Healthy living
humans is enough to raise the world food supply to feed the current population. Not only that, but the International Food Policy Research Institute estimates that the reduction of meat consumption by 50% in high-income countries could lower the number of malnourished children in developing countries by 3.6 million.
Plant-based food may not be for everyone
The development of the plant-based industry has been helped by the rise of meat alternatives, increasing general awareness of its benefits and encouraging the average meat eater to try something different. According to Vinciane Patelou, director at European Plant based Foods Association, the industry and reception to plant-based alternatives has changed monumentally over the past 15 years. Plant-based food, says Patelou, “is no longer seen as specialist for people with allergies or for people who are vegan or vegetarian – it’s really for everyone”. Originally, she says, the focus of the association was to bring awareness about the benefits of a balanced diet and plant-based alternatives, but they were often met with misunderstanding about the concept as a whole. “Unless people had a child who was lactose intolerant or a friend who was vegetarian, they wouldn’t know about the products,” Patelou adds. Now, however, “they’re really becoming mainstream”. Rachel Dreskin, CEO of the Plant Based Food Association (PBFA), the first and only trade association in the US representing over 350 leading plant-based food companies, agrees, adding that the industry has seen tremendous growth in the past few years alone. “Consumers are purchasing more plant- based foods than ever before. In the past three years alone, US plant-based retail sales have grown 54%. In fact, growth of plant-based foods continues to outpace total food sales,” says Dreskin. For Dreskin, after joining PBFA in 2021, her aim is to help support the growth of the plant- based industry and promote global sustainability in human consumption. In her opinion, the growth of plant-based foods is driven by the nature of the market. “The plant-based food industry is constantly evolving and changing to meet growing customer demand.” PBFA, according to Dreskin, has over 350 members consisting mainly of plant- based companies who help create an abundance of options to attract the curious consumer. And with this onslaught of plant-based options, there has been significant nutritional development as well. “We’ve seen an increase in nutritious ingredients like mung beans, oats, peas, chickpeas, lentils, artichokes and fava beans – and the potential for innovation is truly endless.”
Ingredients Insight /
www.ingredients-insight.com
But are all these plant-based options for the best? Do they truly serve as a healthy alternative? It is well documented that plant-based meats are lower in saturated fat and cholesterol compared with, say, beef. This helps contribute to the healthy “aura” of plant-based eating, says Patelou. But Patelou warns not to get hung up on a false impression of these alternatives. They are still, after all, high in salt with very few long-term studies on their benefits. “It’s all about the balanced diet,” states Patelou. Julieanna Hever, a plant-based dietitian and author of The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Plant-Based Nutrition, agrees, stating that the general perception of plant-based food is misleading. “I think there’s a health halo where they think, ‘Oh, well it’s plant-based, so it’s healthy’. And that’s not necessarily true.” In a study by the Journal of the American College
of Cardiology, which examined the dietary data of 209,000 adults, the results found that choosing a plant-based diet was not necessarily the healthiest option if it is not based on healthy plant foods. “There’s still a gap between just switching to a vegan version of an animal product that you’re used to and cooking healthily or eating a healthful diet,” says Hever. “The scientific literature now is clearly extraordinary for the benefits of eating plants. But it’s going to change over time. If someone eating a vegan diet would be considered just in comparison to an omnivorous diet, they’re going to be eating very similar, nutritionally speaking.”
Earth-saving potential
One thing that can be said for plant-based meats is the environmental and sustainability benefits it offers. According to a study by the University of Oxford, it found that eating 75% less beef and 90% less pork globally would keep global warming below two degrees this century.
If anyone needs more convincing of the earth- saving potential of plant-based alternatives, then the infamous Beyond Meat burger uses 99% less water, 93% less land and 90% less emissions compared with a beef burger. Switching to this alternative can alleviate the water crisis facing many countries and help the environment. It is this potential for sustainability that, along with health and animal welfare, drives such growth in the industry. “Consumer demand for values-aligned, plant-based foods is soaring,” says Dreskin. According to a report by Healthline, 35% of greenhouse gas emissions come from food production, 57% of which comes from animal production alone. With the UN predicting that food production will need to increase by 70% by 2050, the best way to reduce these emissions is by relying less on livestock and more on crops.
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