In wake of UN report, Ottawa-Gatineau residents say their diets are already changing

Some people in the Ottawa-Gatineau area say they have made changes already to what they eat and where they buy their food from after a UN report recommended people switch to a plant-based diet.

The report by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) released on Thursdaysays farming practices and dietary changes are necessary to cut greenhouse gas emissions and redirect space from intensive farming, such as livestock, to less intensive practices such as plants and grains.

• Farming and eating need to change to curb global warming, UN report says

Tanya Scheffler visits her local farmer's market, March Du Plateau, to buy fruits and vegetables every week.

"I love buying local, it's better for the environment, but it's also fresher, tastes better and I want to encourage the local economy," she said.

Scheffler also has her own garden and she composts any food waste.

But one thing she admits she hasn't done is cut out meat.

"I am still a big meat eater. I haven't changed over. It'll take awhile," she said

"But on the other hand, we are still eating more beans and more meat alternatives."

Plant-based products growing in popularity

While the report stopped short of telling people not to eat meat, the popularity of meat alternatives, such as Beyond Meat, shows consumers are willing to make changes, said Benoit Delage, executive director of sustainable development group Conseil rgional de l'environnement et du dveloppement durable de l'Outaouais.

• Plant-based eating goes mainstream as Beyond Meat targets Canadian grocery shelves

He suggests the UN report is a wake-up call.

"In a sense, it's good news because people start to see the link between the climate and their footprint."

He points to the hot summer the Ottawa-Gatineau area has experienced so far, which hasmeant less moisture in the soil and less food production.

"The way we've been producing food will have to change, the water management will have to change."

Recently, Christine Lacroix made the switch from raising cattle to growing and selling vegetables at the March Du Plateau.

She co-owns MariposaJardin Perptuel and said she believes people are already making changes in their eating and farming habits, such as moving away from pesticides and herbicides.

But she also believes the UN report is a sign people should reflect on their habits.

"We have to learn from our past experience, but build on it and not just say 'Oh it was bad, it was bad'. No, we want to take what was good and continue to build good things from that."

25 to 30 per cent of food wasted

The report suggests it's not just people's diets that need to change, but how food is distributed and thrown out with somewhere between 25 and 30 per cent of the world's food lost or wasted.

That's a problem John Slocom admits can be tricky to avoid even as he tries to support the social good by shopping at farmer's markets.

"It's hard to plan. It's hard to know exactly what you're going to eat and what's going to stay fresh when you eat it," the Gatineau resident said.

"I can see that even in my own homewhere there's definitely maybe a quarter of the food that spoils because we just didn't plan accordingly with what we have."