Sustainability is more than just a corporate goal; it is becoming a personal goal of more and more people. How can we as individuals reduce our impact on the planet. One area of focus has been our overall large consumption of meat. According to Forbes, beef consumption results in 60 kg CO2e produced per kg of beef, over twice the greenhouse gas production of the next meat on the list, lamb, and triple the production from cheese.
With this as motivation, several companies are trying to create a plant-based product that has the same taste and consistency of beef, most prominent being Beyond Meat and Impossible Foods. Studies show that these products produce 10 to 13 times less CO2e compared to a same-sized hamburger. In addition, the ingredients of these products use less land and significantly less water. Both products have grown in sales tremendously in the past 5 years and can be found in many fast-food restaurants as “healthy” alternatives to hamburgers, filleted chicken, and other meat products. CNBC predicts the market for meat substitutes to reach $2.5 billion by 2023.
According to Beyond Meat, ingredients for its plant-based patties include water, pea protein isolate, expeller-pressed canola oil, refined coconut oil, rice protein and other natural flavors, including apple extract and beet juice extract (for color). Ingredients for Impossible Foods burger include water, soy protein concentrate, coconut oil, sunflower oil, potato protein, soy leghemoglobin (a group of protein found in animals and plants) and other natural flavors.
While avoiding the saturated fats found in beef is positive from a health standpoint, some are beginning to question whether eating foods with so many highly processed ingredients is healthy. It appears that in getting them to taste the same as beef burgers, plant-based burgers have about the same amount of sodium and saturated fat as traditional burgers and that may not be so good for the public’s health.
However, there is the thought that such plant-based “meat” may be useful as a transition food, helping wean people off of meat products. Most Americans would not enjoy eating a full vegetarian diet because their taste buds are used to a diet that includes high fat and processed foods.
In the same token, the environmental benefits of the Beyond Meat and Impossible Burger make them the right choice.
CCES has the experts to provide advice on helping your company be more sustainable in your operations, such as reducing greenhouse gas emissions and water usage. Contact us today at karell@CCESworld.com or at 914-584-6720.