Climates Network Press Release 8.6.17

First Climatarian Week shows the foodie way to cut climate impact

Climatarian Week, 3 to 9 July 2017. www.climatarianweek.com

Foodies and people who want to cut their climate impact are being tempted to go Climatarian in the first week of July.

Restaurants and food retailers are encouraged to help by promoting climate-friendly menu choices and products to customers who want to join the growing community of climatarians.

To find out what it’s all about people can watch a catchy animation at www.climatarianweek.com which explains the link between our food choices and climate change - and how easy it is to make a difference.

People can pledge to go Climatarian for a week, host a climatarian meal for friends or family, make use of some climatarian recipes and find out about restaurants and retailers supporting the week. People can also post photos and videos from their week on social media - #ClimatarianWeek.

Climatarians are people who eat with the climate in mind. Climatarian foods include pork, poultry, eggs, dairy, fruit, vegetables and sustainably sourced fish⁽¹⁾.

People in the UK could save a tonne of CO2e⁽²⁾ a year by making everyday meals climatarian. That is roughly equivalent to the effect of halving the average UK driver’s mileage⁽³⁾, but much easier to do.

Seasonal, local and organic fruit and veg are the most climate friendly, low carbon options while beef and lamb have the highest climate impact. Eating less meat overall and preventing food waste can reduce your footprint even further ⁽¹⁾. High-welfare, free-range, organic, grass fed and unprocessed meat helps to limit other health and climate impacts⁽¹⁾.

Social network, Climates Network, devised the climatarian diet in 2015, based on sound scientific research, as an easy and effective way for people to reduce their carbon. Food causes 24% of global greenhouse gas emissions. Livestock is responsible for over half of all food emissions and beef and lamb have five times higher impact than pork and poultry.

Biba Hartigan, Climates’ Director and founder of Climatarian Week, said, “The climatarian community is growing every day as people realise that shifting their diets can make such a difference. Simply by switching from beef and lamb to pork and poultry for everyday meals saves a massive tonne of emissions. And you can save more by eating less meat, choosing seasonal, local organic produce and avoiding food waste. Some diners will be pleasantly surprised to find they are already pretty climatarian. Others will be surprised at how easy it is to eat a climate-friendly and healthy diet without really having to change your lifestyle.” 

While a vegan diet is the most climate friendly, recent research has shown that despite our environmental concerns, the majority of us are not prepared to go vegan or vegetarian⁽⁴⁾.  The climatarian diet is a realistic solution to a real problem. It is designed to be easy and effective, offering a way for people to help cut UK greenhouse gas emissions by 10% or more without radically altering their lifestyle.