Brent Barrett's Home Planet: Diplomats need to stop dodging hard questions on food production

With the increase in vegetarian and vegan food, we no longer need to drown in pureed pumpkin. Photo / NZME

OPINION:

T'was pumpkin soup that made me do it.

I grew up eating what we now call a plant-based diet. Yummy, diverse and not uncommon in California households of the 1970s. We were right into it. I got plenty of protein and energy. It just came from mostly eating plants instead of animals. Healthier for me, and for the planet.

Zoom to my late 20s. I moved to Palmerston North to continue my career in agricultural science. Somewhat ironically, with a focus on pastoral farming.

Upon arrival in our fine city, I made a few discoveries. The good news? Nearly every eatery had vegetarian food on offer. The less good news? It was always pumpkin soup. Okay, to be fair there were a few local outlets with more than one vege option on the menu. But not many, and not obvious.

After a few years of drowning in pureed pumpkin, I tried a flexitarian approach, adding a bit of meat to the odd meal out. And after a few more years, I started a journey back to a vegetarian diet and beyond, sampling the scrumptious world of vegan foods. Sounds all very exotic, but of course an apple is vegan. As is a pumpkin for that matter.

One factor drawing me back towards a plant-based lifestyle was the increasing range of nutritious vege foods on offer in local eateries and supermarkets. Most still clung to the timeless pumpkin soup, but here and there was added a vege burger, tasty curry, or a vege lasagne. Some even had a whole menu. Places like Wholegrain Organics popped up, selling delicious vegan meals.

Oat milk has been a welcome discovery. Even better was the news of an oat milkery being built here in Aotearoa, gearing up to squeeze the oatiness out of locally grown oats.

All shaping up rather well, as we see more locals looking to dial back on meat consumption and diversify their diet. The most common reasons given are health concerns, environmental impact, and animal welfare.

So it's no wonder more locals than ever are bringing more vegetarian foods into their lives. Hungry for Plant-Based: New Zealand Consumer Insights study released in 2017 revealed more than 30 per cent of us identify as flexitarians or meat reducers. I expect those numbers are tracking up.

A third of Kiwis looking to reduce their meat intake is a big market and political signal.

So it was a real surprise when it came to light that, despite the Government declaring a climate emergency and wanting to do more to protect waterways, we can't yet say the words.

We discover our diplomats voted against language that would have promoted plant-based food systems in a recently framed global response to the climate crisis. Greenpeace calls it shameful. I'd have to agree.

The environmental cost of animal-based meat, milk and fibre - especially in intensive farms - is staggering. One needs to look no further than cancer-causing nitrates appearing in Canterbury groundwater. Or that a quarter of global greenhouse gas emissions come from agriculture, most of that from animal systems.

Clearly food choice is a highly personal matter. But overall we need to dial it back on foods with a high environmental footprint. Fortunately, there are plenty of good options that feed more people at lower cost, for better health outcomes, and with less damage to the environment.

We need our diplomats, and their influencers, to wake up and stop dodging the hard questions about how we evolve our global food systems to be more plant-based.

• Brent Barrett is an environmental advocate, city councillor and scientist. The views expressed here are his own.