palm oil involves mass deforestation, which pushes already endangered species closer to extinction by removing their habitats. 

Chocolate also comes with another ecological risk—cattle farming. This often causes further deforestation, in fact, 80% of deforestation in Brazil is linked to cattle grazing.  This, combined with the deforestation required for palm oil production, means chocolate poses an undoubtable risk to the planet. Why not try switching to vegan chocolate this Valentine’s? This reduces the amount of deforestation involved by bypassing the need for cattle grazing. Vegan chocolate is now available in all major supermarkets. The global vegan chocolate market is projected to grow from $1.38 billion to $4 billion between 2024 to 2032.  

Cattle farming is also problematic when it comes to steak, which accounts for 14.4% of food sales on Valentine’s Day.  The steak trend is on the rise too, as sales were up 12% in 2024 compared to 2023. Cows also produce methane, a greenhouse gas. According to the US Environmental Protection Agency, a single cow produces between 154 to 264 pounds of methane per year.  This contributes to Earth’s currently rising temperatures. 

Making easy, accessible, and affordable switches to vegan or palm oil free alternatives can really improve your carbon footprint even on the special day.

Another popular Valentine’s food option is oysters. China is currently the biggest oyster-producing country. It produces 5.14 million oysters annually. The shellfish are integral to ocean ecosystems – they filter seawater for nitrogen and sediment which makes the water clearer. This in turn makes it easier for seagrass to get light. Additionally, oyster reefs provide habitats for other marine life. These factors make oysters and oyster reefs fundamental to healthy oceans.  

Although oyster farming has the environmental benefit of reduced emissions, as it does not produce methane, oyster farming increases the probability of animal based and zoonotic diseases, thus increasing the chances of another pandemic. Scientists recognise that more research is needed to better understand exactly how disease spreads among shellfish, yet they do accept that oyster farming does pose the risk of spreading disease.  

Despite all this, Valentine’s can still be tasty. Making easy, accessible, and affordable switches to vegan or palm oil free alternatives can really improve your carbon footprint even on the special day. It is possible to enjoy Valentine’s classics without worrying about the impacts of what you’re eating.