| Comment | Dear responsible officials:
As you well know, climate change is painfully real—and our
meat-centered diets are a major part of the problem, spewing tons
of greenhouse gas emissions and chewing up gobs of water.
Fortunately for our future, schools and kids are showing we can
reduce climate damage—and save money—by eating less and better meat
and dairy products.
This isn’t a pie-in-the-sky notion. As comment on the Scoping Plan
Update Friends of the Earth – United States humbly submits for
consideration a groundbreaking new study carried out in
collaboration with the Oakland Unified School District. The study,
A Recipe For Combating Climate Change: Shrinking the Carbon and
Water Footprint of School Food, found that by trimming back the
meat and cheese in kids’ lunches and serving more plant-based
nutritious meals, the district reduced the carbon and water
footprint of its food service by 14 and 6 percent respectively in
just two years. In the process, the district saved $42,000 by
cutting costs per meal by 1 percent, and was able to afford
better-quality and more sustainable meat from organic, grass-fed
dairy cows.
California’s policy makers should take note of this powerful
untapped strategy for mitigating climate change. This study shows
how food institutions of all kinds—universities, hospitals,
business campuses, restaurants and prisons—can help downsize our
carbon footprint and heal the planet, while saving money and
improving our health. This is one of those rare silver bullet
opportunities when a single solution can address many challenges at
once.
If every California K-12 school food service matched Oakland
Unified School District’s carbon reductions, they would collective
reduce their carbon footprint by 80 million kg of CO2
emissions—equivalent to driving almost 200 million fewer miles per
year. Imagine if all food-serving outlets in California put more
plant-based foods and more sustainable, less resource intensive
animal foods on the menu.
Why eat less meat and dairy for the climate and planet? Extensive
research shows that meat and dairy livestock operations are a top
source of climate-harming greenhouse gas emissions. In California,
agriculture production—particularly large-scale industrial meat and
dairy operations—generates 8 percent of emissions, not including
emissions from processing, distribution and other energy intensive
related activities.
Yet while 60 percent of California’s methane emissions (a potent
global warming gas) stem from livestock production, California’s
policy makers—and even the state’s climate change scoping
plan—ignore the most obvious solution: Shrink California’s meat and
dairy carbon footprint by slicing demand for industrial meat and
dairy products and promoting healthier more environmentally sound
pasture based livestock.
Consider just one popular lunch food whose main ingredient comes
from methane spewing California dairies: pizza. Friends of the
Earth’s analysis found that one serving of pizza sports a carbon
footprint three times higher than that of vegetable biryani, a
popular vegan dish with Indian flavors.
Reducing demand for industrially produced meat and dairy is not
just good for combatting climate change—it will also help
California save precious water resources to weather future
droughts. As it is now, livestock feed (alfalfa and corn) for dairy
and beef cows chews up one-fourth of the state’s irrigated water
use. Reducing demand for grain-fed animal products and promoting
more sustainable alternatives would also reduce the massive load of
nitrate pollution caused by industrial farming’s huge problem of
excess manure. Meanwhile, the shift would help build healthier
soils to sequester carbon, another key ingredient in fighting
climate change.
As one of California’s largest school districts with 85 schools and
37,000 students, Oakland has created an inspiring model for the
state and nation’s food institutions to lead the way in curbing
climate change. When we can save money, improve consumption of
healthy food, and reduce environmental harm—all while increasing
student satisfaction and meeting federal school meal
requirements—what are we waiting for?
Thank you very much for your consideration of this report and we
look forward to seeing the findings integrated into a revised
version of the Scoping Plan Update.
Attached: A Recipe For Combating Climate Change
Link:
http://webiva-downton.s3.amazonaws.com/877/8b/1/9786/FOE_FoodPrintReport_7F.pdf
Respectfully,
JulianKraus-Polk
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