New research just published touts the benefits of switching to a mostly plant-based diet, which will improve the health of humans and the well-being of the planet, lowering our carbon footprint, benefiting the climate and creating millions of jobs in our region over the next decade.
By switching from animal-based to plant-based diets, 19 million jobs would be created in economically hard-hit Latin America and the Caribbean. Tourism and trade have been affected by the ongoing COVID-19 outbreak. Farming and growing communities are experiencing increasing economic hardship. Our favorite foods come from them.
It was estimated by the International Labor Organization and the Inter-American Development Bank that we could create 22.5 million jobs in Latin America and the Caribbean within the next ten years, 19 million in whole-food plant-based food production, by de-carbonizing our food systems.
Plant-based diets are not only better for human health and the planet, but they will also create more jobs in sustainable or low-carbon agriculture. Plant-based foods and ecotourism will create new jobs and help revive faltering economies that have been weakened by the pandemic. A Forbes report titled Jobs in a net-zero emissions future in Latin America and the Caribbean found that a transition to plant-based diets would be an important component of achieving net-zero emissions.
Opportunities for greater success
“The pandemic has cruelly exposed the vulnerability of our societies,” the study authors write. “The troubling levels of inequality have ensured the coronavirus has hit hard even the most prosperous countries in Latin America and the Caribbean. Informal workers, who represent 49 percent of employment, have been severely affected by lockdowns and social distancing measures, which have limited or temporarily halted their livelihoods.”
The same could be true in North America, as they add: “As the global economy gradually restarts following the COVID-19 lockdown, now is the time to craft a more inclusive, resilient, and sustainable future. “
They added: “This collaborative effort is the first to document how shifting to healthy food and more sustainable diets, which reduce meat consumption while increasing plant-based foods, would create jobs while reducing pressure on the region’s unique biodiversity.”
Anyone interested in lowering their carbon footprint while helping economic opportunity in the region and around the globe should switch to a mostly plant-based diet, they concluded.
Lifestyle Medicine Physician
Co-Founder, Sampoorna Ahara, https://www.sampoornaahara.com India’s First Whole Food Plant-Based Kitchen
Co-Founder, Nutrition Science, https://www.nutritionscience.in India’s First Whole Food Plant-Based Education Portal
