Plant-based Meat Vs Animal Meat

Image Courtesy: https://How Does Animal Meat Compare to Plant-Based Meat? (visualcapitalist.com)

Introduction

In this blog snippet, I have made earnest efforts to bring out the actual points of differences between plant-based and animal meat. You may ask me why mock meat when you can have the real one! The question has been answered a number of times indeed. We do not want billions and trillions of land and aquatic animals to be slaughtered in the name of meat. As vegans, we aim to provide a kinder planet for our fellow earthlings and us to live on. Again, you also have environmental hazards with respect to animals that are sheltered in cramped sheds. 

Take the dairy industry, for example, we have hundreds of thousands of cattle that occupy the place. They remain under their own feces. Again, the workers pay the least heed to the welfare, or the well-being of animals sheltered at the milking parlors. They can bloat and fart blatantly. Again, this is the major cause for the rise in Methane emissions. Again, methane is a gas that easily penetrates into the deeper layers of the atmosphere and can even create a hole in the ozone layers. Likewise, you have so many aspects attached to the whole thing. Let us evaluate each point of difference between plant meat and animal meat:

Nutrition and Health

The amount of protein that ground beef contains amounts to 220 kcal. Cholesterol, Sodium, and Protein add up to 60 mg, 70 mg, and 23 g respectively. The quantity of meat taken for this particular survey remained at 113 g. When you have a soy-based alternative, the calories add up to 250. While cholesterol, sodium, and protein values remain at 0 mg, 370mg, and 19 g respectively. You take a bean burger that weighs 108 grams. The nutritive values are 200kcal of calories. Cholesterol, sodium, and protein values remain at 0mg, 380 mg, and 21 g respectively. 

Hence, you find the cholesterol levels are almost 0 mg for soy and bean burgers. On the flip side, the sodium values are higher for plant-based burgers as compared to animal meat. On account of lower levels of cholesterol for plant meat as against its animal counterpart, you can say that when someone takes into eating plant-based meat all the time, incidences of heart disease can be reduced to the bare minimum. So replacing red meat with plant-based alternatives can definitely be beneficial from the health perspective. Now, how do you combat the added levels of sodium in a plant-based burger as against a beef burger? Again, when you use organic vegetables or even use them in powdered forms as against using additives or MSG, then you can reduce the sodium content of the plant burgers by a considerable extent indeed. 

Environmental reasons

Every living organism that thrives or lives on the planet leaves behind what is known as a carbon footprint. Climate scientists call carbon footprint by yet another name- Green House Emissions. The Green House gas emissions or what can be abbreviated as GHG is way too lesser in plant food as compared to animal food. In fact, a staggering 14.5% of greenhouse emissions come from the livestock or dairy industry. It is estimated that cattle are the biggest producer of methane gas. Cattle or livestock animals also require more amount of land for grazing. Again, a pound of beef needs 1000 liters of water. 

For plant food, you can reduce greenhouse emissions by 40-90%. Again, plant-based food requires lesser 47-99% lesser amount of land as compared to their animal counterparts. Plants use 72-99% lesser water than what is needed for the production of meat products. Therefore, animal breeders or animal agriculture farmers definitely add to more harmful environmental concerns as compared to fruit cum vegetable growing farmers. 

Have a look at the price tags

If you have a look at it, the average price of a plant based Beyond burger is almost $12 per piece. Whole Foods 365 is yet another brand that provides vegetarian burgers for $ 6.40. While, a beef or a chicken burger, costs anywhere 3-7 $ per piece. The prices will scale up if more consumers turn in to plant-based burgers. This way, there will be even better and cheaper options for plant-based products with the growing demands. 

Conclusion

So, from the health, nutrition, and environmental perspective, consuming plant-based products is way better as compared to consuming animal meat products. For a change to happen, you typically need to be the change. Go vegan and let us make the planet a kinder and more sustainable place to live in!

Feature Image Courtesy: https://www.wonderopolis.com

About Vvegano We are an online vegan store based out of India. We have personalized lifestyle products catering to people belonging to the present millennium. You get nut butters, mock meats, plant-based sweets, dairy-free alternatives, groceries and wellness care products from our store. Do check out some of our outstanding collections right here:

1. Plant-based milk- https://vvegano.com/collections/plant-based-milk
2. Nut butters- https://vvegano.com/collections/nut-butters
3. Chocolates- https://vvegano.com/collections/chocolates
4. Plant-based butters- https://vvegano.com/collections/dairy-butter-alternatives
5. Dairy-free Curds- https://vvegano.com/collections/vegan-curd-yoghurt
6. Vegan Paneer- https://vvegano.com/collections/tofu-paneer
7. Cheese- https://vvegano.com/collections/vegan-cheese
8. Mock meat collections- https://vvegano.com/collections/plantbased-vegan-meats
9. Sweets- https://vvegano.com/collections/sweets
10. Flours- https://vvegano.com/collections/flours

For more, log in to https://www.vvegano.com