Are Alt Meats Better for the Planet?

Forecasts point to the market for plant- and cell-based meat alternatives exploding over the next decade, largely because of the sustainability claims companies make when marketing these food products. But while it’s true that diets that include more plants and fewer animal products (especially beef) have climate benefits, burgers and nuggets engineered and processed to mimic meat have different environmental impacts than a bowl of rice and beans. And there’s been very little research so far to investigate what those impacts are and how they actually compare to meat from farmed animals. In this episode, Raychel Santo, a senior research program coordinator at the Johns Hopkins Center for a Livable Future talks joins host Lisa Held to discuss her new study that “provides the most comprehensive review to date of the greenhouse gas footprints, land use, and blue (i.e., irrigation) water footprints of plant-based substitutes and cell-based meat.