Jessica Scott-Reid at Tenderly:
“When children and youth realize what’s happening to animals and the planet it can be overwhelming,” she says. “A lot of children and youth are reporting that they are experiencing climate anxiety.”
[…]
As Dr. Fergusson concludes, not only can a plant based diet be physically safe and healthy for young people, but allowing children to eat and live in a way that may better align with their personal ethics, can also be psychologically beneficial.
“It may help them to reduce some of the anxiety they feel around the current state of the planet, and as they become aware of the state of animals within animal agriculture. Knowing that they are not personally contributing to that system and that they are taking a stand ethically, may be comforting and empowering to them.”
Thinking about food is another opportunity to be anxious. As this young generation becomes more informed through the internet, it’s hard to not feel sympathy and a related tension for action or inaction on almost every social issue. There are problems all around us, but now it’s a question of where people want to focus their energy, their exposure, and inevitably their life.