During the pandemic, plant-based meat consumption and media coverage exploded. Now, a host of trend pieces decry its demise. That shift is no organic accident.
TL;DR: the meat industry’s misleading messaging campaign + lobbying
Think of it in terms of inputs and outputs. This is drastically simplified with rounded numbers, but gets the point across.
I can take 1 acre of land, add seed, and 500,000 gallons of water. These are my inputs. From that, I get an output of 2000 pounds of grain. I could take that output and eat it myself. Or I could decide I want to grow meat.
If I grow meat, I need another 1 acre of land, another 100,000 gallons of water, and at least half of that 2000 pounds of grain from my first acre. Now I can grow a cow.
It is more efficient in terms of resource utilization to go directly from plant to human, instead of going from plant to animal to human.
I agree, that is the major reason I try to choose plant based options. I was just thrown by @Hirom saying about chicken being better for the environment, I’m assume they meant it’s better than beef (which it is) but not as good as the plant-based versions.
Think of it in terms of inputs and outputs. This is drastically simplified with rounded numbers, but gets the point across.
I can take 1 acre of land, add seed, and 500,000 gallons of water. These are my inputs. From that, I get an output of 2000 pounds of grain. I could take that output and eat it myself. Or I could decide I want to grow meat.
If I grow meat, I need another 1 acre of land, another 100,000 gallons of water, and at least half of that 2000 pounds of grain from my first acre. Now I can grow a cow.
It is more efficient in terms of resource utilization to go directly from plant to human, instead of going from plant to animal to human.
I agree, that is the major reason I try to choose plant based options. I was just thrown by @Hirom saying about chicken being better for the environment, I’m assume they meant it’s better than beef (which it is) but not as good as the plant-based versions.
Exactly, I meant chicken has less impact on the environment than beef. And chicken burger as an alternative to beef burger.