Groups call to add plant-based diets to net zero plans

• By Esme Yeh / Staff reporter

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The Sustainable Healthy Diets Research Institute yesterday held a march in Taipei urging the government to add plant-based diets to Taiwan’s 2050 net zero roadmap and promote low-carbon diets in companies and schools.

Carbon reduction is not only about energy transition, but also dietary transition, Institute director-general Chang You-chuan (張祐銓) said.

The food carbon footprint accounts for one-third of global carbon emissions, but regulation remained insufficient globally, he said.

Vegetables are pictured at a supermarket in Taipei in an undated photograph.

Photo: Taipei Times

The march had four demands, Chang said.

First, the government should promptly set up a comprehensive carbon footprint calculation mechanism for food ingredients, allowing people to calculate the carbon footprint of meals and choose low-carbon diets, he said.

Second, plant-based diets should be included in the net zero roadmap, Chang said.

Third, companies should be encouraged to incorporate low-carbon diets into their environmental, social and governance action plans, he said.

Fourth, transition to low-carbon food should be implemented in school lunches to cultivate the values of healthy, sustainable diets from childhood, Chang said.

“We hope to bring everyone’s strength together, so that low-carbon vegetarianism would no longer be limited to personal choice, and become a key strategy for the nation to promote net zero transition,” he said.

Taiwan Water Resources Conservation Union chair Chen Jiau-hua (陳椒華) called on the Ministry of Environment to announce carbon footprint factors and calculation methods for major food ingredients.

For example, beef generates high emissions and knowing its carbon footprint factor could help people track their carbon footprint and help them choose low-carbon food, Chen said.

Meat Free Monday Taiwan (MFMT) secretary-general Chang Chia-pei (張家珮) cited the UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change as saying that shifting to plant-based diets has the greatest carbon reduction potential among all kinds of demand-side strategies for climate change mitigation.

“Dietary guidelines should be based on science and human health, instead of serving industrial benefits,” she said.

MFMT has stepped up its effort in promoting plant-based diets over the past year and a half, Chang Chia-pei said.

It has convinced the Taiwan Food and Drug Administration to establish the “Vegan Mark,” the Ministry of Education to provide vegetarian cooking training for on-campus chefs and teachers, and the environment ministry to post on its Web site the average carbon emissions of food ingredients, she said.

Peter, 38, who joined the march and has been a vegan since he was young, said many studies showed that plant-based diets have health benefits.

Agnes, 35, said she joined the march because she cares about animals, which have feelings and can feel pain like people do.