Cooking for the Climate’ Panel Serves Up Planet-Healthy Food for Thought
Posted on April 15, 2024
Dr. Sailesh Rao of Climate Healers and Eric Lindstrom of Farm Animal Rights Movement addressed climate diet-related matters in an April 2 webinar hosted by Climate Diet Executive Director Jane DeMarines before 43 attendees, including students, from across the US. Capping the event, Erin DeMarines of Erin’s Kitchen demonstrated the preparation of a tasty salad using all-organic options, and offered tips related to healthy food prep.
Dr. Sailesh Rao opened the discussion by noting that the trending impact of climate change has grown significant enough for people to witness in daily terms.
“We cannot predict what the weather is going to be like,” he said, stressing that the unpredictability will only get worse without effective efforts at reversing it.
A persistent myth DeMarines and Rao sought to dispel that a general lack of awareness that animal agriculture is a major part of the problem — and the industry wants that ignorance to continue so that it can plow planet-supporting rainforests to raise cattle for food with as little resistance as people will care to put up. Animal agriculture pretending it has nothing to do with climate change exacerbates climate change, Dr. Rao said. “Replenishing trees can bring about a reversal.”
Eric Lindstrom said his organization wants to abolish the use of animals for meat, because farming animals for meat is itself the problem, for reasons of climate, economic sustainability, and human survival, as well as morality.
“They’re born to die,” the FARM Executive Director said, referring to animals whose entire existence is subsumed by human meat-consuming society. “It makes no sense when there are alternatives that are healthier. A simple dietary change can change the world for all living beings.”
Answering an attendee’s question on the best meal to prepare for vegan guests, Lindstrom suggested a simple way to think about it given that many meat-free products intentionally mimic meat. “Prepare what you would otherwise have prepared but just use plant-based ingredients.”
“Prepare what you would otherwise have prepared but just use plant-based ingredients.”
There are already examples of communities adapting their food production to meaningfully reverse climate change, according to the panel.
“People have successfully converted from growing animals to growing plants on the same land, making more money,” said Dr. Rao. “A farm in India even has a resort where visitors can stay. They feed you good food.”
Schools don’t generally feed students in a way that is going to grow them optimally for their future, Dr. Rao noted, adding that they grow addicted to bad food. “Children should be eating the right food for our species,” he proclaimed.
“Children should be eating the right food for our species,” he proclaimed.
Panelists emphasized that plant-based options are becoming more economical. To a young student’s question about meat versus plants in terms of food waste, Dr. Rao answered in macro-efficiency terms, saying there is a 39:1 ratio of plant volume needed to raise animals for meat versus providing plants as food directly to humans.
The planet and all beings living on it could benefit greatly from an attitudinal change among the apex inhabitants, according to Dr. Rao.
“Start treating life as sacred,” he said. “It is that attitude that can help us change our relation to Nature.”
Panelists acknowledged positive actions of certain businesses such as Wegmans and Trader Joe’s. Some actions are subtle but meaningful, Lindstrom indicated, noting he has seen where Trader Joe’s puts vegan food with other food, making it more convenient for non-vegans to encounter and choose vegan options (though perhaps inconveniencing the already converted). Lindstrom said that increasing demand brings down prices and, relatedly, technological advances change the dynamics of the argument that advocating for farmed animal rights overlooks the practical realities of food production.
Erin DeMarines, plant-based chef, and founder of Erin’s Kitchen, noted during her “Harvest Bowl” demonstration that organic foods are getting more price-competitive, making them more economically viable for more people.
Lindstrom noted that increasing demand brings down prices and, relatedly, technological advances change the dynamics of the argument that advocating for farmed animal rights overlooks the practical realities of food production.
To promote more public awareness of vegan food, Climate Healers, based in Phoenix, is advocating for a “New Story of human belonging in Nature and a New phase of humanity as we evolve to a Vegan World by 2026” with a supporting motto that “Compassionate science can transform life in the community.”
FARM, operating out of Bethesda, Maryland, and New York through a network of activists, conducts public awareness campaigns and international programs including MeatOut, Vegan Earth Day, World Day for Farmed Animals, and Compassionate Holidays.
Climate Diet, formerly Sustainable Earth Eating conducts multiple educational efforts and campaigns, including a “Meat Down” pledge program, FOOD is CLIMATE newsletter to climate, food and science journalists across the country, Erin & Jane’s Kitchen, with Friday plant-based recipes emailed to subscribers for free, Climate Wednesday, a weekly climate infographic sent to media, and the Power of Food educator tool kit targeted for schools in BIPOC communities in Maryland, with plans for expansion.