What does our diet have to do with climate change? As part of their commitment to creating a healthy and sustainable environment, Farm Arts Collective of Damascus, PA sponsored its first Farm Days Workshops of 2021 on Saturday, February 20th. More than 35 participants from Maine to Washington, DC attended this free, virtual event on “Climate Change & Our Diet” presented by The Climate Reality Project Chapter of Philadelphia and Southeastern, PA and Boyer Sudduth Environmental Consultants.
Located on Willow Wisp Organic Farm, Farm Arts Collective (FAC) is a community-hub that raises awareness of and appreciation for life-sustaining practices through art and theatrical performance. Willow Wisp is a solar-powered organic vegetable farm serving northeast Pennsylvania, the Catskills, and New York City. FAC is committed to offering workshops that inform the public about healthy habits for the earth and ourselves.
Mary Ann Boyer, a member of the Climate Reality Project Philadelphia Chapter as well as Boyer Sudduth Environmental Consultants, along with Sustainability Intern, Samantha Friborg, presented on “More Plants, Less Waste: How Our Diet Affects Climate Change.” Boyer and Friborg explained ways in which food systems impact climate change, the issue of food waste, and the benefits of a plant-forward diet.
For example, did you know that 40% of food never makes it from farm to fork? Not only are we wasting food but also a significant amount of money. In the United States, food waste costs $408 billion a year, according to ReFed. That number escalates to $1 trillion worldwide (Food and Agriculture Organization of the UN). Additionally, when organic matter (like food and yard waste) ends up in landfills, the bacteria that break down the organic material release methane. Methane is a potent heat-trapping gas 21 times more powerful than carbon dioxide, thus making food waste a significant contributor to our warming atmosphere.
Boyer Sudduth’s tips to limit food waste.
As we confront climate change challenges, eating a plant-forward diet helps lessen our carbon footprint. A plant-forward diet moves plants to the center and meat to the side; meat may still be included but it is not the main feature.
The carbon emissions of food.
Source: Keoleian, Greenhouse Gas Emission Estimates of U.S. Dietary Choices and Food Loss from the Journal of Industrial Ecology
By shifting away from meat sources that produce enormous amounts of greenhouse gas emissions, particularly beef, and opting for more rice, legumes, grains, fruits, and vegetables in our diets, we can substantially contribute to drawing down the amount of carbon emissions that the US produces in the food industry.
Bob Ellis, Climate Reality Project Chapter member, presented an overview of the climate crisis. He emphasized how our actions have led to such drastic climate change as well as the need for solutions-based thinking to solve this crisis. According to Ellis, “Now is the time for ‘all hands on deck,’ for us to take action for ourselves, our neighbors, our families, and future generations on climate change issues. We also must act on behalf of all of the people who can’t act, who are just trying to survive every day, to find enough food and water to stay alive.”
Following the presentations, participants asked questions pertaining to composting, methane production, and how schools might think about reducing food waste or shifting to a plant-forward diet.
Boyer Sudduth’s tips to eat a plant-forward diet.
While it can be tempting to feel like small, individual actions do not make a difference in the grand scheme of climate systems, these actions have a compounding effect. Our choices have a ripple effect; doing what you can to live sustainably will influence your family and friends, thus expanding to the community. These pathways of influence can then expand to larger systems, thereby impacting top-down change as well.
“I was really excited when Bob contacted me about the workshop,” says Tannis Kowulchuk of FAC. “Climate Change has been an issue in our theatre work for many years and of course, a plant-forward diet is something that our farm, Willow Wisp Organic Farm, is particularly expert at! The workshop was really engaging and everyone learned a lot.”
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Article written by Samantha Friborg, junior at Yale University majoring in Environmental Studies, and Sustainability Intern at Boyer Sudduth Environmental Consultants. February 25, 2021.
