3 big arguments make up a rapidly polarizing #alternativeprotein debate. Disagreement hinges on false comparisons and the search for silver-bullet solutions. Featuring work by Matthew Hayek, Jan Dutkiewicz, Ayesha Tandon, Jessica Scott-Reid, M.A. & Garrett Broad. greenbiz.com/article/3-alte…

A 🧵on the evidence around nudging. Basically: the recent debate has been pretty dumb on both sides.

FYI - will be tweeting more from the team account, @plantbased_data, moving forward. Follow us!

A 2021 report ("Food for Thought) by investor & entrepreneur group Blue Horizon forecasted that alt-proteins will represent 11% of all protein consumption by 2035 & could command 22% of the global market. #altprotein

Did you know that ~2/3 of Toronto wants to eat less meat? Check out VegTO's webinar on this & other key poll findings, in collab with Reimagine Agriculture Animal Justice TOvegfoodbank Educators For Animals Conference & Plant-Based Canada. youtu.be/EHYPkGyxsSQ #Toronto #PlantBased #Poll VegTO

"Food systems receive only 3% of public climate finance, despite accounting for one-third of all global emissions." Global Alliance for the Future of Food report "Untapped Opportunities: Climate Financing for Food Systems Transformation"

"We're past peak milk in the EU" - Peter Stahl, Chairman of the Association of the German Dairy Industry & CEO of Hochland Group

US' history of "aggressively backing industrial agriculture; close ties between industry & senior officials, & its opposition to the EU's Farm To Fork policy for nature-friendlier farming, have left experts questioning its commitment to even modest reform" scl.io/fRej80p

According to the World Bank, global food systems have a market value of around $10 trillion a year but generate between $6 trillion & $12 trillion a year in hidden social, economic & environmental costs. Global food finance needs urgent reforming. blogs.worldbank.org/voices/fixing-…

Recent paper in the Review of Environmental Economics & Policy calculates that the average retail price for meat in high-income countries would need to increase by 35%-56% for beef and 25% for poultry to reflect the environmental costs of their production. journals.uchicago.edu/doi/10.1086/72…

From the slaughterhouse to the tannery, leather is the most abusive and environmentally damaging fabric industry in the world. This is an excellent report refuting the multimillion dollar greenwashing campaign to brand leather as a sustainable, biodegradable byproduct.

Germany has seen big plant-based shifts the past decade. Since 2011, per capita annual meat consumption has dropped from 138 lbs to 121 lbs (a 12.3% drop). 81% of consumers have reduced or quit meat consumption entirely and 40% now eat plant-based meat every month.

The evidence is clear that our food system is in need of a major overhaul and that we need to be reducing our consumption of animal-based products. Join me in asking that plant-based food be a priority in a new national school food policy. nwmd.io/s/twitter/ZxU7…

Switching menus plant-based by default is proving successful in NYC's healthcare system (the US' largest) ~60% of hospital patients are sticking with default plant-based options. Health outcome data will be interesting to keep an eye on in the next 2-3 years.

Alternative proteins have 3 key advantages over animal proteins: 1. Far more resource-efficient (80%+ less water & land) 2. Shorter supply chains with far fewer links = much more resilient to shocks 3. Produce a fraction of the GHGs of animal protein foreignpolicy.com/2022/10/08/alt…

Excellent letter by Tushar Mehta

More plant-based diets benefit health and climate. But how do they affect farmers? In a recent publication, we show that farm incomes in the EU could increase by 70% in the long run with dietary changes towards a planetary health diet. onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.11…

Recent survey finds that 78% of US consumers want the government to subsidize food for direct human consumption over feed for farmed animals. According to Farm Action, ~30% of US farm subsidies go to produce feed crops for dairy, eggs & meat thehill.com/policy/equilib…

Canadian owned oil pipeline, Trans Mountain Corp, bought carbon credits from what looks like a fake seaweed cattle feed company. 🧵of more offset greenwashing with fossil fuels & animal agriculture working together. nationalobserver.com/2023/02/21/new… @NatObserver Marc Fawcett-Atkinson 👏🏼

While industry tactics will continue to delay systems changes to facilitate diet changes, evidence and reason will ultimately prevail. Our core team breaking down the nutrition, environment, and economic science in Toronto this past weekend. 🧵 of a couple slide highlights