As you scan the menu board at a popular fast food chain today, you’re likely to see a lot of the typical, run-of-the-mill items: hamburgers, cheeseburgers, bacon burgers and chicken nuggets. However, one item that’s been dominating the menus doesn’t have any meat in it at all — because it’s a plant-based alternative.
Although only 8% of the U.S. identifies as vegan or vegetarian, there has been a shift toward plant-based eating, with 60% of U.S. consumers cutting back on their meat consumption, according to HealthFocus data.
Between Impossible Foods getting its meat-like “bleeding” burger into several chains this year and Beyond Meat announcing its initial public offering in May, the meatless meat industry has taken off and is expected to keep growing. Investment firm UBS projects that the market for plant-based protein and meat alternatives will increase from $4.6 billion in 2018 to $85 billion in 2030.
Why Is Plant-Based So Popular?
Frequently cited reasons for minimizing or removing meat from one’s diet include boosting physical health, protecting animal welfare and conserving the environment.
Reported health benefits include:
Decreasing the risk of heart disease and certain types of cancer;
Lowering blood pressure;
Facilitating weight loss; and
Slowing down or preventing cognitive decline.
The environmental effects of this diet have generated significant conversation, as well. This can be seen in companies like Beyond Meat marketing their products as solutions to climate change, as livestock farming produces substantial greenhouse gas emissions, with cattle comprising 65% of this.
According to Beyond Meat’s 2018 report conducted by the Center for Sustainable Systems at the University of Michigan, the Beyond Burger produced 90% less greenhouse gas emissions, needed 46% less energy and had a significantly smaller impact on water and land than a beef burger.
Is Meatless Meat Really Better?
It depends on how you look at it. Products like the Impossible Burger are high in protein and don’t pose the same health risks as red meat. But, viewing meatless meat as the latest “superfood” disregards other nutrition realities like how many of the ingredients are highly processed and contain large quantities of saturated fat and sodium.
For example, the Beyond Burger has 390 milligrams of sodium, while a hamburger from Five Guys has 50 milligrams of sodium. However, it’s important to consider that the nutritional value of a meat alternative depends on the ingredients, since they’re not all created the same.
Although faux meat has shown to be a more sustainable option, it’s too early to gauge its long-term impact. In her article for the New York Times, Alina Tugend writes, “Just as global warming knows no borders, neither can solutions.”
In spite of the speculation surrounding these food products, with increasingly more businesses incorporating the concept into their product lines, the alternative meat industry looks like it's here to stay.
Kommentare