Do dietitians care about climate change?

This year there is an interesting study: Dr. Hawkins, a dietitian herself, sent questionnaires to dietitians across the United States, asking about their thoughts on climate change. The results showed that although 75% of dietitians said they cared about climate change, only 1/3 of dietitians believed they had an obligation to promote environmentally friendly plant-based diets in the workplace.

Dietitians who are vegetarian themselves are more likely to promote the idea that "a plant-based diet saves the Earth." They further found that older dietitians seemed less concerned about this issue, perhaps because their earlier education did not include such knowledge (after all, the severity of climate change has only recently attracted public interest).

This tells us how important "education" and "advocacy" are!

Each generation faces different problems, and the problem our generation faces is an unprecedented climate change crisis! Our healthcare system is not yet refined enough to respond urgently to more and larger-scale natural disasters, let alone the malnutrition problems caused by future food shortages , as well as the outbreak and spread of new viruses.

Although schools in the past did not teach the concept of "eat plant-based, save the Earth," recently, through vigorous advocacy by the media and well-known figures, more and more people care about the health and future of the Earth, and I believe many dietitians are also very concerned about this issue! Beyond just caring, how can dietitians promote environmentally friendly plant-based diets to patients in the workplace? They may worry about their ideas being ostracized by other medical staff, negative reactions from patients, or the struggle of self-contradiction (deeply rooted belief: no meat means no nutrition).

As medical professionals
we have a responsibility to find more innovative and more accessible methods to promote plant-based diets in the workplace!

As members of the public
you can also make requests to hospitals, asking them to provide more environmentally friendly services (including plant-based diets, waste reduction, waste sorting, control of lighting and air conditioning……etc.), so that the gap between "ideas" and "practice" can be narrowed!

Original link:
A Survey of Registered Dietitians’ Concern and Actions Regarding Climate Change in the United States