Want to save the planet? Eat protein from mushrooms and algea instead of red meat

By: Trademagazin Date: 2022. 07. 21. 11:42

Replacing just one fifth of the red meat we eat with microbial proteins derived from fungi or algae could reduce annual deforestation by a massive 56 % come 2050, according to a study published this spring. Climate scientist at the Potsdam Institute for Cimate Impact Research simulated four future scenarios in which humans replace either 0%, 20%, 50% or 80% of the red meat in our diets with microbial protein, which is a low-calorie, high-protein and high-fiber fermented product that’s an ingredient in some commercial alt-meats. The researchers then looekd at how this dietary change might affect global forests by 2050.

Currently, the planet loses about 10 m hectares of forest a year, an estimated 95 % of which is tropical forest, and 75 % of which is driven by agricultural expansion, namely cattle farming and soy plantations for livestock feed. Deforestation contributes to climate imbalances, desertification and water scarcity, greenhouse gas emissions, flooding and erosion, and the destruction of biodiversity, including crucial crop pollinators.

Yet replacing only 20 % of our meat with microbial protein could more than halve the rate of deforestation and reduce carbon emissions related to cattle farming by 2050, the study found. Microbial foods dramatically outperform „cultivation of staple crops in terms of caloric and protein yields per land area”, write the authors of a sepatare 2021 study on the food source’s efficiency. By contrast, the livestock take up nearly 80 % of global agricultural land while producing less than 20 % of the world’s calories, a hugely inefficient system. The science suggests thes mushroom-adjacent proteins could play a meaningful role in addressing the interconnected challenges of climate change and food security as the population grows.

Encouragingly, meat substitutes – including those made from lab-cultured animal cells, plants and microbial proteins – are already proving quite popular with the general public. The meat substitute market is predicted to increase dramatically from $4.2bn in sales in 2020 to $28bn in 2025, according to IPES-Food. And many new companies are betting that savoury fungi-based alt-meats are the future.

If ’microbial proteins’ don’t sound appetizing to you, the good news is that any reduction of red meat in our diets is a net positive, regardless of what vegetarian option we replace it with. In fact, scientists determined years ago that if we all just meet our basic nutritional recommendations, which for those of us in developed countries primarily means eating more plants and less meat, greenhouse gas emissions could fall 29% by 2050.

Source: theguardian.com