European Union and Italian Cultural Institute in Jakarta Youth Discussion and Cooking Demo: Responsible production and consumption in Mediterranean style

IO, Citizens of the world today con­tinue to work hard to prevent rising temperatures that are increasingly dangerous for environmental sus­tainability and the Earth’s safety. Being smart in consuming daily food can be a simple action for an individ­ual to prevent global warming and climate change.

The statement was revealed in a unique activity that combines dis­cussion sessions on climate change and cooking demonstrations with the theme “Responsible production and consumption in a Mediterra­nean style” organized by the Euro­pean Union delegation to Indonesia in collaboration with the Instituto Italiano at the Jakarta Cultura and Burgreens. The activity is part of the 2019 EU Climate Diplomacy Week, which is held simultaneously by EU member countries around the world, starting 23 September-6 October 2019

“A person’s diet will produce a dif­ferent carbon footprint. According to research data from the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), a meat lover will produce 3.3 CO2 per 2,600 kilo calories of food consumed daily, while a follower of the vegan diet produces only 1.5 CO2 per the same amount of calories,” explained Burgreens Co-Founder and Manag­ing Director Helga Angelina.

This discussion also touched on concerns over the capture of very large quantities of fish – more than 2.7 trillion fish per year, habitat de­struction – for example coral reefs, extinction of wild animals from the natural environment – and the large amount of plastic waste generated from fishing or fishing activities. Na­tional Geographic predicts that if we don’t reduce the amount of fish con­sumption and change how we obtain it, we will lose all fish species by the year 2048.

Burgreens Co-Founder and Ex­ecutive Chef, Max Mandias, then introduced a wise diet in anticipat­ing climate change. “In principle, it is highly recommended to consume predominantly vegetable-based foods, be processed with a mini­mum cooking process, replace ani­mal protein with vegetable protein, reduce oil utilization and switch to coconut oil, use sustainably-grown raw materials and local sources, as far as possible, organic or hydro­ponic and low in waste.” He refers to the typical Mediterranean style of consumption in which fresh veg­etables, especially tomatoes, kidney beans and garbanzos and olive oil dominate. (ohw)