The Economist - USA (2021-12-18)

Sources:BankofEngland;Defra;Instacart;

“Theroleofplant-basedalternativefoods

insustainableandhealthyfoodsystems”,by

C.Alae-Carewetal.;UBS;UNFAO;TheEconomist

Meateatingstartstodecline

inBritain. By 2019 consumption

is17%lowerthanit hadbeen

a decadeearlier

Peopleembraceplant-based

substitutesinpartbecausetheyare

cheaperthandairyproducts.

AnAustrianrecipefrom 1609 calls

almondmilk“lardforpoorpeople”.

TheSifter,a historicaldatabase

basedon8,000cookbooksand

56,000recipes,includesreferences

tonut,hempandpoppymilks

BenjaminFranklintastestofu

inLondon.Delighted,hesends

soybeanstoAmericawithan

accompanyinglettertellinga friend

about“theuniversaluseofa

cheesemadeofthem,inChina,

whichsoexcitedmycuriosity”

6th century

LeoTolstoyadoptsvegetarianism.

Hegoesontowrite“TheFirstStep:

AnEssayontheMoralsofDiet”

whichisthoughttohavehelped

persuadeMohandasGandhito

remaina vegetarian

1885

Firstvegetariancookbook

ispublishedinEnglish

1812

2015

RügenwalderMühle, a big

Germansausagecompany,sells

morevegetarianalternatives

thanmeatproductsforthefirst

timeinitshistory

2020

BeyondMeat, a veganmeat

companyfoundedinLosAngeles,

isthefirstofitskindtogopublic,

ata valuationat$1.5bn

2019

1086

1609 1  60s

Seitan, made fromgluten,is

discovered, probablybyaccident

as a by-product ofwheatnoodles

William the Conquerorattempts

the first survey ofEngland'sland

and livestock, recordedinthe

“Little DomesdayBook”

Meat

alternatives

Milk

alternatives

Milk Meat

Shareofpeopleconsumingmilk

andmeatalternatives,Britain

Three-yearaverage,%

Dailyintakeperperson,Britain

Three-yearaverage,grams

2011 2019

4.6

99

85

(^161154)
7.0
2.3
7.4
2011 2019
2011 2019 2011 2019

43 %

1/3RD

353 M

Theproportionof

Americanswhobuy

meatalternativeswho

alsobuyanimalmeat

Theestimatedshare

oftheworld’s

vegetarianswho

comefromIndia

Theamountofmeat,

intonnes,estimated

tobeproduced

worldwidein 2021

$85BN

Theforecastamount

theworldwillspend

onplant-basedprotein

in 2030

Meat your maker

Agricultural production in England

1600=100

6,000

4,000

2,000

0

1600 1  00 1800 1900 2020

Crops

Meat

Milk

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