Why is the slack with plant diets grows

People in Great Britain eat too much meat – especially processed meat – according to Last report from the Food Foundation, a British charity organization.

The report recommends visiting School food standardswho recommends school to serve meat three times a week. Consequence? Children often eat higher percentage of processed meat than adults.

The effects of hefty meat diets are well documented. Some analyzes Estimation that excessive meat obligation, especially processed red meat, costs a global economy of about 219 billion pounds a year, in terms of damage to human health and the environment. At the same time, A growing collection of evidence It shows that the transition to more plant diets is not only beneficial, but necessary.

And yet the efforts to reduce meat consumption have not always been well received. For example, in Paris, the mayor’s initiative to remove the meat from the Municipal Square menu twice a week Angry slack of relationships and workers who called to return the steaks.

A few years ago, eating meat in Great Britain was fallingand interest in initiatives such as vegan was growing. Venture Capital flooded plant start-ups, from hamburger crickets to hemp milk.

But enthusiasm and investments, Since then he refused. Meanwhile, Narrations of populism and “cultural war” They fueled disinformation in social media about food, diet and sustainable development, Difficulty progress. So what has changed? And why is the meat once again an inflammatory point in the food debate?

Working with the H3 consortium, which examines the paths of food systems transformation in Great Britain, our research focused on why the reaction to plant diet is growing and what it means for people, animals and planets.

Part of the answer lies in coordinated messages to send messages that develop meat and dairy not only “normal”, but as “natural” and necessary for a balanced diet. One example is Let’s eat a balanced campaignThe development board run by agriculture and reselfulture from 2021 has been promoting meat and dairy products as key sources of microelements such as vitamin B12 and by default diet positions based on nutritional value.

But here is irony: many intensively bred animals do not receive B12 from their diet. Their channel is supplemented with vitamins and mineralsLike vegan diets, they are supplemented. Is meat really more “natural” source B12 than pills?

This raises a broader question: what can an sincere and balanced transition to plant protein look like-not only for consumers, but for farmers and rural communities? Some analyzes warn that the rapid shift of land in the direction of cultivation may have earnest Unintentional consequencessuch as disruption of rural economies and threat of life means.

There are also justified questions about the health of alternative meat and dairy. Despite the early noise around alternative proteinsMany products belong to the ultra-processed food category (UPFS)-the red flag for consumers of cautious additives and artificial ingredients.

The popularity of books such as the very processed people of Chris Van Tuulelen doubled concerns about emulsifiers, ingredients used to bind vegetable burgers or prevent vegan muscles, and some headlines asked if they asked if they asked if they asked if they asked if they asked if they asked if they asked, whether some of the headlines They asked if some headlines asked. “Destroy” our intestinal health.

Despite this, it is a jump suggesting that conventional red meat is a healthier alternative. Threats to the health of processed meat are well established, especially Carcinogenic action of nitrite It is used to keep fresh meat in the package.

Some people suggest eating a chicken instead of reading meat because it produces less greenhouse gas. But raising chickens also causes problems such as chicken manure pollution It harms the riversAnd it depends a lot on soy power, which can affect Political and commercial issues.

There is a powerful case of reducing meat consumption, and scientific evidence to support it is solid. But understanding the slack with vegetable food is necessary if we want to make significant progress. For now, the meat does not disappear from our diet. In fact, fighting food can only start.