Today is World Vegan Day so I thought I would write something about plant-rich diets and why I am increasingly optimistic about what I am seeing happening.

1) Tasty meat free alternatives

If you want to encourage new people to pursue plant-based diets or to encourage people to reduce their meat and dairy consumption, you need to have tasty alternatives to pique people’s interest. Then when they try the plant-based alternatives, they need to be flavoursome.

The truth is, that in the past, many plant-based meat alternatives were poor imitations of their meat counterparts. They would either be lacking in taste or texture or both. This led to ridicule and meant that only those who were most committed to pursuing a plant-based diet would buy and eat these items.

Thankfully, those days are over. Nowadays, whether in the supermarket aisle or on your local high street, you are never far away from a tasty plant-based meal.

2) Corporate self interest

Its hard to believe, but the two big players Impossible Foods and Beyond Meat were only founded in 2011 and 2012 respectively. In what is only a short period of time, they have both grown significantly and helped to raise the quality and profile of plant-based meat alternatives.

The real holy grail of the vegan and vegetarian food sector is to attract the significant number of meat eaters and to get them to eat pant based alternatives, rather than targeting products at the vegan and vegetarian community.

Interestingly, this Clean Technica article showed that sales of Impossible Burgers are displacing animal-derived foods for 72% of total purchases. This is really encouraging and shows that the problems of the past were likely a combination of poor marketing and a low-quality product offering, which meant that the meat alternatives of the past were not able to secure any traction in the much larger market of meat eaters.

There has been lots of other activity in this sector. Whether it is Unilever’s acquisition of Dutch brand The Vegetarian Butcher, or KFC launching their own Vegan burger, 2019 and 2020 has seen a massive increase in corporate activity in the vegan and vegetarian food sector.

3) Increasing environmental awareness

There is no doubt that some of the increasing interest in plant-based alternatives is being driven by a heightened environmental awareness amongst the general population.

For a long time, people associated, driving, flying and the use of electricity with their personal carbon footprint. But now with tools like WWF’s personal carbon footprint calculator, everyone has the opportunity to find out that when it comes to climate change, we very much are what we eat.

Project Drawdown ranked plant-rich diets as the third most powerful solution that is required to reduce carbon emissions, so there can be no doubt about the importance of decarbonisation in this sector.

What you need to know

This article looked into 3 reasons why I am optimistic about a transition to plant rich diets.

Firstly, the quantity and quality of plant based alternatives has increased dramatically of late.

Secondly, whether thanks to early adopters or late comers who don’t want to miss out, there is now a significant amount if corporate activity that is leading to continuous improvement in plant based alternatives.

Lastly, wherever people are getting their information from, it is encouraging that more people are aware of the link between their diet and climate change. This isn’t something which is going away any time soon and so hopefully this awareness can result in real and meaningful change over the long term

Thank you for reading,

By Barnaby Nash

Please share your thoughts in the comments section below, or reach out to me on social media. What do you think is the most exciting development in plant based alternatives?

Let’s stay connected

I can be reached on LinkedIn and on Twitter @FollowBarnaby

This article looks into Veganuary and asks – can this annual event lead to real change?

For those of you not familiar with Veganuary, I have copied the following extract from their website:

“Veganuary is a non-profit organisation that encourages people worldwide to try vegan for January and beyond.”

Two things prompted me to write this article. One was the time I spent in India in early December. This is truly a country where vegetarianism is completely mainstream and where meat eaters are ostracised, the same way vegans and vegetarians are in Western societies.

The other was the first walk down my local high street after returning from holiday earlier today. I was amazed by how many food outlets were signalling that they had a new range of vegan products, which I can only presume is tied to the public’s interest in Veganuary.

Every issue needs its breakthrough moment and perhaps Veganuary can be the catalyst for highlighting the health and climatic benefits of plant-based diets.

For single use plastics, this was undeniably Blue Planet 2, which shocked the world into action on this issue.

For climate change, this has been trickier, but the increase in volume and severity of extreme weather events has certainly raised the profile of this issue, with climate emergency being Oxford Dictionary’s word of 2019.

But in terms of veganism and plant-based diets, there has been nothing thus far that has created a momentous breakthrough for this issue.

Even globally renowned sports stars such as Lewis Hamilton, the Williams sisters and Nate Diaz amongst others being vegan does not seem to have had the impact that you would have expected it to.

Help in promoting a transition to plant-based diets is needed now more than ever.

In 2019 I published a few articles on this subject.

In my series looking into the top 20 solutions from Drawdown, plant-rich diets came in at number 4, in terms of its ability to reverse global warming. This shows just how much of a powerful solution this is.

#04 Plant-Rich Diet

In my series looking into the excellent book Meat the Truth, we looked into the massive moral, health and environmental consequences of excessive meat consumption in high income countries.

MEAT & SUSTAINABILITY: PART 1

It is clear that action is required on a number of fronts, but the wastefulness and calorific inefficiency of meat production makes emissions from this sector particularly insidious.

I have borrowed the excellent graphic below from Dr Jonathan Foley.

This shows that methane emission from animals account for 5% of global greenhouse gas emissions. This is a huge percentage when you compare it to other segments. This makes urgent action on this issue a prerequisite for an adequate response to climate change.

I am minded to quote the iconic Dogs Trust slogan of “A dog is for life, not just for Christmas.” This is exactly what needs to emanate from Veganuary if it is to lead to real and meaningful change.

It is great if people reduce their meat consumption to zero for one month a year. But if those same people relapse and continue with the all too common excessive meat consumption for the other 11 months of the year, then the change will only have been illusory.

Every issue needs its breakthrough moment. With the quite frankly incredible hype surrounding the Greggs Vegan Steak Bake launch, pictured at the top, as well as other UK food retailers getting involved and increasing their vegan options; hopefully Veganuary 2020 can be this issue’s breakthrough moment. The time that plant-based diets become totally mainstream.

What you need to know

This article looked into Veganuary and asked – can this annual event lead to real change?

We looked at other issues such as single use plastics and climate change, which have successfully used the media to leverage themselves into the mainstream.

We looked into the sluggish progress of promoting vegan lifestyles, despite high profile endorsements from major sports stars.

We looked into the undeniably massive impact that meat production and consumption has on the environment and society. This stretches beyond just the climatic impacts, but involves moral and health impacts too.

In closing, I am cautiously optimistic that Veganuary can lead to real and meaningful change. But we need a better communication of the fact that when it comes to climate change, we very much are what we eat.

Thank you for reading,

By Barnaby Nash

Please share your thoughts in the comments section below, or reach out to me on social media. What do you think needs to be done to make vegan lifestyles mainstream?

Let’s stay connected

I can be reached on LinkedIn and on Twitter @FollowBarnaby

This article looks into meat and sustainability. This is the last in a four-part series looking into meat consumption and how sustainable this is.

It is based on the book and documentary Meat the Truth, which was released in 2010.

Each article covers a slightly different topic. The last 3 weeks have looked into how global meat consumption is predicted to double in the next 50 years, how livestock farming places heavy demands on land, water and energy and contributes towards climate change. You can find links to these below.

MEAT & SUSTAINABILITY: PART 1

MEAT & SUSTAINABILITY: PART 2

MEAT & SUSTAINABILITY PART 3

Replacing meat consumption by vegetable consumption is necessary to reduce the impact and emissions from agriculture

 The theme of this week’s article is all about meat substitutes and what role they can play in lessening the impact and emissions from the agriculture sector.

Building on the analysis of the previous 3 weeks, it should be clear that the agriculture sector is currently having a very serious impact on the environment and change is currently needed.

In chapter 1 Harry Aiking shares an interesting perspective on meat substitutes. He had the following to say:

“Please note that ‘meat replacers’ generally contain 20-20% egg protein”

He also points towards research which showed that transitioning to meat substitutes could result in a 3-4 fold lower requirement of agricultural land and freshwater.

Chapter 7 by Van Drunen, Van Beukering and Aiking on the true price of meat was a very interesting chapter. They highlighted how a Pigouvian tax could reduce the demand for meat products and help the environment.

“Such a tax would correct the market failure due to externalities. The average rate of the Pigouvian Tax should be at least €2.06 for conventional pork, that is 31%^ of the consumer price.”

In Chapter 8 by Dirk-Jan Verdonk he had a very interesting perspective on meat and just how sustainable this can ever be considered to be if it ends with death.

“Killing and welfare are interlocked: death unarguably puts an end to any state of welfare.”

In chapter 10 Jason Matheny produced a really interesting paper on meat substitutes. He highlighted that:

“Plant-based analogs have significant advantages over meat. Analogs have no cholesterol and are low in saturated fat.”

He also points towards how engineered solutions could be one solution:

“Even if plant-based meat analogs gain greater acceptance, some consumers may still prefer to eat meat for cultural or culinary reasons. Tissue engineered ‘cultured meat’ is one possible solution for this market segment.”

He also points towards how engineered solutions are not so different from the current meat options that are available:

“Although cultured meat is, to be sure, a highly artificial product, little is natural about today’s chicken nuggets, made from a ‘meat slurry’ processed from the carcases of 10,000 chickens raised in metal warehouses and pumped full of drugs.”

In chapter 12 Jones, De Meyere and De Geus touch upon the potential win-win opportunities of moving away from meat consumption. They highlight that:

“It is striking in this case that healthier diets (i.e. diets with less red meat and processed foods for example) are generally also low carbon – thus opening the potential ‘win-win’ of a low carbon food system (and associated food culture) which delivers better health for people.”

They also come forward with one potential solution:

“What we need is a food equivalent of the ‘waste hierarchy’ denoting clearly that, in terms of the environment and of health, the best diet is vegetarian.”

What you need to know

This article looked into meat and sustainability. This was the last in a four-part series looking into meat consumption and how sustainable this is.

In this article, we explored how meat substitutes can lessen the impact and emissions from the agriculture sector.

We looked at evidence which showed that many meat substitutes contain high percentages of egg, how Pigouvian taxation could help this transition, how meat substitutes are a healthier option and how cultured meat could get people to eat a more humane and lower impact form of meat.

Thank you for reading,

By Barnaby Nash

Please share your thoughts in the comments section below, or reach out to me on social media. What do you think of the relationship between meat and sustainability?

Let’s stay connected

I can be reached on LinkedIn and on Twitter @FollowBarnaby

This article looks into meat and sustainability. This is the third in a four-part series looking into meat consumption and how sustainable this is.

It is based on the book and documentary Meat the Truth, which was released in 2010.

Each article covers a slightly different topic. The last 2 weeks have looked into how global meat consumption is predicted to double in the next 50 years and how livestock farming places heavy demands on land, water and energy. You can find links to these below.

MEAT & SUSTAINABILITY: PART 1

MEAT & SUSTAINABILITY: PART 2

Livestock farming (meat consumption) has a major impact on climate

This week we are looking into a very topical subject, meat consumption’s contribution to climate change.

There were lots of good papers on this inside Meat the Truth and I hope to bring you what I considered to be the most interesting parts in this article.

One of the best chapters in Meat the Truth was by Kirsten Oleson, who wrote about the hidden environmental costs of the meat trade. I will quote the paragraph below in its entirety because of its link to the forest fires that are currently taking place in the Amazon.

“Our model has confirmed previous studies linking meat consumption with deforestation in Brazil. We show that 5.6 million hectares of land in Brazil supports foreigners’ consumption of pork and chicken; of this, over four million hectares is being used to grow soy to feed these animals. According to FAO, Brazil deforested 2.6 million hectares in 2000, in large part to grow soy, exports of which have increased 11% annually for the past 14 years. Total Brazilian land use to grow soy has nearly doubled from 11.5 million ha in 1990 to 21.5 million hectares in 2004. Our model shows that more Brazilian land is used to grow feed crops for export than to grow feed crops for domestic consumption.”

The above quotation sets out in stunning detail the drivers behind deforestation in the Amazon, which is itself driving anthropogenic climate change.

In chapter 3 Danielle Nierenberg highlights how factory farming methods are impacting on climate change:

“It is increasingly evident that factory farming is to blame for much of the increases in GHG emissions from animal agriculture. The 15 year period of 1990 to 2005 saw a significant rise in GHG emissions in the United States. Methane emissions from pig and dairy cow manure increased by approximately 37% and 50% respectively – an elevation caused by the shift towards rearing pigs and cows in larger facilities where liquid manure management systems that promote anaerobic conditions, or those in which oxygen is not present, are increasingly used.”

In chapter 7 Van Drunen, Van Beukering and Aiking share some interesting information on the true price of meat. They explain that:

“In 2006, the FAO calculated that the global meat sector contributes 18% (7.1 Gton every year) to the total emission of carbon dioxide equivalents.”

Which highlights that what we are dealing with here is a major contributor to anthropogenic climate change.

Chapter 15 by Goodland and Anhang share an interesting perspective on carbon and the scale of carbon emissions from animal agriculture. They explain that:

“Our analysis shows that livestock and their byproducts actually account for at least 32,564 million tons of CO2e per year, or 51 percent of annual worldwide GHG emissions.”

So as we can see, there is evidence to suggest that emissions from animal agriculture may be significantly higher than it is currently anticipated to be, making the problem that much more severe.

What you need to know

This article looked into meat and sustainability. This was the third in a four-part series looking into meat consumption and how sustainable this is.

In this article, we explored how livestock farming has a major impact on climate.

We looked at evidence which showed that deforestation is taking place in the Amazon for cattle ranging and animal feed stocks. We looked at how factory farming is leading to increased emissions from animal agriculture and the contested figures for how much animal agriculture is contributing towards the total amount of greenhouse gasses. Regardless of the dispute, the number is high.

Thank you for reading,

By Barnaby Nash

Please share your thoughts in the comments section below, or reach out to me on social media. What do you think of the relationship between meat and sustainability?

Let’s stay connected

I can be reached on LinkedIn and on Twitter @FollowBarnaby

This article looks into meat and sustainability. This is the second in a four-part series looking into meat consumption and how sustainable this is.

It is based on the book and documentary Meat the Truth, which was released in 2010.

Each article covers a slightly different topic. Last weeks looked into how global meat consumption is predicted to double in the next 50 years. You can find this via the link below.

MEAT & SUSTAINABILITY: PART 1

This week we are looking into the impact that meat consumption has on the environment.

Livestock farming (meat consumption) places heavy demands on land, water and energy

There is lots of good evidence in the book to support the above claim.

Chapter 1 Food and natural resources by Harry Aiking points to a lot of interesting evidence. For instance, that as a result of animal metabolism, on average 6kg of plant protein is required for 1kg of meat protein. Furthermore, the 4 million sq. km that is devoted to feed crops globally contain about 114 million tonnes of feed protein. This is protein that is diverted towards animals with a negative rate of return.

On water consumption Aiking had the following to say:

“It is evident that animal protein production requires much more water than plant protein, however estimates vary from 5 to 1,000 fold.”

Chapter 3 Impact of growth in factory farming in developing world by Danielle Nierenberg shed light on the energy intensity of factory farms. She explained that:

“Operationally, factory farms require a significant amount of fossil fuel energy… Electricity for heating, cooling, and ventilating factory farms, in addition to powering any other mechanized processes such as manure removal or egg collection, all make up a large part of this energy expenditure.”

In Chapter 6 Meat, climate and the EU Jens Holm shares an interesting perspective. Whilst biofuels are often criticised for the land area they consume, animal feedstock receives far less attention. He explains that:

“Approximately two percent of the world’s cultivated land is used for bio-fuels, while nearly 40% goes to fodder production in the livestock industry.”

Chapter 8 Overconsumption by Mark Bittman also contains a lot of interesting information on the impact of meat consumption. For example:

“To produce one calorie of corn takes 2.2 calories of fossil fuel. For beef the number is 40: it requires 40 calories to produce one calorie of beef protein.”

“Try to imagine each cow on the planet consuming almost seven barrels of crude oil.”

Chapter 12 Promoting a sustainability transition in the food domain by Jones et al had some eye-opening statistics. For instance, that:

“On average, 6 kilograms of wheat is required for the production of 1 kilogram of meat protein (poultry and pork are significantly more ‘efficient’ than beef). A considerable amount (40%) of the world’s total production of wheat is reserved for the cattle stock sector (bio fuels take up around 5% of the total production of grain/wheat. Thus a vegetarian or non-red meat diet is considerably more efficient in terms of ecology, carbon and energy, and therefore more sustainable.”

Chapter 11 Making meat moderation marketable By Tobias Leenaert explains the following:

“Meat production is the number one cause of deforestation in South America, and is solely responsible for the destruction of an area the size of Belgium every year worldwide.”

What you need to know

This article looked into meat and sustainability. This is the second in a four-part series looking into meat consumption and how sustainable this is.

The evidence for this article is based on the book and documentary Meat the Truth.

This week’s article looked at meat consumption’s impact on the environment.

We looked at how converting plant protein into animal protein is an incredibly inefficient process. We also looked into the large area of land that is taken up by animal feed crops.

Animal protein production is a very water intensive process, placing more impact on the environment.

We also looked into how animal agriculture is very energy and oil intensive.

Overall, there are a number of insurmountable barriers that mean that animal agriculture as it currently stands places a burden on the environment.

Thank you for reading,

By Barnaby Nash

Please share your thoughts in the comments section below, or reach out to me on social media. What do you think of the relationship between meat and sustainability?

Let’s stay connected

I can be reached on LinkedIn and on Twitter @FollowBarnaby