Green and Ethical Food 15 October 2020 at 10:14AM in Green & ethical MoneySaving 54 replies 955 views

Martyn1981

The EU has put plant-based burgers back on the menu

That shift is thanks to the news of livestock’s impact on climate breakdown, since a 2019 UN report said that a shift toward plant-based consumption would be necessary to stem the crisis. The Covid-19 pandemic has also focused minds on the consequences of having a rapacious farm and agriculture industry, which breeds the conditions for disease. There is now a high demand for plant-based meats in Asia, the continent where 44% of the world’s meat is consumed.

Plant burgers and other products have begun to resemble their cow- and pig-based counterparts in appearance and content. We’re in a time of technological innovation in plant-based meat, as seen in Beyond Meat’s burgers and sausages, which are based on vegetable-derived proteins, as well as cultured or lab-made meat that is derived from actual animal cells.

These plant-based meats have been developed not to market to vegetarians or vegans with ethical or health concerns, but omnivores who want to cut back on meat consumption for environmental reasons.

shinytop

Martyn1981 said:

The EU has put plant-based burgers back on the menu

That shift is thanks to the news of livestock’s impact on climate breakdown, since a 2019 UN report said that a shift toward plant-based consumption would be necessary to stem the crisis. The Covid-19 pandemic has also focused minds on the consequences of having a rapacious farm and agriculture industry, which breeds the conditions for disease. There is now a high demand for plant-based meats in Asia, the continent where 44% of the world’s meat is consumed.

Plant burgers and other products have begun to resemble their cow- and pig-based counterparts in appearance and content. We’re in a time of technological innovation in plant-based meat, as seen in Beyond Meat’s burgers and sausages, which are based on vegetable-derived proteins, as well as cultured or lab-made meat that is derived from actual animal cells.

These plant-based meats have been developed not to market to vegetarians or vegans with ethical or health concerns, but omnivores who want to cut back on meat consumption for environmental reasons.

Very interesting. While I do like a nice veggie burger or quorn chilli occasionally, plant based meat is, at the moment, mostly mimicking processed meats like burgers and sausages, i.e. the stuff that's normally made of what is hosed off the abattoir floor.  Personally I prefer my veggie food to look and taste like vegetables but there is clearly a demand so good luck to them and I'm sure they'll get better and better.  I'm not sure I'll be seeing a synthetic pork chop any time soon though but you never know.   

Martyn1981

Interesting article as it hopefully ticks all boxes by suggesting higher taxes on food products that have a higher environmental impact. So not only the type of meat, but the way it is produced too, which seems (at least potentially) fair.

UK health professions call for climate tax on meat

A powerful coalition of the UK’s health professions has called for a climate tax to be imposed on food with a heavy environmental impact by 2025, unless the industry takes voluntary action on the impact of their products.

The group says the climate crisis cannot be solved without action to cut the consumption of food that causes high emissions, such as red meat and dairy products. But it says that more sustainable diets are also healthier and would reduce illness.

Food production is responsible for a quarter of the world’s greenhouse gas emissions and a series of scientific studies have shown that red meat and dairy have far bigger impacts than plant-based food. People in rich nations already eat more meat than is healthy and in the UK only one in three eat the recommended five daily portions of fruit and vegetables.

Joseph Poore, at the University of Oxford, said UKHACC’s recommendation of environmental labelling on food was important. “Today you can walk into a shop and buy something with an environmental impact many times higher than another food, and have no idea you have done so.” For example, Brazilian beef uses 200 times more land and causes 80 times more emissions than European tofu, he said.

NigeWick

Martyn1981 said:

Interesting article as it hopefully ticks all boxes by suggesting higher taxes on food products that have a higher environmental impact. So not only the type of meat, but the way it is produced too, which seems (at least potentially) fair.

Does that mean they want a tax on all fruit and vegetables that use polluting chemicals in the form of fertilisers, pest control, steroids and hormones in their production?

Hexane

NigeWick said:

Martyn1981 said:

Interesting article as it hopefully ticks all boxes by suggesting higher taxes on food products that have a higher environmental impact. So not only the type of meat, but the way it is produced too, which seems (at least potentially) fair.

Does that mean they want a tax on all fruit and vegetables that use polluting chemicals in the form of fertilisers, pest control, steroids and hormones in their production?

That's a complicated one
Fertilisers should certainly count, but perhaps the suggested taxes cover just carbon footprint (relatively limited for that) rather than chemicals deemed to be polluting. Would organically grown produce be taxed based on the carbon footprint of the fertiliser used? I'm not sure steroids and hormones are used much in the production of fruit and vegetables, except perhaps for traditionally grown crops if some of the farm equipment is pulled by oxen which might have benefited from steroid treatment?

The biggest differences (as mentioned in previous posts) would be between things like beef versus tofu, or hill farmed lamb versus pork.

The other thing fruit and vegetables would be hit for, is air freighting them to the UK, either things that don't grow here or air freighting them from other countries when they're not in season in the UK. So various fruit would be a good deal more expensive at various times of year, and the fresh chillis that we buy (which happen to come from Senegal at the moment) would presumably be a lot more expensive. Time to use lots of more sustainable onions instead.

JKenH

Hexane said:

NigeWick said:

Martyn1981 said:

Interesting article as it hopefully ticks all boxes by suggesting higher taxes on food products that have a higher environmental impact. So not only the type of meat, but the way it is produced too, which seems (at least potentially) fair.

Does that mean they want a tax on all fruit and vegetables that use polluting chemicals in the form of fertilisers, pest control, steroids and hormones in their production?

That's a complicated one
Fertilisers should certainly count, but perhaps the suggested taxes cover just carbon footprint (relatively limited for that) rather than chemicals deemed to be polluting. Would organically grown produce be taxed based on the carbon footprint of the fertiliser used? I'm not sure steroids and hormones are used much in the production of fruit and vegetables, except perhaps for traditionally grown crops if some of the farm equipment is pulled by oxen which might have benefited from steroid treatment?

The biggest differences (as mentioned in previous posts) would be between things like beef versus tofu, or hill farmed lamb versus pork.

The other thing fruit and vegetables would be hit for, is air freighting them to the UK, either things that don't grow here or air freighting them from other countries when they're not in season in the UK. So various fruit would be a good deal more expensive at various times of year, and the fresh chillis that we buy (which happen to come from Senegal at the moment) would presumably be a lot more expensive. Time to use lots of more sustainable onions instead.

It would help our farming industry if we levied air freight on imported produce. We could then revert to eating fresh, seasonal fruit and vegetables as we did when I was a kid. Who remembers spring cabbage, summer cabbage and winter cabbage, summer and winter cauliflower? We used to eat new potatoes, peas and salad, raspberries and strawberries in summer, not all year round. Brussels sprouts, carrots, parsnips and leeks all taste better ‘with a frost on them’. 

The biggest difference we can make though is to stop eating rice. It has become a staple food in the UK (and I love it although I spent the first twenty years or so of my life managing without it) but not only does it travel half way round the world, the method used to cultivate rice is a major contributor to climate change. 

Edit: link added below
https://www.independent.co.uk/environment/rice-farming-climate-change-global-warming-india-nitrous-oxide-methane-a8531401.html

Martyn1981

Some news on 'insect food'.

Yellow mealworm safe for humans to eat, says EU food safety agency

The insect’s main components are protein, fat and fibre, offering a potentially sustainable and low carbon-emission source of food for the future. When dried, the maggot-like insect is said to taste a lot like peanuts.

Coastalwatch

Martyn1981 said:

Some news on 'insect food'.

Yellow mealworm safe for humans to eat, says EU food safety agency

The insect’s main components are protein, fat and fibre, offering a potentially sustainable and low carbon-emission source of food for the future. When dried, the maggot-like insect is said to taste a lot like peanuts.

S'funny, but having been feeding them to the local feathered wild life population for some time I've not yet felt tempted to try one.

I do, however quite like peanuts!

ABrass

Martyn1981 said:

Some news on 'insect food'.

Yellow mealworm safe for humans to eat, says EU food safety agency

The insect’s main components are protein, fat and fibre, offering a potentially sustainable and low carbon-emission source of food for the future. When dried, the maggot-like insect is said to taste a lot like peanuts.

Dip them in wasabi and I'll give it a shot.

Martyn1981

UN backed report on food choices:

Plant-based diets crucial to saving global wildlife, says report

The report, supported by the UN environment programme (Unep), focused on three solutions. First is a shift to plant-based diets because cattle, sheep and other livestock have the biggest impact on the environment.

More than 80% of global farmland is used to raise animals, which provide only 18% of calories eaten. Reversing the rising trend of meat consumption removes the pressure to clear new land and further damage wildlife. It also frees up existing land for the second solution, restoring native ecosystems to increase biodiversity.

The availability of land also underpins the third solution, the report said, which is farming in a less intensive and damaging way but accepting lower yields. Organic yields are on average about 75% of those of conventional intensive farming, it said.

Fixing the global food system would also tackle the climate crisis, the report said. The food system causes about 30% of all greenhouse gas emissions, with more than half coming from animals. Changes to food production could also tackle the ill health suffered by 3 billion people, who either have too little to eat or are overweight or obese, and which costs trillions of dollars a year in healthcare.