MARCH 2022
Interview with Jennifer Croes, Conservation Scientist and Associate Director at Emirates Nature-WWF
In your opinion, how important is individual action in achieving conservation goals?
I often get asked “I am just one person, what can I do?
To which I reply – you can do so much. Individual action leads to collective and global impact, that leads to change. Achieving conservation goals doesn’t happen overnight, and it is our job to continue to inspire and motivate people to be the best they can be through awareness, engagement, and outreach so they feel empowered to make changes and take action in their daily lives, for the greater good.
How easy do you think it is for people to contribute to a healthy future, for people and planet?
It is very easy. We all have a choice, and we can all make the right decisions based on education and awareness. I think that within all of us, there’s a desire to make a change and we need to engage those intrinsic values that lead to people contributing to change towards a healthy future for people & planet.
The Covid-19 pandemic has illustrated the need for nature for our physical and mental well-being. Being cooped up inside for such long periods of time, has made us reevaluate our connection and appreciate for nature and biodiversity. Connecting with nature and understanding the services it provides - food, water, entertainment, and well-being - will encourage people to make that collective difference and impact for a sustainable future for all.
Tell us about the work you're doing to transform food systems in the UAE - what's the role of the individual?
For most of us, we live in a world that is surrounded by convenience and abundance of ‘stuff’. Each conscientious decision we make, whether that is when we order online or go to the supermarket, we ‘vote’ with our purchasing decisions. Our recently launched Food for Life campaign aims to bring health, nutrition, and planetary well-being together through a community engagement campaign on healthy diets from sustainable food systems. As the world population climbs towards 9.7 billion by 2050, shifting diets in the UAE at an individual level to consume more plant-based foods and less meat, can reduce the pressure on the environment such as habitat degradation, biodiversity loss, and climate change, and make us healthier too.
What are current perceptions in the UAE on food production and consumption? Do people realise the power they have?
Here in the UAE, we are blessed to have access to any kind of food, all year around as we are largely dependent on imports. That presents a whole different challenge, but there’s a real commitment to transition to sustainable food systems and encourage the consumption of locally sourced food where possible, and towards healthier diets. An unhealthy diet is one of the leading global risks to our health. One of our greatest challenges is to improve our diets in a way that is sustainable for the planet and good for our health.
As part of the campaign, we wanted to understand the current perceptions and barriers to adopting healthy diets from sustainable food systems and our YouGov survey highlighted that fewer than 25% of people said they eat whole foods daily, which means that more than 75% of people are not incorporating healthy and sustainable foods into their daily diets. This contributes to rising rates of obesity, cardiovascular disease and other detrimental effects on our personal health and wellbeing and indicates a need for action.
We are taking a top down, bottom-up approach; collaborating with government departments, such as Ministry of Climate Change and Environment, Ministry of Health and Prevention and the FAO, and other community partners such as farms and retail, to ensure that we have their support and buy-in to make changes within the entire food systems supply chain- a farm to fork commerce continuum.
The next two Climate COPs take place in the Middle East North Africa region - what can be done to make sure food is top of the agenda at these meetings?
It is important that food systems transformation is a key topic in COP 27 in November 2022, to continue the dialogue around the role food production and consumption plays both in human and planetary health. We need to shift the narrative so that the climate change crisis is relatable to each and everyone of us.
Sustainable food systems provide food and enable healthy diets, while achieving the three dimensions (economic, social, and environmental) of sustainable development. To address the global and local challenges, and align with the Sustainable Development Goals, and creating an understanding of the connections between food, diet, health, and planet will be a huge step forward in our journey to a sustainable future, with inclusive, efficient, and sustainable food systems– especially important in a post COVID-19 world.
Governments and organisations like WWF have a big responsibility to bring food to the head table at COP27 and to build on that in COP28.
What actions have you personally taken when it comes to food and sustainability, and is there anything else you're going to try to do in the future?
I have always been a sustainability advocate ensuring I make the right consumer choices based on what I know and what is available – as a conservationist, I was already converted. However, when it came to diets, nutrition, and the link to food systems, this was not an area I was too au fait with.
With my own personal battle with breast cancer in 2021, my life changed, forever. To beat this terrible disease, I changed my diet completely. I was always healthy, but I now became more informed and educated about my food choices and using Food as Medicine. This was one of the core reasons I decided to take over the lead on our recent Food for Life campaign, leveraging of my own personal story and experience, to inspire and motivate others in educating the role of food for personal and planetary health.
Healthy diets are safe, diverse, balanced, and based on nutritious foods. Maintaining a healthy diet throughout one’s life helps prevent all forms of malnutrition (e.g., undernutrition, micronutrient deficiencies, overweight and obesity) and lower the risk of diet-related non-communicable diseases.
I am committed to continue in this journey and look forward to that day when I have my own farm to become more self -sufficient in my food production 😊 I think everyone should continue to make a difference and aspire for a more just, equitable and sustainable world.
I often get asked “I am just one person, what can I do?
To which I reply – you can do so much. Individual action leads to collective and global impact, that leads to change. Achieving conservation goals doesn’t happen overnight, and it is our job to continue to inspire and motivate people to be the best they can be through awareness, engagement, and outreach so they feel empowered to make changes and take action in their daily lives, for the greater good.
How easy do you think it is for people to contribute to a healthy future, for people and planet?
It is very easy. We all have a choice, and we can all make the right decisions based on education and awareness. I think that within all of us, there’s a desire to make a change and we need to engage those intrinsic values that lead to people contributing to change towards a healthy future for people & planet.
The Covid-19 pandemic has illustrated the need for nature for our physical and mental well-being. Being cooped up inside for such long periods of time, has made us reevaluate our connection and appreciate for nature and biodiversity. Connecting with nature and understanding the services it provides - food, water, entertainment, and well-being - will encourage people to make that collective difference and impact for a sustainable future for all.
Tell us about the work you're doing to transform food systems in the UAE - what's the role of the individual?
For most of us, we live in a world that is surrounded by convenience and abundance of ‘stuff’. Each conscientious decision we make, whether that is when we order online or go to the supermarket, we ‘vote’ with our purchasing decisions. Our recently launched Food for Life campaign aims to bring health, nutrition, and planetary well-being together through a community engagement campaign on healthy diets from sustainable food systems. As the world population climbs towards 9.7 billion by 2050, shifting diets in the UAE at an individual level to consume more plant-based foods and less meat, can reduce the pressure on the environment such as habitat degradation, biodiversity loss, and climate change, and make us healthier too.
What are current perceptions in the UAE on food production and consumption? Do people realise the power they have?
Here in the UAE, we are blessed to have access to any kind of food, all year around as we are largely dependent on imports. That presents a whole different challenge, but there’s a real commitment to transition to sustainable food systems and encourage the consumption of locally sourced food where possible, and towards healthier diets. An unhealthy diet is one of the leading global risks to our health. One of our greatest challenges is to improve our diets in a way that is sustainable for the planet and good for our health.
As part of the campaign, we wanted to understand the current perceptions and barriers to adopting healthy diets from sustainable food systems and our YouGov survey highlighted that fewer than 25% of people said they eat whole foods daily, which means that more than 75% of people are not incorporating healthy and sustainable foods into their daily diets. This contributes to rising rates of obesity, cardiovascular disease and other detrimental effects on our personal health and wellbeing and indicates a need for action.
We are taking a top down, bottom-up approach; collaborating with government departments, such as Ministry of Climate Change and Environment, Ministry of Health and Prevention and the FAO, and other community partners such as farms and retail, to ensure that we have their support and buy-in to make changes within the entire food systems supply chain- a farm to fork commerce continuum.
The next two Climate COPs take place in the Middle East North Africa region - what can be done to make sure food is top of the agenda at these meetings?
It is important that food systems transformation is a key topic in COP 27 in November 2022, to continue the dialogue around the role food production and consumption plays both in human and planetary health. We need to shift the narrative so that the climate change crisis is relatable to each and everyone of us.
Sustainable food systems provide food and enable healthy diets, while achieving the three dimensions (economic, social, and environmental) of sustainable development. To address the global and local challenges, and align with the Sustainable Development Goals, and creating an understanding of the connections between food, diet, health, and planet will be a huge step forward in our journey to a sustainable future, with inclusive, efficient, and sustainable food systems– especially important in a post COVID-19 world.
Governments and organisations like WWF have a big responsibility to bring food to the head table at COP27 and to build on that in COP28.
What actions have you personally taken when it comes to food and sustainability, and is there anything else you're going to try to do in the future?
I have always been a sustainability advocate ensuring I make the right consumer choices based on what I know and what is available – as a conservationist, I was already converted. However, when it came to diets, nutrition, and the link to food systems, this was not an area I was too au fait with.
With my own personal battle with breast cancer in 2021, my life changed, forever. To beat this terrible disease, I changed my diet completely. I was always healthy, but I now became more informed and educated about my food choices and using Food as Medicine. This was one of the core reasons I decided to take over the lead on our recent Food for Life campaign, leveraging of my own personal story and experience, to inspire and motivate others in educating the role of food for personal and planetary health.
Healthy diets are safe, diverse, balanced, and based on nutritious foods. Maintaining a healthy diet throughout one’s life helps prevent all forms of malnutrition (e.g., undernutrition, micronutrient deficiencies, overweight and obesity) and lower the risk of diet-related non-communicable diseases.
I am committed to continue in this journey and look forward to that day when I have my own farm to become more self -sufficient in my food production 😊 I think everyone should continue to make a difference and aspire for a more just, equitable and sustainable world.