Climate change to put iconic Welsh dish at risk

Climate change to put iconic Welsh dish at risk

New report from WWF, launched ahead of Earth Hour, also finds a cheese ploughman’s contributes more to climate change than chicken tikka masala_

The UK’s best-loved dishes as we know them could be under threat as soon as 2050 as a direct result of climate change, according to a new report released today by WWF. Research commissioned for Earth Hour [2], the world’s largest event to protect the planet, found that favourites including lamb cawl, fish and chips, chicken tikka masala and the cheese ploughman’s may taste different, need substitute ingredients and cost more in future, as climate change could threaten the supply of the key ingredients required to make up these dishes.

The report showed that by 2050, climate change could cause:

LAMB CAWL:

* Frequent flooding risks sheep welfare and could affect food production

* Poor potato crops due to infestations

* Weather fluctuations add volatility for dairy farmers, from feed sourcing to welfare conditions

FISH AND CHIPS:

* Substitutions of anchovies for cod, as warmer oceans cause those species to displace cod populations

*  Price spikes in lemons and potatoes due to droughts

CHICKEN TIKKA MASALA:

* Chickens to be fed on alternative feeds such as insects and algae

* Rice prices to rise by a third

* Onion shortages caused by an increase in diseases

* Higher prices for tomatoes due to extreme rainfall and heatwaves

 CHEESE PLOUGHMAN’S:

* Cheese production affected due to heat stress on dairy herds and resulting impact on milk production

* Lower quality wheat due to water shortages and soil loss

*  Softer and sweeter apples due to warmer weather conditions

The report also calculated the environmental costs of these dishes today, given that around 20% of the UK’s greenhouse emissions are attributed to food production. The cheese ploughman’s was revealed to contribute more to climate change than the fish and chips or chicken tikka masala. In fact, the simple cheese, pickle and bread dish created 2.6kg CO2e in greenhouse gas emissions to produce, the equivalent of charging a smartphone 316 times, boiling a kettle 113 times or keeping an LED lightbulb switched on for 28 whole days.

One of these dishes is equivalent to:

CHICKEN TIKKA MASALA

FISH and CHIPS

PLOUGHMAN’S

LAMB CAWL

Days of LED lightbulb being switched on

22

17

28

65

Times boiling the kettle for one cup of tea

89

67

113

258

Miles driving in average UK car

11

8

13

31

Number of full charges for a smartphone

249

188

316

722

GARETH REDMOND-KING, HEAD OF ENERGY AND CLIMATE AT WWF COMMENTED: “The threat to these classic dishes just shows that climate change could impact every aspect of our lives in future if we don’t act now. That’s why this Earth Hour we want people to eat more sustainably. That doesn’t necessarily mean going vegan or vegetarian – it means each of us cutting back on the amount of fish, meat and dairy we eat. If each of us takes a small action, together we can combat climate change and future-proof our best-loved dishes.”_

This Earth Hour, taking place at 8:30pm on Saturday 24 March, WWF is asking the British public to make a #PromiseForThePlanet, a pledge to make one change in their own lives to reduce their environmental footprint. The promises include reducing the amount of meat we eat, refusing plastic cutlery and reducing food waste. The promises have been chosen as examples of small behaviour changes people can make that collectively will have a big impact.

To help people eat more sustainably, WWF is supporting the Sustainable Restaurant Association’s One Planet Plate [3] initiative. From the day of Earth Hour, a thousand restaurants across the UK will serve up their own take on a sustainable meal, with the aim of raising awareness of the issues our planet is facing, and demonstrating how varied and delicious a sustainable meal can be. Restaurants across Wales will also be involved and include the high street restaurants Wahaca and Carluccio’s.

For more information and to make your #PromiseForThePlanet, visit www.wwf.org.uk/earthhour [2]wales.

Join the event on Facebook [4] and be part of the conversation in Wales on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook using the hashtags #EarthHourWales, #PromiseForThePlanet and #AwrDdaear and our handle, @WWFCymru.

Link to images and Video: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1HR1hbH2m6E44AD0U1uPePUDhZh36uJC-