That climate change is taking its toll on the planet is something we can see for ourselves: temperatures are getting higher, the climate is drier and water is becoming a very precious commodity. Sometimes I feel like I’m watching an apocalyptic dinner party movie in which the world, as we know it, is ending. The bad thing is that this movie has no end.
The reality is that, but we can do many things as individuals; In fact, what we can stop doing with the greatest impact on the well-being of the planet is something very domestic, which is to stop eating meat. We eat many times a day, there are many of us and meat consumption has a very high cost and environmental effect.
Individual action is not insignificant when you want to make changes on a global scale. Further proof of this is provided by recent research, published in the journal Science Advances, on the effects of widespread adoption of a flexitarian diet based on reducing meat consumption and adding more plant-based foods. If we all adopted a flexitarian diet, we would be able to reduce gas emissions that contribute to the greenhouse effect. Maximum warming can be reduced to about 1.5°C, and lower carbon dioxide removal, by 2045 compared to our current power models.
“It is important to note that the flexitarian is not a vegetarian or vegan. “It is about eating less livestock products, especially in high-income regions, and the diet would be the best for human health,” says Florian Humpenöder, lead author of the article.
How to start with the flexitarian diet
It is a diet based mainly on plants, a plant-based diet, with permitted animal consumption of eggs and dairy products, and with little or no consumption of meat and fish. There is no maximum consumption of meat established: for some people who adopt this dietary modality, they will only eat meat in a very special situation, for example, when they go to their parents’ house or on some other commitment; and for others it may be a more common consumption, for example, once a week.
It could be said that the flexitarian diet is the prelude to vegetarianism and veganism. Sometimes it is accused of being lukewarm, since it is between an omnivorous diet and a more plant-based diet, but personally, I think it is a good start to raising awareness of how our diet influences the planet and our health. Furthermore, now that we are seeing how water is becoming a scarce commodity in communities like Catalonia and Andalusia, where restrictions are already being applied, we do not have that distant vision of countries on the African continent where water is gold.
The ideal would be to start eating two servings of vegetables a day; and no, I’m not talking about a salad in the center to share, but a main dish of vegetables. Even though we come from a Mediterranean diet, we eat less and less vegetables. For those who do it a couple of times a week, or it is only a garnish on their plates, you can start with a kind change, such as including a serving of vegetables a day in your diet. Another key is to learn to cook vegetables in a different way, because if we only eat them in a salad or cooked with a little olive oil and salt, unless we love them that way, we will most likely end up bored of eating them. We can try making preparations such as tempura or marinate them in olive oil or soy sauce with spices and put them in the oven. If, in addition, we use the oven trays to make several dishes of the week at the same time, it will save energy and the time we spend in the kitchen.
Another thing we can do is dedicate one day of the week to not eating meat. It is the global proposal Meatless Mondayor meatless Monday. It seems very modern, but its origins date back to the First World War, when civilian meat consumption was reduced so that US Army soldiers had more access to it. In 2003 that idea was rescued, now for environmental purposes. These days we can eat legumes, and if we are not attracted to vegetable protein proposals such as tofu, soy or tempeh, we can always eat eggs, fish, dairy products or seafood.
Foods that consume a lot of water
Monday is set as a way to start the week with more awareness, but any day is good to reduce meat consumption. And even more than one. Meat consumption involves a tremendous amount of water, this is what the FAO calls the water footprint, which is calculated taking into account the direct and indirect water used in all stages of production of a product or service.
These are impressive data for each type of meat: 4,300 liters of water per kilogram of chicken meat, 6,000 liters per kilogram of pork, 8,700 liters for lamb and 15,000 liters of water if the kilo of meat is beef. Meanwhile, a kilo of rye requires 400 liters of water and gives much more than a kilo of meat.
There are other foods that, although they fit perfectly into a flexitarian diet, their consumption should be reduced for environmental reasons. This is happening with avocado and mango. The cultivation of these two fruits, typical of other latitudes, contributes to depleting water reserves in the areas of Spain where they are grown, since no more and no less than 1,800 liters per kilogram are used. We don’t have water for so much avocado and mango.
Consuming seasonal and local products means a lower environmental cost. In addition to greater support for the local and small economy, and not for large supermarkets and producers. It’s not about being a flexi or perfect vegetarian, it is about making changes to improve our diet and to be aware of the power we have over the health of the planet.
NOURISH WITH SCIENCE It is a section on nutrition based on scientific evidence and knowledge verified by specialists. Eating is much more than a pleasure and a necessity: diet and eating habits are now the public health factor that can most help us prevent numerous diseases, from many types of cancer to diabetes. A team of dietitians-nutritionists will help us better understand the importance of food and debunk, thanks to science, the myths that lead us to eat poorly.
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