Opinion / Why more meat eaters are joining the plant-based movement — and still loving their burgers
With meat an unsustainable food, cancer linked to its consumption and animal farming’s clear environmental impact, it’s time to cut down and think about our food choices
Before you call me a “triggered vegan”, let me first and foremost explain that I’m writing this purely to help the South China Morning Post’s Andrew Sun understand the growing popularity of plant-based burgers.
A University of Michigan study determined that the amount of water in an average swimming pool can create 312 beef burgers, or 60,837 plant-based burgers
Well, meatless burgers is an easy concept to grasp. They’re delicious, cruelty-free and create far less environmental devastation than their flesh counterparts.
While many believe imitation can never measure up to the original thing, no matter how convincing it is. I beg to differ. What about Toy Story 3? And – I know this one’s controversial – artificial Christmas trees?
We need to stop the dichotomous thought process that plant-based foods are made purely for vegan consumers, who want to take over the world with their preachy, tree-hugging, extremist ideologies. According to Beyond Meat, the United States-based producer of plant-based meat substitutes, an estimated 70 per cent of its Beyond Burgers are actually bought by meat eaters.
Yet why would meat-eaters want to consume such products?
Many vegans and vegetarians still like the taste of meat; we just don’t like the ethics behind it ... so it’s fantastic we can make hot dogs, burgers, ice cream and pizza without animal ingredients
Believe it or not, most people want to feel good about their food choices. In Hong Kong alone, as many as a quarter of the population identify as flexitarian.