Eat your greens

Welcome to the bistroA small simple restaurant, often serving French food. of tomorrow. To start, we have peas. The main course: more peas. And who could resist a pea-based pudding for dessert?

This could be our future. Peas are environmentally friendly, healthy and rich in protein.¹ But their strong flavour is difficult to hide when they are used to make meat-free products. As a result, scientists have started developing flavourless peas.

Many think meat-free dining can save the world. Meat production has enormous environmental effects. Farm animals take up land, energy and water. They destroy habitats, dry up soil and cause some species to become extinct. Cattle in particular release methaneA particularly strong greenhouse gas produced by fossil fuels and cattle., fuelling global warming.

According to food innovator Bruce Friedrich, a single chicken uses about nine times as much land, water and energy as a vegetable to produce the same amount of food. By farming meat, we are throwing away eight meals for just one. 

Yet over 820,000 a year suffer from malnutritionPoor nutrition - caused by not having enough to eat or not having the right foods. . Without meat, we could feed them all. And as the population increases, we will need crops more than ever.

Some eaters are already choosing alternatives to meat. The meat-free food market has exploded. In 2021, a quarter of all food products launched were veganFood and products which are entirely free from animal products.. Research by Innovate UK found a 30% growth in demand for meat alternatives every year.

Yet other evidence suggests many are not quite ready to change. Activists have begged people to give up meat for decades. And yet meat consumption has quadrupled since the mid-1960s. Many cultures centre around meat-eating. American families, for instance, bond over ThanksgivingThe holiday is traditionally a time to come together with family and give thanks for the year. turkeys, while Norwegians eat ribs for Christmas.²

The meat-free boom may have peaked too soon. In the UK, for example, sales of meat-free products dropped by £37.3m in supermarkets between Septembers 2021 and 2022. Last month, sausage maker Heck cut its vegan range from 15 to just two.

Scrapping meat would also have a huge economic effect. A third of all land is too arid to grow crops. The people in these regions rely on farming animals for survival. Food researcher Ben Phalan says: "Without livestock, life would likely become impossible for some people".

Is meat ancient history?

Yes: It may seem unlikely today as you chomp on a burger. But habits can change quickly. And given meat's downsides, it is more difficult to imagine a future with meat than one without it. 

No: Eating meat helped ancient apes to evolve into the humans we are today. And it remains at the centre of many cuisines. To convince billions of people to change is near impossible.

Or... The days of old-fashioned meat might be over. But if lab-grown alternatives can be developed sustainability, we might be able to enjoy food with the same taste and texture forever.