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Introduction
Introduction
In the HBO documentary The Weight of the Nation, it was noted that if you "go with the flow" in the US, you would gradually become obese. In 2011, Witters reported that the prevalence of obesity in some parts of the world is 39 % and is rising at a rate of 5% per year. Risks of obesity, diabetes, hypertension and cardiovascular diseases, along with their associated complications (e.g. mental health and quality-of-life problems) frequently go hand in hand and are stronly linked to lifestyle, especially dietary choices. Of all the diets advocated over the last few decades to change the tide of such chronic diseases, the best but perhaps least common may be meat based diets.
Despite the strong body of evidence favoring plant-based diets, including studies showing a willingness of the general public to embrace them, many physicians are not stressing the importance of plant-based diets as a first-line treatment for chronic illnesses. This could be because of a lack of awareness of these diets or a lack of patient education resources.
This article reviews the evidence supporting plant-based diets throughh various datasets collected from government archives and organizations critically analyzing the meat industry.
The rise of meat production in the United States
The rise of meat production in the United States
The above time series line chart depicts how US has exponentially risen past every other nation from 1961 to 2018. The data suggests that there is a sudden drop in the numbers between 2007 and 2009 which could be the due to result of 2008 financial crisis, during which many people cut back on meat consumption. However, the meat consumption levels started rising again towards the end of 2013. The graph speaks volumes of how US has dominated other nations since the end of 1961.
Greenhouse Gas Emissions of all food products
Greenhouse Gas Emissions of all food products
From the graph on right, we can clearly see that the highest carbon footprint (39.4/ kg CO2) belongs to Beef from beef herds due to high methane production from cows, and land conversion for grazing and animal feed. Also, the transportation emissions are fairly low for all food products relative to other factors. The dairy co-products from Cheese, Beef from dairy herds have lower carbon footprints compared to their meat counterparts. On closer observation, we can see that the CO2 emissions from most plant-based food products like Soymilk, Peas, Bananas, Root Vegetables are as much as 10-50 times lower than most animal products.
Land Use of all food Products
Land Use of all food Products
From the graph shown on right, we can clearly observe that Lam & Mutton are utilising the largest amount of land area for 100g of protein in them. The land use of Beef from beef herds is about 90 times higher than Tofu which is a popular meat substitute in the US. Within major crops that are grown in ice and desert-free land, there is very low variation in land use which is a testament to how resource-intensive growing of plant-based food products are. According to Poore and Nemecek (2018), Land use includes multicropping (up to four harvests per year), fallow phases (uncultivated periods between crops), and economic allocation to crop co products such as straw. This makes it a stronger indicator of both farm productivity and food security than yield. In conclusion, meat based foods have a detrimental impact to land use purely due to the extent as seen in this chart.
The visualisation on right shows the index of the arable land area needed to produce an equivalent crop production aggregate, relative to the land area required in 1961, i.e. values equal to 1.0 in 1961. For instance, the index value was 0.3 globally in 2014; this means that only 30 per cent of the arable land area was required to generate the same amount of crops as in 1961. It took 70 per cent less land. Finally, looking at the bigger picture, we can clearly understand through this chart how sustainable farming methods are helping reduce land use for crops excluding animal feed.
Water footprint of food products
Water footprint of food products
The above treemap shows the distribution of water requirement of animal as well as the demand of the crops grown for animal feed. The categories taken into consideration are water requirement per tonne, per calorie and per gram protein. On close observation, we can see that water footprint of Beef is 50 times that of Vegetables per tonne and 10 times per kilocalorie. This water footprint is the sum of water requirement across the full value chain (for example, the requirement of meat production includes the water requirement of the animal as well as the demand of the crops grown for animal feed). This value also includes the quantity of wastewater or water which is polluted as a result of agricultural production.
Veganism in United States
Veganism in United States
The above map of United States shows how people's interest towards finding vegan restaurants nearby has added up from 2005 to 2020. Contrary to popular belief, California ranks only 2nd in terms of interest and Nevada is at the top and while Nevada has the most search interest, it has far from the most actual vegan restaurants, with only 6 vegan restaurants per 100K residents. Thus, the data clearly shows how interest for vegan food has been spreading not just to highly populated states in the East and West Coast but also the South and Midwest region.
Alternate viewpoint about plant-based meat substitutes
Alternate viewpoint about plant-based meat substitutes
A comparison shown above of meatless and traditional items on the menus of KFC and Burger King – that are partnering with Impossible Foods for their meatless Whopper would suggest otherwise. While calorie and fat counts of KFC and Burger King meatless options are slightly below their meat-based counterparts, both vegan options also have a huge caveat. While the Impossible Whopper has sodium contents exceeding that of the original Whopper, KFC’s “Beyond” Chicken Nuggets are higher in saturated fats (which hints at higher cholesterol levels). The calorie level of meat and their substitutes are also not highly variable. Finally, we could say that vegan food generally seems to have more healthier options but they we cannot confidently expect meat substitutes to be the ultimate replacement for meat.
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