In South Africa, a country where ‘braai’ all-day barbecuing is a national pastime, plant-based substitutes are making surprising inroads despite a deep cultural love of meat and hostility from the regulator.<\/p>\n
That could be heartening for climate scientists, who say shifting diets from emissions-heavy meat and dairy towards more plant-based foods is vital to the fight against climate change.<\/p>\n
Plant-based meat substitutes are growing by 6.5% a year and sales are expected to reach $561 million by 2023, according to Research and Markets – more than half Africa’s share of a global market forecast to hit $162 billion by 2030.<\/p>\n
That is still pretty niche – South Africans spent $15 billion on meat products in 2018 and is now the world’s 9th biggest per capita consumer of beef.<\/p>\n
But the popularity of veggie alternatives would have been unthinkable even a decade ago and the market is outstripping forecast growth for meat. The shift has so unnerved South Africa’s processed meat industry that in June it lobbed for – and got – a government ban on plant-based products using words like ‘nugget’, ‘sausage’ or ‘burger’ on packaging.<\/p>\n
The agriculture department at the time said the move was aimed at preventing consumer confusion. A spokesperson did not respond to repeated requests for comment.<\/p>\n
Food producers remain undeterred.<\/p>\n
At meat processor Feinschmecker, staff pour powdered soy and pea protein into vats and rehydrate them to make its plant-based ‘deli slice’ – called so in anticipation of a ban on labeling it ‘ham’.<\/p>\n
“A lot of it’s driven by flexitarianism. People who want to make a bit of an effort to eat less meat,” Alistair Hayward, Feinschmecker managing director, told Reuters.<\/p>\n
Top food producer Tiger Brands TBSJ.J bought a stake in meat-substitute start-up Herbivoire in March, while supermarkets like Woolworths WHLJ.J have introduced their own ranges.<\/p>\n
Clearly, ethical food choices are a luxury of the relatively well-to-do – a quarter of South Africans struggle to put any food on the table.<\/p>\n
Consumer climate<\/p>\n
Evidence is accumulating that curbing consumption of meat and dairy – which the latest estimates put at around a fifth of all emissions – is key to meeting U.N. climate goals.<\/p>\n
A paper in Science in February said ending animal agriculture could stabilize greenhouse gas levels for 30 years and offset 68% of CO2 emissions this century; another in 2018 showed switching the world to a purely plant-based diet could slash food-related emissions – which are about 30% of the total – by nearly half.<\/p>\n
Yet forgoing cheeseburgers is not something governments, many of which dole out billions of dollars to livestock farmers, are likely to propose at this month’s climate talks in Egypt.<\/p>\n
Lowering animal consumption, then, may boil down to consumers – like Angie Raphalalani, 57. She gave up meat over climate concerns and her diabetes.<\/p>\n
“My immediate family … were shocked,” she said, after lunching at plant-based restaurant Lexi’s Healthy Eatery in Johannesburg. “But probably they’ll follow me. I’m quite influential in their lives.”<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
Source: Voice of America<\/p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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