UN says plant-based diets are key to sustainable eating

Plant-based food was flagged as key to sustainable eating by a little organization called the United Nations — which we’re pretty sure you’ve heard of — this week.

A Twitter post appearing on the intergovernmental group’s Environment page listed plant-based eating, the elimination of food waste and reduced meat consumption as central to “what it means to eat sustainably”.

This is by no means the first time the UN has nudged consumers toward a vegan diet. We all know how plant-based advocates like to harp on and on about it, after all — almost as if the welfare of our environment is crucial to our survival or something.

In September of 2018, the UN referred to meat as the “world’s most urgent problem” in a piece which also highlighted the efforts of Ethan Brown and Dr Patrick O. Brown, who founded massively successful meat alternative brands Beyond Meat and Impossible Foods.

But that’s not all. The UN has actually been promoting meat and dairy-free eating since as early as 2010. You know; before it was cool. A report from the organization that year stated that “animal products, both meat and dairy, in general require more resources and cause higher emissions than plant-based alternatives”.

Nearly a decade later, and the UN’s message is still clear. Perhaps plant-based eating is more than just a fad, after all.

Header image source: Ronedya/Shutterstock.com
Body image source: UN Environment/Twitter