The Future of Food
Is Plant-based Meat the Answer?
By now it is clear that consuming meat has negative effects on the environment and human health. As more people are becoming aware of these effects––such as greenhouse gas emissions and inefficiencies and waste of resources associated with production––plant-based meat options are becoming more popular.
Companies like Beyond Meats and Impossible Foods that were already plant-based companies have seen an increase in demand and are expanding. Many large food companies that are not known for their plant-based products, such as Tyson, Smithfield, Perdue, Hormel and Nestlé are releasing new plant-based meat lines.
However, some companies see this as another opportunity to increase their profits, but they continue to sell animal products. This increase in competition poses challenges to smaller companies like Beyond Meat, which has had to reduce its prices to secure a space in the market. Impossible Foods is also struggling with budgeting and has had difficulty matching supply with increased demand. The future of plant-based meat seems promising, but will these smaller companies be able to keep up?
What does a University of Michigan Professor have to say about it?
Meet Lesli Hoey
Lesli Hoey is director of the urban and regional planning doctoral studies program and an associate professor of urban and regional planning at the University of Michigan. She is passionate about food systems policy and planning, and looking at the current state of our food systems, she believes there are many areas in which we can improve in the future, especially regarding industrialized agriculture.
In general, she believes that the U.S. government needs to reform the way it subsidizes agriculture. The current way we subsidize agriculture favors corporate farms and perpetuates the consumption of unhealthy, cheap food with a large carbon footprint. We currently heavily subsidize corn, soy, wheat, cotton, and rice, the majority of which is fed to livestock. Livestock production, especially red meat, is one of the leading sources of greenhouse gas emissions.
Additionally, Hoey would like to see far more subsidies to go to farmers of color, small scale entrepreneurs from underrepresented groups, which would rebuild local economies and support small to medium-scale farms. Hoey is interested in policies that would take a holistic approach to agriculture reform and think of the interconnections between all of the issues within the industry. Planners in the future must address the hidden injustices that are often neglected or intentionally left out of policy.
What are the governmental Food Waste Initiatives In the Future?
The USDA created the Food Loss and Waste 2030 Champions Goal: To cut food loss and waste in half by 2030 from 133 billion pounds to 66 billion pounds (Aligns with the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals) In 2022, the USDA and EPA welcomed big companies like Albertsons, Starbucks, and Sysco to commit to this initiative .USDA Food Loss and Waste 2030 Goal. To commit to the goal, companies have to sign a form through the USDA and EPA. However, the companies are responsible for setting their own baselines and measuring their own progress, so there isn’t official data on this goal being tracked under the USDA. It is a very good idea, but unclear in how it is being carried out because it isn’t consistently regulated.
Additionally there's a narrative that companies and policy makers and major international investors make a fear tactic by saying that we won't be able to produce enough food (malthusian principle), but the reality is that we produce more food than we need for the population and for the foreseeable future. The food is wasted or is not distributed equitably.
Regarding industrial policy on food sustainability, the EU is working to target, taper, and eliminate food subsidies for climate damaging purposes. Agricultural Subsidies .New Zealand did this a long time ago, it has been good in the long term for the environment and fine for economics. The Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) in the European Union is now aiming for climate neutrality by 2050. The EU is shifting to a more sustainable CAP, as part of the European Green Deal. They are working to reduce direct emission through the use of mitigation technologies, provide a carbon sink through soil organic carbon accumulation, produce biomass sustainably, and reduce agricultural fossil fuel and production wastes.
Other Ways Companies are Trying to Reduce Waste/Emissions - Are companies doing enough?
Out of the 350 most influential agriculture and food companies in the world, according to the Food and Agriculture Benchmark, only 26 companies have set greenhouse gas (GHG) emission reduction targets aligned with the Paris Agreement; 189 companies have not set targets to achieve deforestation and conversion-free supply chains for their high-risk commodities. (World Benchmarking Alliance). More specifically, the Consumer Goods Forum companies like Coca-Cola and Kellog’s that pledged in 2010 to be deforestation free by 2020 were not completely deforestation free by 2020.NYTimes Global Canopy Additionally, water stewardship is important because companies need to put more focus on supply chains; farmers and ranchers in the supply chain operate in high water stress areas and produce water-intensive products. According to Ceres, a sustainable nonprofit organization, only 9 companies out of 38 food companies analyzed implemented water use reduction targets for key growing regions in their supply chains (GreenBiz Feeding Ourselves Thirsty)
Within the food industry, only 14% of plastic packaging is collected for recycling annually Tearfund report.Nestle is making efforts to improve their water stewardship in their operations, but still continue to sell plastic water bottles, which contribute to plastic waste and drain water sources (Nestle in Florida) Scope 3 emissions from agriculture alone make up around 50–60 percent of the global emissions footprint of the Big 10 companies (page 4 of Oxfam report). Scope 3 contributes to a lot of global emission, and so far, we haven't seen many companies address it.