The World Health Organization has another recommendation to reduce the harsh reality of climate change: consuming less meat. The organization’s head, Tedros Adhanom, has a video clip currently surfacing on social media where he suggests reimagining the food system to a more plant-based diet to cut down on the amount of greenhouse gas emissions. The original video was uploaded on Dec. 21.
“Our food systems are harming the health of our people and planet,” Adhanom said. “Food systems contribute to over 30 percent of greenhouse gas emissions and account for almost one-third of the global burden of disease.”
“Transforming food systems is therefore essential, by shifting toward healthier, diversified and more plant-based diets. If food systems delivered healthy diets for all, we could save eight million lives per year,” he said.
The recommendation for people to improve health by eating more plant-based foods as opposed to diets featuring red meat and pork has been made for years now, but the effects of the switch on the environment is a different perspective.
A context note on the video reads, climate change “refers to long-term shifts in temperatures and weather patterns, mainly caused by human activities.”
Some omnivores weren’t happy about the news.
“Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus declares war on meat and traditional agriculture, in the name of ‘fighting climate change,’ ” Wide Awake Media — a site known for its bias toward conspiracy theory and pseudoscience — posted on X. “Anyone remember electing this clown to dictate what kind of agriculture and diets are permissible? Nope, me neither.”
Dennis McCleney, a self-proclaimed “hard-rocking, hard-riding conservative Christian,” also shared his disdain for the recommendation.
“The assumption that the Earth’s atmosphere is a closed system and that CO2 is a hazard is absolutely absurd,” McCleney posted on X. “Without CO2, there would be no life on Earth. It also comprises just 0.04% of the atmosphere. Quit giving credence to these liars and elitists.”
