In the News: Even One Person’s Food Choices Affect the Whole Planet | Opinion

An interdisciplinary team of UCLA researchers published an opinion piece in Newsweek arguing that transitioning to a plant-based food system is essential for combating climate change. The piece challenges the idea that veganism has little impact and argues that both systemic change and individual action are necessary to reduce food-related emissions and environmental harm.

 

The team behind the article includes David A. Cleveland, a professor at the University of California, Santa Barbara, and UCLA; Jennifer Jay, a professor of environmental engineering at UCLA; Shanna Shaked, an adjunct professor at UCLA’s Institute of the Environment and Sustainability; and Janet O’Shea, a professor and chair of world arts and cultures/dance at UCLA. Together, they run the Food Cluster, part of the UCLA Cluster Program. Each cluster is a year-long, collaboratively taught, interdisciplinary course exclusively open to first-year students, designed to help first-year student transition to UCLA.

 

The food cluster explores the complex connections between food and the environment, focusing on scientific, economic, cultural and social factors. The ubiquitous nature of food makes it a remarkable catalyst for interdisciplinary analysis.

 

Read the full article in Newsweek.