The future of meat may be plant-based. That might sound like an oxymoron, but plant-based meats are a thing. And, they’re becoming ever more popular in grocery stores and restaurants.
It’s such a threat to animal-based meat, that Mississippi recently enacted a law that makes it a jail-able offense to call these plant-based meats “burgers!” Who could have predicted that just a few years ago?
With plant-based meats being so new, I thought it would be fun to research and tell you all you need to know about the basics of these new meat products.
What’s the Purpose of Plant-Based Meat?
Plant-based meats can be beneficial for three primary reasons: the planet, your health, and reducing animal cruelty (not simply harvesting animals). Let’s take each of these in turn.
A recent study, entitled “Greenhouse gas emissions and energy use associated with production of individual self-selected US diets,” by engineer Martin Heller and his team at the University of Michigan’s Center for Sustainable Systems, published in the journal, Environmental Research Letters, concluded that one-fifth of Americans contributed 46% of US food-based emissions. Put simply, 20% of us are doing 50% of the damage to the planet just by our eating choices daily! Much of the contributions stem from mass-produced animal meat.
As well, the impact of animal proteins on your body can be detrimental. In Whole: Rethinking the Science of Nutrition, T. Colin Campbell, PhD (who’s most well-known for his book, The China Study), explains in exquisite detail the impact of eating animal-based meats on the human body over time. In essence, based on his research as the study director of one of the largest, most comprehensive studies of nutrition, there is a link between the eating of animal-based foods and chronic illness (which can include bowel cancer, breast cancer, coronary heart disease, diabetes, and prostate cancer). The remedy, according to Dr. Campbell and his colleagues, is a whole-food, plant-based diet.
Of course, extremes are not easy. And, going vegetarian or vegan is not possible for most people. But, even reducing the amount of meat and other animal products in your diet can have significant, positive impacts on mortality according to the NIH-AARP Diet and Health Study, as well as weight loss, diabetes prevention and blood pressure benefits.
And, finally, reducing or removing animal meat in favor of plant-based meats has the benefit of reducing animal cruelty around the world. Not all animal harvesting is cruel. But, there are plenty of examples of where factory farming and other types of animal meat production fall short of humane treatment.
The next stop on our journey of understanding plant-based meats is to understand the types and standards in this fast-developing industry.
Types and Standards in Plant-Based Meats
For many years, food companies have innovated alternative options for non-meating eating individuals. Once a fringe, now more and more Americans who identify as some flavor of vegetarian, or as a vegan, don’t feel awkward at a dinner party or company picnic. While the number of vegetarians and vegans have stayed roughly the same percentage of the population over the past 20 years, the number of plant-based meals being eaten by omnivores has risen dramatically.
More than 90% of plant-based meals last year were eaten by non-vegans, according to a UK study. This gives credence to the flexitarianism trend over the past several years. Flexitarians are people who are still eating animal-based meat, but are opting for eating more plant-based meals over meat at most meals.
The next natural question is: are plant-based meats healthier than other meats? This is an easy question with a complex answer. There are many types of plant-based meats on the market, and I’m leaving out meat alternatives here (such as jack-fruit, textured vegetarian protein (TVP), seitan, tempeh, and shiitake/portobello mushrooms). The major brands in this market are Impossible Foods and Beyond Meat.
Impossible Foods’s Impossible Burger is primarily made of soy, oils (coconut and sunflower) and additives. While their burger provides fiber, something a normal beef burger won’t provide, a four-ounce patty will provide about 30-40% of your daily fat intake (compared to approximately 25% for that same beef protein). So, marginally better than beef. Over in the Beyond Meat burger, it contains mostly pea protein isolate as its main ingredient; there is hardly a “vegetable” left in this “veggie” burger. As well, it contains more fat (with 23g per 4oz patty), so it’s right up there with a beef burger when it comes to total fat. On the upside, an Impossible Foods and Beyond Meat burgers contain slightly less saturated fat and no cholesterol.
While there are differing opinions on the healthiness of these plant-based meats, it seems as though most dietitians agree that their choice for you would be whole-food plant meal first then plant-based burger then animal-based burger. So, it can be considered an intermediary option on the way to more healthy options in your diet.
Remarkably, major fast food brands are adopting these plant-based burgers. Burger King and White Castle have both announced or started serving Impossible or Beyond Meat burgers in their restaurants in select locations. They are having stellar success, and this has made some reports claim that plant-based meats will soon be cheaper than animal-based meats.
How to Bring More Plant-Based Meats Into Your Life
If you’re currently eating a lot of red meat at home, at work or on the road, these types of plant-based meats will provide the greatest opportunity for you. In order to take best advantage, it’s about knowing where to get them, how much to include them in your diet, and finding recipes that are nutritious.
Where to Buy
Thankfully, these companies are aware that it’s tough to find out where to find these new meats. So, they’ve created handy locator tools on their websites. You can find them via the Impossible Foods Locator and Beyond Meat Where to Find tools for grocers and restaurants that carry them.
Portions
From reading the current sentiments of many dietitians, it seems like keeping your consumption to less than three of these plant-based meat servings per week is a good idea. This is because of the saturated fats mostly. And, combine your burger with a whole wheat or whole grain bun and lots of colorful vegetables along with your meal.
Recipes
There are actually very few recipes out there that are taking advantage of explicitly the meatless meats we’ve been discussing here. On Impossible Foods’s “Food” section of their website, they present some ideas, and Beyond Meat does give a few recipes beyond just burgers. I recommend looking at any recipes where you would normally use ground beef and simply cook up your preferred choice of “meat” and use that instead. See if you can trick your family into believing it’s real (animal-based) meat!
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The future of meat is varied and more plant than animal. And, as it relates to plant-based meats, there will be more to come. (Brace yourself, as fishless fish is now a thing!) Will you be able to taste the difference? Maybe not. But, your body and the planet will feel it.
What are your experiences with plant-based meats like Impossible Burger and Beyond Meat burger? Have you tried them at a restaurant, or made them at home from the grocery store? Let us know in the comments!