Vegan campaigns make noise, drawing attention to the environmental and health impacts of animal proteins, writes Bruno Blecher
“Less Meat, Less Heat” (Less Meat, Less Heat). It is one of the banners of the “Plant Based Treaty”, the global plant-based treaty, launched in 2021, which brings together more than two dozen major global cities, such as Amsterdam (Netherlands), Los Angeles (USA) and Edinburgh (Scotland). The vegan movement was portrayed in a report by reporter Cara Buckley, from New York Timestranscribed and published on Sunday (March 31, 2024) by the newspaper O State of S. Paulo.
Without banning the consumption of meat and dairy products, these cities seek to replace animal proteins with vegetables and fruits on the menu of schools and public institutions and convince the population to do the same with their diet.
“We are a grassroots initiative that creates bottom-up pressure to negotiate a Global Plant-Based Treaty as a complement to the UNFCCC Paris Agreement, the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. Inspired by the Fossil Fuel Treaty, the Plant-Based Treaty aims to put food systems at the forefront of combating the climate crisis to halt the widespread degradation of critical ecosystems caused by livestock farming and promote a shift to healthier, more sustainable plant-based diets.” , says the organization’s website.
The report from the New York Times cites a 2023 study from the University of Oxford that compares the greenhouse gas emissions of vegan diets and diets high in meat.
Vegans record 75% less emissions, 54% less water use and 66% less biodiversity loss. Livestock farming is responsible for 14.5% of man-made greenhouse gas emissions, according to the UN (United Nations).
The crusade against meat, however, has not yet managed to contain global consumption, which, on the contrary, is on the rise. A document from Pnumac (United Nations Environment Programme), from December 2023, indicates that the Global meat consumption in 2050 is expected to be approximately 50%, or even greater, than today.
Growth will be greatest in emerging and developing countries, where many consumers will have access to meat for the first time in their lives. But even in Europe, despite the expansion of veganism, some countries such as Spain, Portugal and Austria have increased per capita meat consumption and there is no indication that consumers should give up a juicy steak in their everyday meals.
In Brazil, total meat production in Brazil (beef, pork and poultry) for 2025 is forecast at 30.9 million tons, a volume 2.7% higher than 2024. Exports should reach 9.5 million tons and the consumption (per capita availability), of 104.9 kg/inhabitant/year, represents 2.3 kg more than the 2023 record (102.6 kg). Lower prices, improved wage income and falling unemployment should contribute to the new record.
Tendencies
If in the 2000s, ultra-processed foods dominated the global menu, with ready-to-eat meals taking precedence, from 2020 onwards, under the influence of the pandemic, concerns about health, the environmental impacts of rural production and the climate crisis begin. showing a more conscious consumer, attracted to a more natural diet.
This is one of the conclusions of the analysis on the evolution of food consumption, published in the March edition of Hortifruti Brasil, edited by Cepea (Center for Advanced Studies in Applied Economics), at USP (University of São Paulo).
The Hortifruti Brasil team studied reports on food consumption from organizations and consultancies with Euromonitor, Mintel and FAO/UN, and pointed out some trends.
In the 2000s, ready meals and food by the kilo established a consumption pattern marked by convenience and ease of preparation. The food industry expanded the menu of processed and ultra-processed products, which contributed to a sharp drop in the consumption of fresh fruits and vegetables.
Data from POF (Family Budget Survey), from IBGE (Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics), show that, from 2002-2003, the percentage of expenditure on food outside the home was 24.1% (rural and urban), rising to 33.1% in 2008-2009.
With the pandemic, from 2019 onwards, consumers became interested in the way food is produced, its environmental impacts, the effects of climate change on the planet and healthy food.
There is a slightly greater demand for fresh and more functional foods due to the return of meals at home and the consumer’s search for foods that strengthen immunity. But the long periods of isolation also encouraged the consumption of ultra-processed foods such as snacks and sweets.
A study by USP and UFMG (Federal University of Minas Gerais) based on data from Datafolha and Idec (Brazilian Institute for Consumer Protection) evaluated food consumption in 2019, 2020 and 2021 – the last 2 years of the pandemic .
In the first years of the survey, there was a significant increase in the consumption of cereals, milk, packaged snacks or savory biscuits and industrialized sauces.
The comparison from 2019 to 2021 and from 2020 to 2021 shows a significant decrease in the consumption of cereals, vegetables, fruits and processed fruit juices and an increase in the consumption of soft drinks, sweet biscuits, stuffed or packaged cupcakes, sausages, sauces and ready-to-eat meals.
During the pandemic years, researchers found an increase in ultra-processed foods, mainly soft drinks, margarine, mayonnaise and other industrialized sauces.
The consumption of vegetables increased by 15.2% from 2022 to 2023, after falling sharply during the pandemic. But less than half of the population in Brazil, 45.5%, consumes vegetables 5 times or more a week, according to information from Covitel 2023 (Telephone Survey of Risk Factors for Chronic Noncommunicable Diseases in Times of Pandemic).
In the coming years, according to Hortifruti’s analysis, consumers should take environmental and health issues more into account when making their dishes.
The report “World Macrotrends until 2040”, published in 2022 by Fiesp (Federation of Industries of the State of São Paulo), indicates that consumption and production must adapt mainly to factors linked to sustainability and climate.
For consumers, individual sustainable actions are insufficient to solve climate problems, which also requires responsibility from companies.
Aware of consumer trends, food industries must launch new products that help prevent degenerative diseases, improve heart function, strengthen the immune system, and anti-inflammatory action, among others.
“Many of the compounds that promote such actions are found in fruits and vegetables in their natural form, such as lycopenes in tomatoes and watermelon, lutein in green leafy vegetables, tannins in apples, and countless others”, says the Hortifruti analysis.
According to the publication, the fruit and vegetable sector has many advantages in providing a healthier diet. “But the producer needs to put on paper how he will be able to deal with adverse weather conditions and how much this will impact supply, prices and whether the consumer is willing to pay more.”
