The consumption of meat and dairy is at the center of most debates about sustainable diets because of the high environmental impact of livestock production. In the Climate Change Committee Sixth Carbon Budget report (2020) one of the actions proposed to put the UK on a pathway to achieve Net Zero by 2050 is to reduce consumption of meat and dairy by 20% by 2030, raising to 35% cut in meat by 2050. Eating less meat, especially red and processed meat, can also have health benefits, such as lowering the risk of some non-communicable diseases. However, these health and environmental benefits need to be assessed in the context of the foods that are replacing meat and the overall composition of the whole diet. Plant-based foods and meals cover a very wide spectrum in terms of healthiness, and while many of the alternatives are healthy increasingly there is a greater availability of highly processed products. Much of the research around meat reduction has focused on finding protein replacements, which have included pulses, insects and cultured meat. However, the emphasis on protein, both in research and the food industry, has had the unintended consequence of some people believing that reducing their meat consumption could lead to a protein deficient diet. This is not the case as the majority of people in high income countries eat more protein than they require, regardless of whether they eat meat or not. From a nutritional perspective, greater attention is needed on micronutrients to avoid a diet with an inadequate quantity of micronutrients. Meat and dairy are good sources of micronutrients, such as iron, zinc, calcium and iodine, and the bioavailability of some of these is higher in meat than plants. In this presentation I will explore some of the nutritional, environmental and social implications of switching to a more plant-rich diet. All rights reserved, Elsevier.
