What Is a "Climavore"?
What Is a "Climavore"?
A growing number of people have adopted the Climavore diet, which is focused on reducing one's environmental footprint. But is it enough?
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Vegan is the answer to what this should be.
I would say that you can be vegan and still be eating food that was shipped in on boats then trucks. Vegan would be a net positive for any switch from the conventional western diet, but I see the merit in focusing in on carbon footprint of the food in question. And as potentially silly as calling oneself a ‘regenivore’ is, it still conveys a message and invitation for others to learn about alternatives and things they might too value.
yeah i think vegans sometimes forget that veganism right now is still, in a global context, not a very prominent dietary habit and may not scale up particularly well or sustainably (especially since not every place currently has an abundance of food, much less vegan food). vegan actions, while ethically better, are also not inherently sustainable either--some vegan products are less sustainable than their animal-based counterparts for a variety of reasons.
less sustainable than their animal-based counterparts for a variety of reasons.
Which products specifically? From what I can ascertain, the vast majority of vegan options are better for the environment for several reasons. Even though some vegan products are better than other vegan products (e.g., oats and soy beans over almonds), they all beat out their animal alternatives by a mile.
Plus, as pointed out by eeeeeb, switching the world to a vegan diet causes a chain reaction of positive changes. If we have less demand for animal products, we raise and slaughter less animal. If there are less animals, animal products are more expensive and plant-based alternatives gain market appeal. If this happens, it becomes more available. As an example, Beyond and Impossible Foods led the way with plant based beef. But now, they're expensive and niche products. However, they paved the way for companies like Gardein or grocery stores like Aldi to release beef products for a fraction of the price. In fact, per gram of protein, they're now cheaper than their animal alternative. Thinking of individual products may not be the best approach here - rather, we ought to focus on actions that make wide changes. This step requires first world nations to be the first to do so.
Which products specifically? From what I can ascertain, the vast majority of vegan options are better for the environment for several reasons. Even though some vegan products are better than other vegan products (e.g., oats and soy beans over almonds), they all beat out their animal alternatives by a mile.
vegan options do not stop at food, please do not have a one-track brain here. many vegan product items have many well-described issues such as relying heavily on plastics that degrade poorly or contribute to environmental pollution, in addition to being less resilient than animal-based counterparts (and thus needing to be more frequently replaced).
I agree that we do indeed need to think past the food. Although food is far more important in terms of greenhouse gases, clothing waste is an issue. I solved that personally by simply not buying plastic-based clothing anymore. It is incredibly easy to purchase sustainable cheap clothing made of non-plastic containing options like cotton. Thicker weaves like those found in my socks and jeans allow me to stay warm during the cold snowy winter where I live. Plus, I can easily stitch any of my clothes with a $0.99 roll of cotton from the store.
I see no reason to opt for something like leather or wool - which of course carry the same environmental issues of food from those animals.
Please do recognize that not every choice you make works for everyone - not even for all of us who are vegan! There are a lot of tradeoffs to be made in any modern life. For example, I value my time hiking year-round as a way to preserve my mental health. Wearing cotton in cold rainy weather is an invitation to hypothermia. So I opt for a mix of wool and synthetics, while trying to focus on buying high-quality clothing so it will last longer and lower my total lifetime impact. But there are no perfect answers.
I acknowledge that a few comments down (forums are annoying sometimes lol). In my post history, if you have unlimited free time, you'll find I advocate for doing what is best with what we can handle. I find that our personal choices, for the most part, allow us to never harm other animals. For example, there is plenty of wool in second hand shops for the odd occasion you need it.
Sounds like we're generally in agreement. There are always edge cases. One in particular: there is no good alternative to goose down for ultralight winter backpacking gear. So maybe I shouldn't indulge in winter backpacking. My own personal decision is to go with the most ethically-sourced down I can find, and to care for my gear well enough that it will ultimately outlast me.
Which is just agreeing with your "for the most part," I guess. I expect you and I could sit down and happily enjoy a vegan meal together.
I don't really want to get into ethics rn because it's too long of a conversation, but are there really no available alternatives for that specific circumstance? Seems like a market ripe for some company specializing in vegan fabrics to step in if not.
So whilst you are right that transport does create lots of emissions it is still only a small percentage of the total. Any localy produced meats would have a higher footprint than legumes from anywhere. A localy based food system would be great but to get that we would need mass land ownership reform.
While you're right that reducing consumption of animal products is the largest impact on carbon emissions, I think you can be vegan and still eat foods that have a significant carbon footprint, if you don't also purchase local vegan produce.