Why and How to Make a Sustainable Change on Your Diet: Our Insights from KUGA Talks 6

All of us are well informed about humanity’s effect on the changes that are taking place on Earth, such as climate change and global warming, in one way or another. However, our individual decisions’ power on these changes is almost always underestimated and we usually tend to be fatalist on this issue. Despite our familiarity with the problem at hand, statistical facts can always be helpful to reconceive it deeply. So, let us first take a look at some statistical facts and try to understand why we are inclined to underestimate individual actions. Earth’s temperature has drastically risen, between the years 1905 and 2005, by approximately 0.6 and 0.9 degrees. In 2018, the increase was approximately 1.2 degrees which demonstrates the extent of the crisis that the world faces. CO2 emissions have been the primary source of this increase since the Industrial Revolution. As industrial evolution is not seen as a cumulative change whose course cannot be changed by individual actions, it is easy to think in the same way for the state that we are in now.

You probably heard that the earth undergoes regular changes in temperature over time naturally and inevitably. Also, global warming is a product of those natural changes. It is a well-known and old-fashioned lie that no one believes in anymore. We think that the idea that personal decisions are not influential on the ongoing situation of the world is rather a similar one. You also might be a person who is overestimating the potential detrimental effect of corporate companies on the current situation in the world including global warming and climate change. Maybe you are right, as 21 percent of greenhouse gas emissions result from energy consumption, which corporate companies are responsible for on a large scale. However, you may not be aware of the fact that the second major sector that leads to global warming is animal husbandry with a proportion of 18 percent. In addition to greenhouse gas emissions, animal-based food production is a major threat to the available water supply. According to the 2008 PEW Report, animals that are used in the meat and dairy industry are the source of 1,5 million tons of feces in a year, which is 130 times more than human-originated feces. This example may help you to illustrate the significance of the issue; if a person consumes 10 meatballs less per year, that would have saved the equivalent amount of water wasted in taking shower every morning a year. Land use that causes deforestation is another facet of the issue. The majority of Amazon forests are cleared out intentionally burned by humans to maintain their husbandry activities.

Unfortunately, the human population is increasing in an unstoppable fashion day by day. This unstoppable increase is both the source of temperature rising and famine. If we cannot create sustainable solutions, we will not describe a world as a livable place. Traditionally, we have been told that eating meat equals a healthy diet and provides the only source of protein need. However, we can meet this need by several other means such as legume plants, grains, etc. At this point, you probably think that vegan products are not accessible enough for everyone, but you should also take into account that the demand for plant-based products increases, the industry of animal-based products will start a decline. Eventually, plant-based products will be more widespread and accessible.

Before we listened to Yeliz Hoca’s KUGA Talk, we were also thinking rather pessimistically and were inclined to underestimate our responsibility towards the world’s crisis. It invited us to deeply understand how critical our personal decisions are on this issue. Later, we realized that thinking in this way by ignoring our potential ability to change the status quo may be an easier one than taking responsibility for it. We decided to take individual action and stop blaming the situation on everyone else. Although we are aware that a radical change cannot be achieved within a day, even small steps have the power over the long-term that can gradually change the current situation. Similarly, our daily routines cannot be changed immediately. Nevertheless, we can start searching for possible and sustainable solutions to reach the ultimate goal of making radical changes to our habits such as not consuming dairy products and meat. As a personal example, our initial trial to be a vegan for one week has failed with an unexpected ending, that is the charm of the mantı (an irresistible meal from Turkish cuisine that contains meat). Then, we started to try eating as a vegan once a week. This trial is a starting point for a sustainable change in our diet. We highly recommend you start taking baby steps rather than trying to make radical changes that will possibly fail in the short term and be disappointed by them.

By Eda and Helin