By Franziska Eberlein, Oliver Jameson and Oliver Goodwin
The meat and dairy industry are among the biggest sources of climate change emissions. The Food Climate Research Network report stated that: “UK meat and dairy consumption are responsible for 8% of the country’s total greenhouse gas emissions.”
Nevertheless, consumption and production is growing. A new study by The Guardian suggests “meat consumption is set to climb steeply as the world population increases along with average individual income, and could play a significant role in increasing carbon emissions and reducing biodiversity.”
In recent years non-profit organisation Veganuary, who encourage people to go vegan in January and hopefully beyond, has gained an increasing number of followers.
“During the 2019 campaign, more than a quarter of a million people took our pledge to try a vegan diet, while more than 500 brands, restaurants and supermarkets promoted the campaign, and launched more than 200 new vegan products and menus in the UK market alone,” Veganuary states.
Better meat alternatives may be the gateway to reducing the demand for meat, and the interest in these products has been reflected in more vegetarian and vegan food choices in restaurants, supermarkets and elsewhere.
Three Artefact reporters sat down to discuss their experience with vegan- and vegetarianism and explored different meat alternatives offered by a range of UK restaurant chains including Subway, Greggs and KFC.
Featured image by Mikhaylovskiy via Adobe Stock
