Getting to the meat of the protein issue
A Meat and Dairy Industries Article from All-Creatures.org

FROM

FOA Friends of Animals
August 2018

While plant-based protein and meat analogs are on the upswing, the record meat consumption is driven by higher protein demands and low prices. If you listen to what consumers prioritize as beneficial in their diet lately, protein tops the list.

It’s also shocking to me that only 2 percent of U.S. farmland is devoted to growing fruits and vegetables. Eating just one banana, a salad, one cup of tomato soup and an apple would cover the minimum amount of recommended fruits and vegetables a day, but most Americans aren’t motivated to eat even that much, the CDC survey found. Yet overhauling the typical American diet would reduce the risk of many chronic diseases. Farmers would need to grow almost twice as much for Americans to get the recommended amount of produce.

I was stunned to read that with all the attention veggie burgers, meat substitutes and pea protein have reaped in recent years—and the awareness of the impact of eating animal products on health and the environment—Americans will still eat a record amount of meat and poultry this year: 222.2 pounds, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. That surpasses a record set in 2004.

While plant-based protein and meat analogs are on the upswing, the record meat consumption is driven by higher protein demands and low prices. If you listen to what consumers prioritize as beneficial in their diet lately, protein tops the list.

However, too many consumers equate meat, fish and other animal products as the purest kind of protein that helps build muscle and fuel energy. Egg consumption is also reaching an all-time high this year, while dairy demand continues. Interestingly people also seem to have no concept of how much protein they need to consume a day despite their obsession.

Proteins are made up of amino acids, and although some can be made by our bodies, others can’t so we have to consume them. Most nutritional organizations and physicians recommend taking in about 46 grams per day for women, and 56 grams per day for men. Eating plant-based proteins gives you the peace of mind that it meets all of our nutritional requirements for proteins without wreaking havoc on animals.

Americans typically consume about 100 grams of protein a day—far more protein than we actually need, and in high doses some suggest it may be linked with cancer. On a vegan diet, people easily acquire about 60 grams of protein from foods like beans, legumes, broccoli, seeds, nuts, and whole grains.

Why then did the Hartman Group, a consumer research firm that has studied American food culture, find that almost 60 percent of Americans actively work to increase their protein intake? The firm calls protein “the new everything when it comes to diet and energy.” From athletes to soccer moms, people think they can’t be anywhere without protein, quips Melissa Abbott, the firm’s vice president for culinary insights. She reported that she always seems to be finding beef jerky in gym bags and purses, and protein bars in laptop bags or glove compartments, during her research.

Here’s another trend: Five years ago, a data company found that conversations that mentioned meats were “highly negative on social media,” Vanessa Wong, an associate editor at Bloomberg Businessweek reported. As a result, meat purveyors like Oscar Mayer, Pilgrim’s Pride and Tyson brand themselves as “protein” companies as opposed to “meat” companies.

Likewise, chefs on televised cooking shows now typically market flesh to consumers by calling it “protein” not “meat.”

The word “protein” is a euphemism, removing the sting associated with meat. In truth, when TV shows like “Top Chef” talk about “honoring the protein” when they’re featuring meat and poultry raised at a local farm, they are doing anything but.

Animals are not honored or respected by consuming them. And calling their dismembered bodies “the protein” helps consumers turn off their consciences.

It’s a dated cooking school theory that to make up a meal you have to have a protein, a starch and a vegetable on the plate, and the protein is supposed to be the main attraction. The Food Pyramid released by the USDA in 1992 also perpetuates the protein myth—it emphasized that vegetables provide vitamins and minerals, but that meat, poultry and fish provide the protein.

In restaurants, meat, poultry or fish drives the cost of the meal. So omnivorous chefs are not making chickpeas, seitan, beans, tempeh, quinoa or nuts as the star protein. They call mashed potatoes and pasta “starches” and vegetables are called vegetables. If you look at a sample plate from a high-end catered dinner, the chef planning the menu calls the components by their so-called place in the food chain. Starch goes down in the center of the plate, protein at six o’clock, and a vegetable at 12 o’clock.

Meat is subsidized by our federal government, and unfortunately, as nations become wealthier, demand for meat increases as a symbol of status, and affluence. But the meat industry is fueled by the expansion of animal feeding operations that not only capitalize on misery and the ruination of 30 percent of the earth’s land, but also pollute water, and suck up an increasing amount of corn, soy and other grains that could be fed to humans directly.

According to the United Nation’s Food and Agriculture Organization, meat production generates a fifth of the world’s greenhouse gases, outpacing transportation. And since so much grain in the United States feeds cows, pigs and chickens, three-quarters of all water quality problems in our nation’s streams and rivers results from agriculture.

I’d be remiss not to mention the health benefits of eating fruits and vegetables. Men, young adults and people living in poverty eat the fewest fruits and vegetables. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), only 12 percent of Americans meet the daily fruit recommendation, and 9 percent the vegetable recommendation. Because poor diets are linked to obesity, heart disease, diabetes and cancer, public health authorities have long endorsed healthier diets rich in fruit and vegetables. Meanwhile, cheese is federally subsidized, and the food industry fronts a multimillion-dollar campaign to get people to eat processed foods—promoting the interests of beef, dairy, poultry and pork industries.

It’s also shocking to me that only 2 percent of U.S. farmland is devoted to growing fruits and vegetables. Eating just one banana, a salad, one cup of tomato soup and an apple would cover the minimum amount of recommended fruits and vegetables a day, but most Americans aren’t motivated to eat even that much, the CDC survey found. Yet overhauling the typical American diet would reduce the risk of many chronic diseases. Farmers would need to grow almost twice as much for Americans to get the recommended amount of produce.

New York University nutritionist Marion Nestle reminds us that fruits and vegetables are not readily sold at fast-food-drive-thrus where Americans find most of their meals. Also, people imagine they’re a nuisance to prepare with a need to rinse, cut and peel. Having said that we at Friends of Animals are hopeful because we meet people every day who are thinking of going vegan. And last year a study conducted by researchers at Stanford University found that indulgent, appealing menu descriptions made college students load up their plates with more veggies. For example, students piled the “dynamite chili and tangy lime seasoned beets” onto their plates versus the “beets.”

Perhaps to debunk the protein myth it’s just a matter of restaurants rethinking their menu descriptions and marketing veggies as “the new protein,” or vegans inviting more omnivores over for tantalizing dining and recipes? At Friends of Animals we have plenty of those in our two popular cookbooks.

We’re happy to help people become vegan. We will not rest until the athletes and soccer moms are stuffing their gym bags and glove compartments with edamame or tempeh chips instead of beef jerky.