I was looking back at this article from a few years ago https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2010/jun/02/un-report-meat-free-diet and wondering how much has changed since it was originally published. The article summarizes the call from the UN for people to switch to a plant-based diet for a variety of reasons, including sustainability as a primary factor.
In my experience, there has been what appears to be a rapid expansion in terms of numbers of people who identify with a plant-based diet (myself included) in recent years, which I think is great news!
Here are a few of the questions that came to mind to me as I was thinking about this:
- Has the global shift to a plant-based diet happened more quickly or slowly than the report writers might have hoped for? Where will things be in five years? 10 years? Will the rapid pace of growth in plant-based eating continue at the same rate as it has in the last few?
- What does this movement need to help keep/expand the momentum? In my experience, eating plant-based is very easy in general – but is more challenging when I’m out with others etc. How do we collectively move things forward? How much do we openly lead/advocate vs quietly setting an example? Being too vocal (or vocal in the wrong context) can turn others off from the idea of plant-based living, while being too quiet rarely contributes to positive changes that are needed. What’s the sweet spot in the middle?
- There seems to be significant growth in organizations/websites etc working to promote plant-based living. However, there doesn’t seem to be much coordinating between them. Is there something that I am missing. (I admit that I haven’t looked closely into this. Just noting my impressions.)
What else could/should be done to promote plant-based eating, and other changes (eg renewables instead of fossil fuels etc) that are equally important parts of a transition to sustainable living?
Thoughts?
