Name: Marrien L.

Espinosa Course & Secti on: NST001 – ENG1

For the Next Generation: Going plant-based for Climate and Health
“Tell me what you eat, and I’ll tell you who you are.”

Retired professor Dr. Teodoro C. Mendoza of University of the Philippines- Los

Baños College of Agriculture and Food Sciences discussed about “Filipino Answer to
Climate Crisis and Food Storage” on November 16,2022 via a Zoom meeting aired online.
He divided his presentation into three parts namely: global events, a brief discussion about
the Philippines in relation to climate crisis and food security, and why planetary health diet is
our best option. His main topic focused on going plant-based while giving emphasis to the
interconnectedness of climate change and food crisis.

Dr. Ted Mendoza first presented G20 Summit where 20 countries contributing 80%
to the global gross domestic product (GDP) of the world discuss and plan how to
economically progress after the worldwide devastation brought by the pandemic. He also
mentioned COP27 which is considered as a turning point where nations come together to
demonstrate the requisite political will to take on the climate challenge through concerted,
collaborative, and impactful action. Some pieces of COP27 discussed are the Kyoto
Protocol (COP 3), the adoption of the Paris Agreement (COP 21), and COP 27 stating the
agreement demanding a collective effort to restrict global warming by 2 degrees Celsius. If
we cannot minimize our greenhouse gases emission, there is a very high probability of ice
to melt in different parts of the world like Antarctica which will cause methane emission. I
have come to understand this only now. With an increase in methane emission, sea levels
will rise and cause half of the Philippines to sink into the ocean. This is what I have always
seen on social media sites that I have only understood now. If we do not act any better, if
the plans our leaders are trying to make happen fail, then we must prepare for the worst
case scenario. But how can we contribute to saving the globe?

As the UN Secretary General António Guterres has stated, we are already in a

climate-critical decade. The world must prevent the catastrophic effects of climate change
now more than ever. One of our best approaches to do this is ensuring food security
because as per the speaker, climate security is food security. If we want to save the climate,
we can start with saving the world from food crisis. Our food production system is addicted
to chemical fertilizers, but I just found out fertilizers are not always good to our plants, to us,
and to our environment. It is said that Philippines account for less than 3% to the total
greenhouse gas emission globally, and 2.4% of that percentage is from the use of chemical
fertilizers. Since we are racing toward climate hell, it is a must to prepare. The speaker
introduced planetary health diet which equates to having a plant-based diet.This aims to
achieve the aspirational sustainable development goals, combining positive impacts to
human health and mother earth as a whole. For human and planetary health, Filipinos
should reduce rice intake. Waterlogged rice fields emit lots of methane and nitrous oxides
and these contribute to climate crisis.

It is not the population that drives the greenhouse gas emissions but the diets rich in
meat and dairy products that do. High meat eaters emit 7.16 kg carbon dioxide every day
and have twice dietary greenhouse gas emissions. 32% of human-caused methane
emissions come from livestock emission. Methane contributes to 30% of global warming
and is proliferating faster as years go by. 70% of the total agricultural land is used for
pasture while 56% of all grains are fed to livestock. These are just some of the many
reasons why protein diet change is a must. A meat-based diet is a major cause of
deforestation and biodiversity loss; a major user of energy, chemical fertilizers, water, and
land; emits a lot of greenhouse gases; a major cause of human food shortage which results
to food price crisis; and a major cause of illness like heart diseases. Going plant-based is a
way to reduce the risk for many chronic illnesses. Not only that, having a plant-based diet
gives a global land use reduction. Lesser animals reduce emissions through less energy-
based inputs (chemical fertilizers) on grains produced to feed animals. It frees areas to grow
trees and convert pasture land to agroforestry/tree-based agriculture.

To end his presentation, Dr. Mendoza provided suggestions on making this possible
for everyone. He suggested to enact a law on red meat, label red meat bad for the
environment, have school feeding programs be centered on plant-based menu, and
encourage private and government food services to have a plant-based menu. Diet change
is our answer to climate crisis. It is not only for climate crisis but also for food crisis. This will
ease our economic difficulties, prevent us from having health problems and food problems.
This generation is not to be blamed with our worsening situation in climate and food crisis,
but this generation is still responsible for saving the future generation from what the youth of
today has experienced. Going plant-based is one step towards having a greener tomorrow.
Going plant-based is hitting two birds with one stone, saving the world from climate and
food crisis.