Climate activists call for diet change to tackle climate change
Food awareness organisation ProVeg is working to transform the global food system by replacing conventional animal-based products with plant-based and cultured alternatives
South Africans were numbered among climate change activists from around the world who last week participated in the Global Climate Strike.
The event was organised by Fridays for Future (FFF), a youth-led and -organised movement that found its feet in 2018 when Greta Thunberg initiated a school strike for climate change.
ProVeg South Africa, the local branch of the food awareness organisation ProVeg International, attended the South African event, which was held outside Parliament in Cape Town.
Also present were numerous other organisations like African Climate Alliance, The Green Connection, Extinction Rebellion, and FFF South Africa.
The day also marked ProVeg South Africa’s first activity in 2022 for its Diet Change Not Climate Change campaign, an annual global campaign to create awareness of, and influence policy change regarding, the devastating effects of animal agriculture on the environment.
ProVeg South Africa encouraged the government to implement food systems and policy changes to move the country towards a more sustainable future.
ProVeg focuses on highlighting three primary facts:
• Farming and eating animals is a leading contributor to the global climate crisis, responsible for about 20% of global greenhouse gas emissions
• Farming and eating animals causes tremendous damage to our forests. Eighty per cent of the world’s deforestation is related to our current food system, and nearly 70% of cleared land in the Amazon is used for cattle grazing
• Switching to a plant-based diet could reduce your food-related emissions by up to 50%
Donovan Will, the director of Proveg South Africa, believes anyone who wants to help in the fight against climate change should consider starting by looking at the impact of the food they eat three times a day.
‘So much of the climate change discussion is about fossil fuels, maritime and aviation transport, and creating carbon sinks.
‘Most of us cannot directly influence these issues – but we can drastically reduce our individual greenhouse gas contributions by moving towards a more plant-based diet,’ he said.
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