There is an increasing awareness supporting how meat is not the way of the future. All around the world the number of vegans is on the up. For example, as of 20202 Australia has 2.5 Million Vegan/Vegetarians, Great Britain over 4.5 Million Vegan/Vegetarians and America 19.6 Million. This brings the entire worlds population of non meat eaters to 8%.
The number of vegan and vegetarians is always dramatically increasing, Great Britain even made a forecast on how the perceive it will continue increasing in the years to come.
For the impact that the meat has on the environment to decrease, we have to critically increase the amount of vegans and vegetarians worldwide to start seeing changes. Here are some short, medium and long term milestones that are being implemented to insure the survival of our planet.
Short Term
At this point in time, there is alternative meat products available on the market. Things such as tofu, veggie based patties and sausages, tempe, soy proteins and various legumes. The problem is that they are not extremely accessible and often more expensive. If you look at the price of Vegan sausages VS Beef sausages there is an increased mark up. I believe that this is due to the lack of demand. Since the vegan population is so small they create a niche market, meaning they are willing to spend more to get the product they want when compared to the standard meat eating consumer who wouldn't.
Medium Term
I think in the close but distant future there will be a mass increase in vegan and vegetarian food alternatives. We already see "impossible" foods in the present and short term, but they aren't very accessible or made aware of. In the medium term I believe there will be much more heavy investment in companies such as "Beyond Meat". Beyond Meat are currently running menu item trials at McDonald's and KFC, and if these go well they will be launching permanent menus.
Long Term
I believe that Vegan ingredients will be marginally more accessible and the price will seem to decrease slightly as the demand rises. This will also result in the price of meat rising due to meat eaters becoming the niche market (Hopefully). Due to heavy investment in the medium term, raised awareness and easy accessibility, we will see the number of vegans and vegetarian sky rocket globally. With the number of vegans increasing worldwide, humans will reap many benefits such as:
Lower levels of Obesity, Heart Disease, High Blood Sugar Levels
Conservation of water
Reduced levels of green house gases
Reduced energy consumption
Purified Air
The future is meat free!
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