How Meat Substitutes Have Changed the Way Many Americans Think About Meat
The coronavirus pandemic has led to many changes big and small the world over. As we have seen in a previous blog, some of these changes have to do with the food we eat on a day to day basis. In this case, the popularity of veggie burgers, and other meatless burgers or plant-based meat substitutes has skyrocketed amid the pandemic.
A recent Forbes magazine article published about this issue found that in the wake of COVID-19 as slaughterhouses closed to stop infections, people began really questioning and reconsidering their meat consumption. [1] Perhaps it might even be the wet markets in China which led to the start of the pandemic itself of maybe it was the inhumane conditions in which the slaughterhouse workers are forced to stay in. Perhaps some people feared meat shortages that made them look into meat substitutes. Nonetheless, one thing is certain—Americans are becoming more mindful about the meat that they eat.
According to a report by Statista, the forecasted market value of plant-based meat worldwide is expected to grow tremendously. In 2018, the market value was estimated to be about $10.24 billion. Less than a decade later, in 2026, this same market value is predicted to be about $30.92 billion. That’s an extraordinary three-fold growth in just about 8 years! [2]
One example of such a plant-based product is the Beyond Burger (though several others such as the Impossible Burger)—a good meat substitute transition food on the way to becoming fully whole food plant-based. A lifecycle analysis of this burger was conducted by researchers at the University of Michigan’s Center for Sustainable Systems. This analysis compared the Beyond Burger with a standard quarter pounder. The results indicated that a Beyond Burger required 99% less water, 93% less land use, 90% fewer greenhouse gases, and 46% less energy. [3] Surely, eating plant-based seems to be a no-brainer as it does so much for our environment.
In the following comparison, the Beyond Burger is used, but the general results are applicable to many plant-based transition foods including Tofurky. When comparing the plant-based burger to an animal-based burger, the plant-based one prevailed on several accounts. First off, Beyond Burgers use split peas as their main protein source. These split peas are essential to the superiority of the plant-based burger as they have an excellent balance of the nine essential amino acids. This website, provides amino acid completeness scores, and gives split peas a score of over a 100 but ground beef a score of just 74! [4]
Thus, it’s clear that animal-based proteins fall short of even competing with plant-based ones. Plus, as mentioned in my earlier blog post, Great Sources of Plant Proteins, animal protein plays a role in cancer risk. Specifically, IGF-1, a cancer promoting agent, is released excessively when animal protein is consumed. [5]
Further comparing the plant-based burger with an animal-based one, we find that the Beyond Burger (or another plant-based product) has more protein as well as more iron. Additionally, this burger has no cholesterol, plant-based foods don’t have any cholesterol, and less fat—both saturated and total. All this information can be seen in the comparison chart on the right which can be enlarged by clicking on.
All in all, I hope you found this blog to be very informational and inspiring as it demonstrated the immense growth of plant-based meat substitutes. In addition, it was shown how the Beyond Burger—one such meat alternative—is superior to its animal-based counterpart, both in terms of its environmental impact as well as its nutritional value. I hope you find more and more availability of plant-based foods as you are either making the switch to plant-based or are already plant-based!
Sources:
[2] https://www.statista.com/statistics/877369/global-meat-substitutes-market-value/
[4] https://nutritiondata.self.com/
[5] https://plantpoweredyouth.org/blogs/2018/12/31/great-sources-of-plant-proteins