Advocacy For Earth
Advocacy involves promoting the interests or cause of someone or a group of people.
An advocate is a person who argues for, recommends, or supports a cause or policy.
When we advocate at the “systems” level — we are recommending policies, laws, or rules that have an impact at the local, state, or national level.
Not everyone is great at public speaking, or leading rallies, or marches. Not everyone wants to run for office. But, I’m sure at some point in your life you have advocated for yourself, a friend, a family member, or for a cause. Maybe you thought you deserved a better grade on an assignment that you put your heart and soul into, and you advocated for yourself with your teacher. Maybe someone was being rude to one of your friends, and you spoke up and advocated for your friend’s feelings or rights. Or, maybe you visited your local city-councilman’s office and advocated for the placement of compost bins in your neighborhood.
Usually when we advocate, it’s because we feel an urge to make things right, or make things better than they are. Sometimes it’s very personal, and sometimes it’s more global in scale.
For me, advocacy for climate change and vegan/plant-based diets is one of the most important things I do. It drives me.
I recently received a nice comment on one of my recent articles about the documentary Eating Our Way to Extinction. Why aren’t more people talking about this? Why don’t more people realize the connections of climate change and the foods we eat!
This was my response:
Yes, it’s so easy to be consumed by these issues, and the sense that agribusiness is so big that we are helpless to do anything. But, that’s what they want. They want us to feel helpless, so we don’t change, and we don’t do anything. So, keep doing what you’re doing, keep advocating, keep talking about it, keep writing about it, and keep spending your money on the things that matter to you (plant-based/vegan foods!). It does matter.This just reminds me that advocacy does not have to be formal. It can be done through writing. Perhaps you write for your school’s newspaper and can write an article advocating to change your school’s food choices. Maybe you have a blog, a vlog, or a podcast, and maybe only a few people listen to it. That’s OK! The more you get comfortable with advocacy, the easier it becomes and the better you get at it, and that’s worth a lot.
I remember as a teenager, my English-lit teacher told me I didn’t assert well in my writings. I now realize why. I didn’t have strong opinions about some of the novels or plays I was reading. They didn’t resonate with me.
You know what does resonate with me though? Climate change, the environment, health, nutrition, food, family, taking care of ourselves and our home — Earth. So, I’ve become far more assertive in my writing, in my speaking, and in my own confidence to do both.
You can too; and it really becomes far easier when you are working with like-minded groups who believe in the same issues as you.
Dana Ellis Hunnes is a senior dietitian at the Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center, an assistant professor at the UCLA Fielding School of Public Health, and the author of Recipe For Survival: What You Can Do to Live a Healthier and More Environmentally Friendly Life. Cambridge University Press (2022).
Twitter: @danaellishunnes
Instagram: @danaellishunnes
Facebook: @recipeforsurvival
