How does a Plant-Rich Diet support Climate Change Solutions?
Spiritual leader Thich Nhat Hanh has said that transitioning to a plant-based diet is the most effective way an individual can stop climate change. The science supports his assertion. According to Project Drawdown, if cattle were their own country, they would be the third-largest emitter of greenhouse gasses (“Solutions.” Drawdown). The production of animal protein is typically not as efficient as the production of an equivalent amount of plant protein (Gerber, 2013). Findings from a 2018 study show that meat and dairy production produces 60 percent of agriculture's greenhouse gas emissions, but only provide 18 percent of calories and 37 percent of protein consumed around the world (Poore, 2018). By cutting meat and dairy from your life, you could reduce your carbon footprint from food by up to 73 percent (Poore, 2018). Additionally, a reduction in the cattle industry would result in a reduction of waste pollution (Gerber, 2013) and free up land and water resources for alternative uses such reforestation (Poore, 2018).
How is a Plant-Rich Diet sustainable in Thailand?
To be clear, a plant-rich diet means 1) maintaining your personal calorie per day nutritional regime; 2) meeting daily protein requirements while decreasing meat consumption; and 3) purchasing locally produced food when available (Yay! You are already doing this when you go to your local market!). Generally, stricter plant-rich diets such as a vegan (no animal products) or vegetarian diet (eggs and dairy) are very possible, and easy to practice. Many PCVs have successfully sustained this diet during their service.
Health and Personal Sustainability
When considering any diet change it is always important to consider health and personal sustainability. Generally the long-term health of vegetarians is good (Appleby, 2015), but we are constantly asked how we get enough protein. Easy. Eggs, vegetables, beans, grains, nuts, and seeds. However, every body is different. Listen to your body, listen to your health care professional, and do what is best for you. This is an aspect of personal sustainability - don't sacrifice your health.
Personal sustainability means adopting a plant-rich diet that you personally can sustain (maintain over a long period of time). This will look different for everyone. Keep eating foods that bring your pleasure and joy. For me that means enjoying a bowl of Khao Soi without the chicken leg - even though I know the broth is is full of chicken fat. Eat food that is available to you, DON'T GO HUNGRY because there is no "vegetarian" or "vegan" food available. Your efforts to combat climate change are not foiled by eating the only meal available - grilled chicken and sticky rice - on the school field trip. Luckily, I had anticipated this situation on a recent trip to Kamphaeng Phet and packed myself a good old PB&J. You can also plan ahead by reminding the school of your plant-based diet.
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| Khao Soi from one of my favorite restaurants at site: Cafe De Field |
For my personal sustainability, I've taken some proactive measures to make sure that I don't feel like a burden to my host family or anyone else who provides me meals. When visiting my Don Chedi host family, I stop by the market first and buy ingredients for my favorite salad. This way they don't have to think about or spend extra money on accommodating my diet. As a vegetarian, I've found that hosts generally don't know what to make for me other than a fried egg and veggies or fried rice. That can get boring, and I often miss out on communal eating. So, at restaurants and at a host's home I have adopted a pescatarian diet. This means that I eat fish and seafood, which generally have a lower carbon footprint than other meat products.
My Favorite Dishes
Finally! The best part of this article! Bring on the food pics!
All of the following dishes are Thai food dishes that you can order or humbly request from your host family. At home, eat whatever feeds your soul! If there's enough interest, in the future I'll include some of my favorite dishes to make at home.
Aa-haan Dumsung
The following are my favorite plant-based meals you can order at just about any Thai roadside restaurant. Just remember to order mai sigh neua-sut, without meat - otherwise you may find a stray pork bone!
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| Pad Grapow Head - Sweet Basil Mushrooms |
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| Pad Pack Kie Geao - Stir-fried Vegetables and an Omlet |
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| Khao Pad Kie - Fried Rice with Egg |
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| Pad Thai Taohou - Pad Thai with Tofu |
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| Tom Jude Sigh Pack gap Taohou - Plain Soup with Vegetables and Tofu |
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Pad Mama Pad Pack Ruem - Stir-fried Ramen and Mixed Vegetables
Substitute ramen for your favorite type of noodle. |
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| Suki sigh Kie gap Pack - A vegetable and egg dish that can be ordered dry, haang (my favorite), or in soup form, nam. It always comes with a special Suki sauce. Full Moon wine optional. |
Other dishes include
Pad Se Ewe Sigh Kie, stir-fried wide noodles with egg and vegetables, and
Lot Na Me Gope, a gelatinous vegetable soup with deep-fried noodles. Personally I don't enjoy these dishes so I don't have pictures of them, but I encourage you to try them!
Specialty and Regional Dishes
These dishes are available at some restaurants or only available in some parts of Thailand. Usually all of them can be made at home, or upon special request, made by your loving host family. Again, always order mai sigh neua-sut, without meat, or mung-sawi-rat, vegetarian.
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| Som Tom - Papaya Salad, this blog's namesake! This dish comes in many styles, I prefer Dum Thai and Kie Chem, and always with sticky rice! Can also be enjoyed with kahnome jin noodles. This dish contains fish sauce. |
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| Som Tom Polamai - Papaya salad with fruit. This dish contains fish sauce. |
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| Kie Gratat sigh pack - Pan fried egg with vegetables. Be sure to order without meat! |
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| Tom Ka Houa Bee - Tom Ka soup with banana flower. |
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| Khao Pan Pack - Regionally available in Lablae District, Uttaradit, this delicious dish consists of steamed veggies wrapped in a rice-flour "tortilla" with sesame seeds. Its garnished with fried garlic, chile sauce, and a steamed egg. |
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| Gang Kielwan pack ruem - Green curry with mixed vegetables, and in this case, shrimp. Upon request you may be able to order any of the curries, red, yellow, and massaman vegetarian. |
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| Pad Houa Pak-Kad - Stir-fried sweet, salted, turnip (featured in the lower right corner). |
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| Khao Soi - Special northern curry with pickled vegetables and deep-fried noodles and a chicken leg (I order without chicken, mai sigh guy). Available regionally in northern Thailand. |
Sources:
Appleby, Paul N., and Timothy J. Key. “The Long-Term Health of Vegetarians and Vegans.” Proceedings of the Nutrition Society, vol. 75, no. 3, 2015, pp. 287–293., doi:10.1017/s0029665115004334.
Gerber, P.J., Steinfeld, H., Henderson, B., Mottet, A., Opio, C., Dijkman, J., Falcucci, A. & Tempio, G.
2013. Tackling climate change through livestock – A global assessment of emissions and mitigation
opportunities. Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), Rome.
Hanh, Thich Nhat. “Blue Cliff Letter: Sitting in the Autumn Breeze.” 2007. http://plumvillage.org/letters-from-thay/sitting-in-the-autumn-breeze/.
Poore, J., and T. Nemecek. “Reducing Food's Environmental Impacts through Producers and Consumers.” Science, American Association for the Advancement of Science, 1 June 2018, science.sciencemag.org/content/360/6392/987.
“Solutions.” Drawdown, 2 May 2019, www.drawdown.org/solutions.
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