“If only I had known”... the role of information to adopt plant-based diets

Did you know that almost one fourth of total global greenhouse gas emissions come from agriculture?[1]. And 14.5% derive from livestock production alone? These numbers mean that our diets have a huge impact on climate change and that each one of us can contribute to drastically reducing GHG emissions just by choosing more sustainable foods.

This is not a new notion. Since 2010 the, UN urged a global move to reduce the consumption of animal products in order  to save the world from the worst impacts of climate change[2].

Since then, many alternatives to meat have been proposed (and produced) to meet the requirements of a healthy diet while reducing animal and dairy consumption. Some examples include, pulses, algae, insects, some nuts, plant-based products and cultured meat, which are great sources of protein. However, after more than ten years, little progress has been made on a global move towards plant-based diets. Why is this?

Some studies confirm that consumers' acceptance of alternative proteins depend, to a greater extent, on how closely they resemble meat taste and texture. Apparently, giving up on the taste of the food that we grew up with feels like a big sacrifice for consumers[3]. In order to address this issue, there has been substantial investment in producing plant-based foods that mimic the taste of beef. For instance, for burgers there are now plant-based patties with different additives to reproduce the taste, color and texture of traditional beef burgers:

• Plant-based patties made with pea protein (e.g. Awesome Burger ©, Perfect Burger ©, Lightlife Plant-based Burger ©). Some of these patties add beet juice to mimic the color and appearance of a mid-term cooked traditional beef burger (e.g. Beyond Burgers ©)

• Veggie patties made with soy and yeast. These patties use genetically engineered yeast to produce leghemoglobin, which is a protein present in conventional beef. This protein is added to give the veggie burgers a beef flavor (Impossible burger ©)

Despite the growing availability of meat alternatives, only a minority of consumers frequently purchase them due to lack of information. According to a recent study, people with a broader consciousness of the carbon footprint of meat and people who had been informed of the environmental benefits and production processes of plant-based alternatives are more likely to buy these products over ground beef, provided that the price was also competitive[4].

In summary, information on the environmental impacts of meat and the benefits of plant-based alternatives can help us to change our diets, which can have a huge impact on greenhouse gas emissions. 

Jellyfish aims to help you change your diet by providing science-based information on the carbon footprint of specific products and showing you more sustainable alternatives.

Share with us your opinion. Would counting with more reliable information on the carbon footprint of products affect your consumption choices? 

[1] IPCC, 2019: Summary for Policymakers. In: Climate Change and Land: an IPCC special report on climate change, desertification, land degradation, sustainable land management, food security, and greenhouse gas fluxes in terrestrial ecosystems [P.R. Shukla, J. Skea, E. Calvo Buendia, V. Masson-Delmotte, H.- O. Pörtner, D. C. Roberts, P. Zhai, R. Slade, S. Connors, R. van Diemen, M. Ferrat, E. Haughey, S. Luz, S. Neogi, M. Pathak, J. Petzold, J. Portugal Pereira, P. Vyas, E. Huntley, K. Kissick, M. Belkacemi, J. Malley, (eds.)]. In press.

[2] Q. Schiermeier, “Eat less meat: UN climate-change report calls for change to human diet” (8 August 2019) Nature News. https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-019-02409-7

[3] F. Michel, C. Hartman and M. Siegrist, “Consumers’ associations, perceptions and acceptance of meat and plant-based meat alternatives” (2021) Food Quality and Preference 87: 104063. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foodqual.2020.104063

[4] E. J. Van Loo, V. Caputo, J. L. Lusk, “Consumer preferences for farm-raised meat, lab-grown meat and plant-based meat alternatives: Does information or brand matter?” (2020) Food Policy 95: 101931 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foodpol.2020.101931