{"id":22637,"date":"2023-11-27T12:44:28","date_gmt":"2023-11-27T10:44:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.carnisostenibili.it\/?p=22637"},"modified":"2023-11-27T12:44:28","modified_gmt":"2023-11-27T10:44:28","slug":"making-veggie-burgers-requires-more-soy-than-beef","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.carnisostenibili.it\/en\/making-veggie-burgers-requires-more-soy-than-beef\/","title":{"rendered":"Making veggie burgers requires more soy than beef"},"content":{"rendered":"

A recent study reveals the unthinkable: plant-based, synthetic and artificial meat alternatives require two to six times the amount of soy used to produce beef.<\/i><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Meat production and consumption today face major challenges in reducing the <\/span><\/span><\/span>environmental impact<\/b><\/span><\/span><\/span> of this food while ensuring food safety, health and animal welfare. And so, some are trying to get into the <\/span><\/span><\/span>meat replacement business<\/b><\/span><\/span><\/span>, both plant-based and derived from <\/span><\/span><\/span>cell cultures<\/b><\/span><\/span><\/span> in the laboratory. However, <\/span><\/span><\/span>a growing body of research shows<\/span><\/span><\/a> that the production of these artefacts is no more efficient than conventional meat, with even <\/span><\/span><\/span>higher resource consumption<\/b><\/span><\/span><\/span> and greenhouse gas emissions per unit of product. Further confirmation comes <\/span><\/span><\/span>from another study<\/a>,<\/span><\/span> which shows that <\/span><\/span><\/span>these ‘alternatives’ require much more soy than farmed meat<\/b><\/span><\/span><\/span>, with intensive land use and a very worrying environmental impact, if they are ever to replace traditional meat.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Soy<\/b><\/span><\/span><\/span> is a protein-rich crop that is commonly used as <\/span><\/span><\/span>animal feed<\/b><\/span><\/span><\/span>, but it is also the <\/span><\/span><\/span>main ingredient in plant-based fake meat products<\/b><\/span><\/span><\/span>. What is less well known is that it is also <\/span><\/span><\/span>used to feed the cells of lab-grown artificial meat<\/b><\/span><\/span><\/span>. Given the <\/span><\/span><\/span>environmental problems associated with soybean production<\/b><\/span><\/span><\/span>, such as deforestation, scientists have decided to assess, as never before, how many soybeans are needed to produce one unit of beef and each of its ‘substitutes’.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

The data showed that, contrary to popular belief, <\/span><\/span><\/span>soy is not widely used in livestock rations for many reasons<\/b><\/span><\/span><\/span> related to its negative impact on meat quality. Grass-fed or <\/span><\/span><\/span>grazing cattle<\/b><\/span><\/span><\/span> do not eat soybeans, and those fed on grass and cereals eat very little, mainly hides in the form of pellets. <\/span><\/span><\/span>Soy represents only 4% of their ration<\/b><\/span><\/span><\/span>, compared with 57% for maise: <\/span><\/span><\/span>the large quantity of soy has now been replaced by Dried Distillers Grains with Solubles (DDGS)<\/b><\/span><\/span><\/span>, a concentrated source of protein, fibre, fats and essential nutrients for the growth, development and health of animals, able to meet all their nutritional needs.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

It takes an average of 45.55 grams of #soy to provide 16 grams of #protein in a #VegBurger, with less efficient conversion than traditional #meat. <\/a><\/span>Share on X<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

Plant-based meat imitation<\/b><\/span><\/span><\/span>, also known as <\/span><\/span><\/span>‘vegan meat’<\/b><\/span><\/span><\/span>, is <\/span><\/span><\/span>made mainly from soy<\/b><\/span><\/span><\/span>, peas, or wheat and is highly processed and fortified to taste similar to real meat. However, the <\/span><\/span><\/span>nutritional content<\/b><\/span><\/span><\/span> and <\/span><\/span><\/span>metabolic effects<\/span><\/span><\/a> in the body of these <\/span><\/span><\/span>hyper-processed foods<\/b><\/span><\/span><\/span> are very different and <\/span><\/span><\/span>unhealthy<\/b><\/span><\/span><\/span> and cannot replace meat from farm animals.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

The study then analysed the amount of soy needed to produce these artefacts and found that, on average, <\/span><\/span><\/span>45.55 grams of soy are needed to provide 16 grams of protein in a veggie burger<\/b><\/span><\/span><\/span>, with a less efficient conversion of traditional meat.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

The same applies to lab<\/span><\/span><\/span>-grown artificial meat<\/b><\/span><\/span><\/span>, also known as <\/span><\/span><\/span>synthetic meat<\/b><\/span><\/span><\/span>: to grow, animal cells need a culture medium rich in amino acids and nutrients to multiply in bioreactors. <\/span><\/span><\/span>Soy is one of the most widely used vegetable protein sources in the form of soy protein hydrolysate in the culture medium<\/b><\/span><\/span><\/span>. Scientists have calculated that even lab-grown meat requires much more soy to produce than beef, showing that one unit of conventional beef, <\/span><\/span><\/span>plant-based imitation meat and artificial meat requires 0.24, 0.54 and 1.44 units of soy<\/b><\/span><\/span><\/span>, respectively. In practice, if traditional meat were completely replaced by its alternatives, which require <\/span><\/span><\/span>two to six times as much soy as beef<\/b><\/span><\/span><\/span>, the demand for soy would increase disproportionately, with devastating consequences for the environment.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

We also recall that <\/span><\/span><\/span>cattle can exploit marginal soils and inedible by-products<\/b><\/span><\/span><\/span> with a very efficient conversion rate, converting indigestible cellulose into food of <\/span><\/span><\/span>high nutritional value for humans<\/b><\/span><\/span><\/span>. When considering feed conversion ratios, a distinction should be made between <\/span><\/span><\/span>edible and inedible forms<\/b><\/span><\/span><\/span> for humans. Still, this distinction is often not made, resulting in highly distorted statistics.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

The #AlternativeProteins will not reduce the rate of #deforestation, nor are they more sustainable than #livestock farming. Here's why. <\/a><\/span>Share on X<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

Given <\/span><\/span><\/span>the enormous amount of soy needed to produce alternative proteins<\/b><\/span><\/span><\/span>, it is not surprising that <\/span><\/span><\/span>the largest soy producers and processors are also <\/b><\/span><\/span><\/span>the main investors<\/b><\/span><\/span><\/a> in the sectors of ultra-processed vegetable meat substitutes and artificial meat grown in test tubes<\/b><\/span><\/span><\/span>. Those who believe that the production of these artefacts will solve all environmental and ethical problems need to face reality: <\/span><\/span><\/span>alternative proteins will not reduce the rate of deforestation<\/b><\/span><\/span><\/span>, nor are they more sustainable than livestock farming; they can cause pollution and the collapse of entire ecosystems, <\/span><\/span><\/span>increased use of herbicides and fertilisers<\/b><\/span><\/span><\/span>, and the death of many animals in the habitats affected by their production.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Rather than labelling <\/span><\/span><\/span>food<\/b><\/span><\/span><\/span> as ‘good’ or ‘bad’, <\/span><\/span><\/span>it matters ‘how’ it is produced<\/b><\/span><\/span><\/span>. Today, there are better practices and more sustainable ways of raising livestock than in the past, based on <\/span><\/span><\/span>agroecological principles<\/b><\/span><\/span><\/span>, <\/span><\/span><\/span>carbon farming<\/span><\/span><\/a> and integrated <\/span><\/span><\/span>regenerative systems<\/span><\/span><\/a> that maintain soil health, <\/span><\/span><\/span>biodiversity<\/b><\/span><\/span><\/span> and the environment.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A recent study reveals the unthinkable: plant-based, synthetic and artificial meat alternatives require two to six times the amount of soy used to produce beef.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":22638,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[677],"tags":[4275,5648,5653,5654,5652],"class_list":["post-22637","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-environment-sustainability-en","tag-artificial-meat","tag-fake-plant-based-meat","tag-soy-and-deforestation","tag-veg-burger-en","tag-veg-burger-and-health"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t