Month: February 2021

This article will give you an update on the latest news regarding meat alternatives.  There are 2 broad categories of alternatives to traditional meat production.  There are many plant-based alternatives to beef, chicken, sausages and even attempts at bacon and then there are “cell cultured meats”.  I’ll briefly touch on the latter group, just so you know it exists.

Cell cultured meats take cells from animals and then grow them in a lab.  There are a few companies, most notably Eat Just, Inc. (Eat Just) and Memphis Meats (Memphis), pursuing this.  Their idea is to create a “cleaner, safer” (but real) meat.  Eat Just has been a plant based producer so far, with egg substitutes and plant based sauces.  The company just received approval in Singapore to sell their cell cultured chicken this past December.  This is the first approval to sell a cell cultured meat in the world.  Until this point, cost and volume production capability have kept these options in the background.

There are many plant-based alternatives to ground beef, chicken and sausage, but the alternative meat industry seems to have taken off since Beyond Meat (Beyond) and Impossible Foods (Impossible) entered.  Both took a scientific approach to simulate the taste and look of real meat and both are sold at numerous grocery, specialty and fast food outlets.  Costco now has Beyond patties and sausage as well as Impossible burger in warehouses.  Trader Joes is now selling a 12 ounce Impossible burger for $5.99, down from $7.99!

These meat-like alternatives are frequently found in the meat aisle, depending on the store, rather than the vegan section.  The meat industry is understandably trying to keep them out of the meat section.  The cost is still slightly higher than meat, but is getting closer.  The other detractor is that the calories and fat content are very similar to meat.  Beyond Meat just announced that early this year they plan to ship a new version of the burger with 35% less saturated fat than beef.  Both taste great in our opinion, but we are slightly partial to Impossible burgers.  We’ll need to do some more investigation to be able to comment on the sausage comparison.  We have only tried the Beyond sausage and like it.

There still are the traditional vege-burger patties made of soy/tofu or beans, as well, but those options don’t taste like meat.  There are more of these options, as well, too many to review.

You probably heard or read some of this information.  There are some great resources in documentaries, books and articles regarding the impact of livestock (meat and dairy) production on the earth.  Some are listed at the end of this.  All this information is readily available, so don’t hesitate to check my work.

I’ll save the impact of meat and dairy consumption on you for another day.

The (negative) impact of meat and dairy production is in a few general areas:

1. Greenhouse gas emissions
2. Water use
3. Land use
   1. Deforestation – clear cutting more land to convert it to use for livestock
   2. Wildlife habitat is lost among other impacts

From “Meat and Dairy Production” by Ritchie and Rosner in 2017, 14.5% of all greenhouse gases are produced by livestock production.  That’s roughly equal to emissions from all cars, trucks, airplanes and ships.  That’s alot! Source:  Meat&Dairy

A (very) large study of 40,000 farms in 119 countries in the journal, Science, confirmed several eye opening facts.  All meat and dairy provides 18% of all calories in the world and 37% of all protein but utilizes 83% of all farmland and produces 60% of all of agriculture’s greenhouse gas emissions.  The authors concluded that if the entire world went plant based, land use for agriculture could be reduced by 75% and still feed the entire world, returning much land to its natural state.  One of the study authors, Joseph Poore of the University of Oxford in the UK, stated  “A vegan diet is probably the biggest way to reduce your impact on the planet.  It is bigger than cutting down on your flights or buying electric cars”.  Source:  Reducing_Your_Impact

Lastly, water use is another impact.  According to Professor Arjen Hoekstra, agriculture in total uses 85% of the world’s fresh water, with only 5% used for domestic consumption (our showers, cooking, watering lawns, washing our cars or driveways, etc.).  Good luck saving the world by taking shorter showers.  Most of the water use for livestock is in production of the feed for livestock.  In the US, 68% of all grain production is for livestock feed, so meat and dairy use a very sizable portion of the world’s water.  Source: Water_Use

I’ll stop here.  There is a lot more information out there and I will leave the deforestation and animal cruelty topics to others.

Some more resources:

Forks Over Knives is a good starting point.  It is a classic, more concerned with the health benefits of a plant based diet.

In Defense of Food is based on Michael Pollan’s best-selling book, discussing how traditional diets have been “making us sick”.

Cowspiracy :  The Sustainability Secret has been around a while.  This one does focus on the environment.

While we’re in those peak earning years and, for some, raising kids at the same time our own physical and mental health take a (way) back seat to other priorities.  I mean who wants to be cooking some healthy dinner after picking up kids at their after school activity, while on the phone with a business partner in Asia.  Why not hit a fast food place on the way home, get the family fed quickly and then make the first of the night time work calls … or do the invoices … or pay the bills … or _______________ (insert your choice of extra work).   Maybe you once had a few hobbies that went by the wayside when kids activities and work travel took over.

Well now you are retired or thinking of retiring and you want to make a few changes or maybe you feel like you are stepping off a cliff from the grind to unknown territory.  It may be easy to make the transition, especially if you were able to hang on to a hobby or two and if you were able to resist the convenience food some of the time, or it may be harder if your working life left no time for personal pursuits and activities.

A good first step is to move towards a healthier diet.  There is no reason, unless your health is compromised, to take extreme steps.  Small steps in a new direction are more likely to lead to long-term changes.  Improved diet can help other aspects of your life, which may help your energy and motivation levels which, in turn, may help (your energy level) in resuming many hobbies.

Please note:  If you are suffering significant health issues, it is best to consult a medical professional.  Some medical professionals just want to prescribe pharmaceuticals and/or surgery, but there are more and more who are interested in more natural solutions.  It is important to have a medical expert helping you navigate the alternatives.

So what are some simple steps to take to ease your self into a healthier diet?

If you frequently eat convenience food (frozen meals, fast food, etc.), try 1 or 2 more dinners a week that are home cooked.  Stick to relatively simple recipes, without really long ingredient lists.  Every recipe site on the internet has healthy, vegetarian or vegan recipes.  We’ve done full vegan holiday meals, without feeling like we missed anything.  Again, look at the ingredients lists.  Skip the ones with lots of spices, exotic ingredients and complicated prep.  Keep the recipes that are hits and toss those that weren’t a success.  We don’t think one needs to take on extreme changes in lifestyle to be healthier.  Some incremental changes will make a difference.

If you don’t want to spend lots of time in the kitchen, look for 1-pot, crockpot types of recipes.  An Instant Pot, crockpot or Dutch oven that you throw everything in and wait are invaluable.  Another time saver is pre-cut produce, pre-diced garlic and similar pre-prepped foods.  Some say the pre-processed foods are less healthy the whole produce, but any of these options are better than processed food.

Start reading food labels.  Work towards reducing/eliminating refined sugars, unpronounceable additives, and highly processed foods.  You would not believe how many foods and recipes have (a lot of) added sugars.  Recipes still taste good with ½ or ¼ of the sugar.  You might need something to thicken a sauce instead of the sugar, but generally you can just reduce or eliminate the sugar.

Some good foods are the so-called “super foods”.  Every list is different but most lists include the following):

            Dark leafy greens (Kale, spinach, chard, etc)

            Berries (Blueberries, raspberries, etc)

            Green tea

            Legumes (beans including soy, lentils, peas, peanuts)

            Nuts and seeds

            Kefir and yoghurt (can be made from non-dairy bases)

            Garlic

            Olive oil

            Ginger

            Turmeric

            Avocado

            Sweet potato

            Mushrooms

            Fish, Seaweed, other vegetables such as broccoli, Brussels sprouts, radishes/turnips, etc are often listed

Most of the super foods, above, are high in fiber.  When you are reading labels of breads and cereals, look for a ratio of total carbohydrates (in grams) to dietary fiber content (also in grams). The lowest ratio possible ratio, in the range of 5 carbs to fiber is desirable, but hard to find.    Grab the most processed looking loaf of bread and compare it to a more nutty/seedy loaf and it will be an eye opener.

For those who like their meat and dairy, try 1 plant based meal a week.  You can try a vegan recipe or simply substitute meat and dairy alternatives in one of your existing recipes.  We’ll cover some of the great plant based alternatives in subsequent articles.

In the future, we’ll also cover other health related topics, related resources that we’ve come across, plant based diets, products, restaurants and services.  If this seems of interest bookmark this site for future reference.