By Ron the Green Genie

View the World’s First Fish-Less Fish video story: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8RpjGj1z38U 

What can we do in the City of Port Phillip to reduce CO2 emissions and address climate change without expensive wind or solar farms and endless rhetoric from our political parties? We can do a lot and it starts with something as simple as what we are putting into our mouths. 

I came across this interesting video where smart people are challenging the way we look at food and how by changing our eating habits we can make a positive impact. Having been a vegetarian for many decades I have seen the changes to the varieties of plant-based foods that are now gracing our supermarket shelves. Lentils, mung, and soybeans are no longer the only hippy vego food available and if you are eating out and the restaurant offers you a vegetable stack alternative ask for the chef to come out and stack it where the sun don't shine. There are great, tasty fabulous alternatives available everywhere now and the plant based revolution is in full swing.

Welcome to the new age of plant-based foods where alternatives to meat, dairy and fish are freely available at your supermarket. And the best thing is that we are at the tipping point of where this plant-based food revolution  is heading. I’m predicting that in the not-too-distant future we will all be consuming different styles of plant-based foods in favour of the real thing. 

 'And why the bloody hell should we move away from meat?'... you ask

Well beef and sheep production attributes to over 10% of the Australia's greenhouse gas emissions as well as production and processing emissions and soil degradation. Then there’s dairy, pig, and poultry emissions and so it goes on.

I know a lot of people will defend to the death their right to eat meat and I am not here to judge. I was a big meat eater growing up in a European household with a father that was a high-end chef specialising in meats and sauces. So I ate a lot, I mean an awful lot of meat. But that puts me in a prime beef position to tell you that some of this new plant-based food is so close to the real thing that even staunch meat lovers would find it hard to differentiate. 

But don’t take my word for it. Try it. I would recommend that if you want to give it a go, and this is not an advisement, or if it is it’s not a paid ad. Try a "BEYOND MEAT” Burger, available in all good supermarkets, and I think some fast-food chains may even offer these. Then with an open mind let me know what you think. 

My reason for converting to plant-based foods was initially more for health reasons but the environmental and animal welfare issues have over the years crystallised my move away from animal-based foods. 

These new foods offer people a bridge to move to a healthier and more environmentally responsible food source. And a simple way you can save the planet in your local community.

The Green Genie