translated from Spanish: Project approved to include in the school curriculum topics on climate change, animal welfare and food policies

Climate change is an obvious phenomenon in Chile. According to article 4.8 of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, our country is considered highly vulnerable to the effects of the environmental crisis since it has areas of low-lying coastal edge, arid, semi-arid and forest areas, susceptibility to natural disasters, areas prone to drought and desertification, urban areas with air pollution problems and mountainous ecosystems such as the coastal and Andes mountain ranges.
Along the same lines, according to a report by Fundación Vegetarianos Hoy, numerous studies have revealed the relationship between the livestock industry and climate change, with this sector contributing significantly to total human emissions of greenhouse gases.
In addition, the livestock sector consumes 6,000 million tons of food annually among forages, grains, feed and other materials, including one-third of the world’s cereal production.
This is how a Draft Resolution that was recently approved by the Chamber of Deputies with 122 votes in favor and only 3 abstentions arises. It requests the President of the Republic to instruct the Minister of Education to generate actions to educate the population on climate change, food policies and animal welfare, incorporating these issues into the school curriculum.
In this regard, Deputy Daniella Cicardini, promoter of the project together with Fundación Vegetarianos Hoy, said that she hopes that it will be welcomed by the government “because after the IPCC report released by the UN, today more than ever it is an urgency to strongly emphasize and create awareness of the reality and severity of climate change; and the logical thing to do is to insist on concrete actions today, but also on the training and education of the new generations of students, who are a great engine of social change on this issue”.
Although since 2019 the theme of climate change and sustainability has become part of the curriculum of high school students in our country, it is considered important to deepen and also give a focus in relation to food.
“The emergence of the Covid1-9 pandemic called into question animal production systems. That is why the Project seeks to make them part of the school curriculum thematic on the agricultural industry and the effects on human beings, in addition to their effects on the environment, the health of consumers and the welfare of animals”, says Camila Ahumada, Coordinator of Advocacy of the foundation.
The Water Foot Print study “Water footprint of agricultural products and animals: a comparison” gives quite alarming figures considering the emergency due to water scarcity, where it reports that to produce only one kilo of beef it is necessary to spend more than 15,000 liters of water.
Nearly 9,000 liters of water to produce one kg. of pork and more than 4,000 to produce a kg of chicken meat, data. The water footprint of beef is six times greater than that of legumes. In fact, if the industrialised countries were to opt for a plant-based diet, the cost of water for human consumption could be reduced by up to 36%.
“There is a direct relationship between feeding red meat, which has very harmful effects on health and generates a high demand for meat production, which in turn has an immense impact on water consumption, soil degradation and the release of CO₂. In other words, it is an unfortunate systemic vicious circle, which we must combat in a multisectoral way, with education and promoting forms of healthy eating such as plant-based eating, “stressed the parliamentarian.
Under this premise, the text of the agreement initiative states that “it is essential to educate the population and generate curricular modifications that promote education in the area of climate change, food policies and animal welfare since we are small, which contributes to generate people and communities more aware, responsible and committed to their environment”.
To learn more about the bills and the campaign #MenúPorElPlaneta there is the website www.vegetarianoshoy.org/menuporelplaneta where you can also give support to this initiative.

Original source in Spanish

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