'Plant based' diet could cut disease, hospital costs and emissions, NZ health sector says

Friday, 30 August 2019

A new report shows that NZ households are responsible for more climate change emissions than ever before.

A plant-based diet with less meat and dairy could transform the country's health while also slashing emissions, MPs have been told.

OraTaio: NZ Climate and Health Council co-convenor Dr Alexandra Macmillan said if New Zealand reduced emissions from farming and dairy it would also boost the health of the population.

'New Zealand's diet at the moment is really unhealthy, it's causing a huge amount of disease,' she said.

'Fresh fruit and vegetables are really expensive and people are relying on low-cost meat and highly processed foods.'

One 'immediate and striking recommendation' of the recent IPCC report is for people to change their diets from being high in meat and dairy to being more plant-based.

* Food, water, and land at risk- IPCC report

* The worst climate change denial myths, debunked by experts**

More than 20 organisations representing the healthcare workforce made written submissions on the Zero Carbon Bill - including OraTaiao, NZ Nurses Organisation, NZ Medical Association, Public Health Association of NZ, and NZ College of Public Health Medicine who spoke to the committee last week.

Macmillan said they backed a plant based diet, and it would cut New Zealand's emissions.

OraTaio co-convenor Dr Alexandra Macmillan says acting now can minimise emissions but also improve health.

'Arguments that say producing milk powder is good for global health just don't stack up against the health evidence anymore.'

Plant-based eating would reduce costs burdening the health sector, and reduce rates of gastroenteritis and bowel cancer, she said.

Dairy farming has the largest increase in emissions of any single industry.

'If we want shorter hospital wait lists, then land-use change and food production change is a great place to start.'

New targets for methane were needed to stimulate land use change, she said.

'Huge gains can be achieved by transforming to clean, plant-based food production.

'This could improve freshwater quality, while making diets more affordable and reducing chronic disease, cancer and diabetes.'

The Bill needed 'significant strengthening' with stronger targets aligned with the The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), she said.

The IPCC report released in August said for New Zealanders, one 'immediate and striking recommendation' was to alter diets from being high in meat and dairy to being more plant based.

At the meeting, NZ Medical Association chief executive Lesley Clarke said their request was that health was considered in the Bill.

'One of the key things in our submissions is a sense of urgency.'

Public Health Association chief executive Dr Prudence Stone said they wanted to combat mass marketing and advertising of fast food and alcohol.

Green MP Chlöe Swarbrick said land use changes would have an impact on rural communities, and people may leave for other opportunities.

'We've had a number of submissions that have spoken about food security … they haven't gone down the plant-based pathway that you have.'

Other submissions spoke about protecting meat and dairy, she said.

The plant-based diet was only one side of the discussion, and the health of rural communities also needed to be considered.

'That has been something that's been raised by a number of submitters, particularly in the agricultural sector.'