The COP 28 Climate Summit in Dubai was the 28th annual meetup of 199 countries (parties) who signed the U.N. Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), commonly known as the Paris Agreement. The setting was an elaborate circus, with 23,500 members of official government teams, 27,208 policy experts and representatives of professional organizations, including oil executives, and over 14,000 NGO representatives. Many thousands more were there to unofficially attend connected events.

For the event, COP28 leaders submitted a declaration on “Sustainable Agriculture, Resilient Food Systems and Climate Action” meant to be discussed and voted on, to link food production with energy use as equally important factors. “We stress that any path to fully achieving the long-term goals of the Paris Agreement must include agriculture and food systems. We affirm that agriculture and food systems must urgently adapt and transform in order to respond to the imperatives of climate change.” (Source: With 80,000 attendees, COP28 is largest UN climate summit ever (phys.org)) ...

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Endorse the Plant

Based Treaty!

by Stephanie Lucas

Are you feeling anxious that climate change is becoming more obvious and threatening? Are you frustrated that the solutions to halting and reversing this existential problem are too slow and incremental? If you are already vegan, you are probably aware that our food systems have a huge impact on climate change – most specifically animal agriculture. Yet, despite the fact that a direct and effective solution would be to transition to plant-based agriculture, this narrative gets little attention.



One organization that is addressing this problem is the Plant Based Treaty. Created in 2021, the Plant Based Treaty is an international grass-roots approach that proposes to amend the UNFCCC Paris Agreement to put animal agriculture in the forefront as a major contributor to the climate crisis, and to address this with their three principles of “Relinquish, Redirect and Restore.” Their representatives were present at COP27 and last month at COP28, where they presented their 146 page, “Safe and Just” report, which details 40 proposals for transitioning to plant-based agricultural systems.



 As part of their campaign, the Plant Based Treaty relies on endorsements from individuals, organizations, businesses, and cities. These endorsing entities give the Treaty the attention and clout that it deserves. As an organization, the NW VEG board voted to endorse the Treaty on behalf of the membership at their last meeting. Likewise, I encourage anyone reading this to endorse it as an individual. It’s an easy, simple (albeit small) way to contribute to the solution. And who knows? We may eventually get Portland, Oregon (a renown “vegan mecca”) to endorse it as well.

As individuals, we may feel powerless to address the impacts of the climate crisis, but by joining with others in a grass-roots campaign, there is hope that we can affect meaningful change. As stated by Paul Hawkins, author of Draw Down, "Real change occurs from the bottom up; it occurs person to person, and it almost always occurs in small groups and locales and then bubbles up and aggregates to larger vectors of change.”

CLICK HERE TO SIGN THE TREATY

Good Vegan News

By Susan Hanson

The following examples are evidence that the plant-based movement is growing.

• Over 1,400 US mayors have pledged to support plant-based initiatives that will improve public health and the environment. They are following the lead of New York City Mayor Eric Adams, who has created many programs to promote veganism in the city. In 2019, Meatless Mondays began in the schools, and in 2022, Mayor Adams added Plant-Powered Fridays. Vegan food is the default option in all the hospitals. Plant-based foods are served exclusively at NYC’s official cultural events, and lifestyle medicine is now expanding to many of the hospitals and health care sites. You can read more here about all that is happening in NYC.
• Over 650 academics, politicians, healthcare professionals and others in Great Britain have written an open letter to UK universities calling for a switch to a 100% vegan menu to fight the climate crisis. Seven universities have already voted to introduce a fully plant- based menu at their schools in the coming year. Many others are considering it.
•  A recent study showed that 81% of college students chose a vegan dish when it was the default option. Gen Z’ers (ages 11 to 26) are very aware of how our diet affects our health and our planet
• If you are looking for a new friend or partner there is a dating app for vegans and vegetarians: Veggly  And it’s free!
• New vegan foods are being introduced every month. PETA and Daily Meal lists some of the best. Two of my new favorites are the sushi from Konscious Foods, for sale in the frozen food aisle at Whole Foods and New Seasons, and “turkey” and other deli meat made by Prime Roots, for sale at the deli counter at New Seasons. The basis of the turkey, salami, and ham is koji, which is a fungus. And they slice these products without contamination!

Recipe of the Month

The Best Vegan Chili

By Linda Tyler, The Gracious Vegan

The reason to try this chili is its depth of flavor. The multiplicity of ingredients, including tomato paste, cocoa powder, and cinnamon, make the foundation nicely complex. A little tahini lends some creaminess, and cilantro and limes add bright notes at the end. I like green lentils because they keep their shape and texture, but if you want to try brown or even red, go for it. As a bonus, this chili freezes well.

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Linda Tyler, Ph.D., the Gracious Vegan is a longtime NW VEG member, cooking enthusiast, instructor, writer, coach, and publishes a recipe each month for this newsletter. Her latest book The Plant-Based Anti-Inflammatory Cookbook with 80 recipes with full color photos is available for pre-order. Exclusive bonuses are available only if you pre-order now through this link. The bonuses include two e-books, two mini-posters, and access to five videos.