DENR pushes plant-based diet to fight climate change

THE Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) has recently launched a campaign to promote plant-based food production and consumption.

Dubbed “Plant-based Solutions for Climate Change,” the monthlong public information drive spearheaded by the DENR’S Environmental Management Bureau (EMB) aims to encourage Filipinos to veer away from animal-based products toward the consumption of more fruits and vegetables.

The campaign aims to help fight climate change by switching to a plant-based diet, which has been shown to reduce the ecological footprint of human food consumption.

The campaign, which coincides with the July commemoration of Nutrition Month, is urging Filipinos to include more vegetables and fruits in their diet following the recommendation of the Food and Nutrition Research Institute (FNRI) on proportion by three main food groups—go, grow and glow foods.

Embdirectorwilliamcuñadosaid shiftingtoaplant-baseddietisoneway to greatly reduce the environmental impact of one’s food consumption.

“Switching to a plant-based diet not only benefits one’s health, it can also help protect the environment due to the smaller environmental footprints plant-based diets tend to have,” Cuñado said.

Citing a 2013 study by the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization, Cuñado said meat and dairy— particularly from cows—account for around 14.5 percent of the global greenhouse gases each year. That’s roughlythesameamountasemissions fromallthecars,trucks,airplanes,and ships in the world combined.

A recent study by the University of Oxford suggested that cutting meat and dairy products from a person’s diet could reduce his carbon footprint from food by up to 73 percent.

Cuñado said a plant-based diet could help reduce greenhouse-gas emissions, water consumption, and land used for factory farming, which are all factors in global warming and environmental degradation.

“By gradually modifying our meals and shifting to balanced diets with more plant-based food, we have already taken part in reducing greenhouse gases, which in turn will help slow down the rise in global temperatures,” Cuñado said.

The monthlong campaign is being done virtually, or online, given the restrictions brought about by the Covid-19 pandemic.

The EMB has been regularly posting infographics about plant-based diet as a climate-change solution on its official Facebook page to make it easier for people to understand and follow the concept. It also launched an online food photo contest called #UOTD, or Ulam of the Day, where participants can send photos of their meal based on Pinggang Pinoy food guide developed by FNRI.

Pinggang Pinoy is an easy-tounderstand food guide that uses a familiar food plate model to convey the right food group proportions on a per meal basis. This aims to help Filipinos acquire healthy eating habits needed to attain optimum nutrition.

Switching to a plant-based diet not only benefits one’s health, it can also help protect the environment due to the smaller environmental footprints plant-based diets tend to have.”—cuñado