Issue
Climate change is a wicked problem that requires bold action across sectors, including dietetics. Decreasing greenhouse gases in our atmosphere is possible, and food plays a big role in this – we just need to apply these solutions in a way that protects and promotes human health. Food-related solutions to climate change are often presented by climate change actors without nutrition expertise; registered dietitians around the world hold valuable knowledge, skills, and professional roles to fill this gap. Dietitians for Climate Action (formerly Drawdown Dietetics) exists to support dietetic learning in climate change mitigation, and also to promote our field to the world of climate change action.
Vision
When we launched as a Canadian not-for-profit in 2021, we envisioned that all dietitians would be competent in climate-friendly practice, and would be recognized as key partners in relevant climate change solutions.
As leaders in climate-friendly practice, we connect climate change research with dietetics through training, research, and advocacy.
Our goals
- To empower dietitians to contribute to greenhouse gas reduction efforts effectively in their practice
- To champion dietitians as key partners in climate change mitigation
Our scope
Sustainable food is a huge and complex field. Based on our vision, mission and goals, an important part of our work is to consider the roles that dietitians could and should have in efforts to mitigate climate change. We want to identify specific areas and skills where dietitians can most effectively contribute to climate action. Some examples are below:
Areas in our scope
- Food waste reduction and diversion (within a food system, or at the individual or population level)
- Dietary changes, where appropriate, to increase consumption of climate-friendly foods, and decrease consumption of high-emissions foods (within a food system, or at the individual or population level)
- Non-food solutions that are directly related to dietetic practice in some settings. For example, clean cookstoves, efficient kitchens, and virtual practice.
Areas out of our scope
- Agricultural solutions that are outside the typical expertise of dietitians, such as improved rice production or other efforts to reduce on-farm greenhouse gas emissions
- Dietary practices that are unrelated to climate change (e.g. consuming sustainably harvested fish)
- Climate change solutions that are unrelated to food.