By – Vishnu Menon, Founder of Iron Asylum
The world is currently suffering from a major food crisis. This is not just brought on by lack of yield but also by food wastage globally. Around a third of all food produced globally ends up as waste in landfills.
The world is however waking up to this crisis and there are more measures in place to try and address this issue. Following a plant-based diet is one of the most popular solutions for the same.
A plant-based diet augments sustainability and helps in reducing food wastage. Plant-based diet in comparison to animal-rich diet products is more sustainable and less taxing on the planet as it requires fewer natural resources through its life cycle.
A plant-based diet also helps in making the earth greener. Thus, providing a more sustainable means to end hunger while helping the environment. The massive global population, unequal wealth distribution and the culture of excess adds to the food crisis.
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Data suggests that the current worldwide food consumption practices are very high in meat and dairy products. As natural nonrenewable resources become scarce, and environmental degradation is rapidly increasing, plant-based diet could really bring a balance to this crisis.
Food sustainability via plant-based diet also takes into account the resources required for production. Animal rearing and animal production for food by virtue requires an enormous amount of natural resources. It is also a contributor to the most serious environmental problems we face.
Besides this, the decomposition of food waste also suggests that we must favour a plant-based diet. The food waste statistics are alarming. We as a species waste more than half of the food produced.
This wastage finds it way to land fills and incinerators. While plant produce wastage like fruits, vegetables etc can be composted easily, dealing with animal food products waste is trickier.
As it attracts pests and bacteria, it is difficult to compost meat and dairy, especially in large facilities. Animal-rich products also cause odour problems. Therefore most of the time, they are either thrown out to landfills or burned in incinerators where they contribute a massive amount of carbon emissions and resource wastage in both production and the afterlife as well.
A plant-based diet is a new path that can help in preserving the environment and reversing the process of degradation. Meatless diet is more sustainable and can help in dealing with the issue of overabundance and wastage.
