I've talked a lot about
high-tech solutions to climate change.
But there are plenty of solutions
that leverage our natural resources,
like forest preservation, bioplastics,
and carbon-sucking algae.
But the most obvious low-tech way to reduce emissions
might be changing our diets.
Food accounts for around 25 to 30%
of our greenhouse gas emissions.
Now don't worry, I'm not gonna try to convince you
to survive on tofu smoothies and protein vapor.
I love food, and I don't wanna live in a world
where I can't eat a deep-fried Oreo
and immediately regret it.
But modern farming generates emissions in all sorts of ways,
like land use, fertilizer production,
transportation, and, famously, cow burps.
So if we're going to get serious
about bringing down emissions,
we'll need to make some big adjustments.
At the individual level,
one of the most impactful choices we can make
is to eat less meat.
14.5% of our total emissions come from livestock alone.
That's around seven times the emissions from air travel.
The world produces around 360 million tons of meat a year.
That requires slaughtering over 70 billion animals.
Now, if that makes you uncomfortable
because you've completely dissociated
where your food comes from,
you can throw on some camo, grab a hunting knife,
and truly embraced your inner carnivore.
Or you can substitute animal meat with plant-based meat.
It's usually a combination of soy or pea protein,
and it's gone from being a novelty to being everywhere.
Impossible Burger and Beyond Burger
have exploded in popularity.
Burger King has announced plans
to roll out its Impossible Whopper, the McPlant.
It's a plant-based vegetarian patty
co-developed with Beyond Meat.
Sales of plant-based meat grew 53% in 2020.
Products expanded into pork, bacon, and chicken.
I mean, these things actually tasted good.
People liked them. Cows were giving each other high hooves.
The future was here, and then suddenly, it stopped.
Growth dropped to 1% in 2021,
and in 2022 sales actually started declining.
So what happened?
Why hasn't plant-based meat broken through?
Well, it could partly be due to economics.
Recent inflation could make it a tougher sell
with flexitarians, semi-vegetarians who,
I guess, like to show off their biceps.
But the biggest hurdle might not be economic.
Our eating habits are deeply ingrained in our culture.
Change is uncomfortable,
and when it comes to certain people in America,
this particular change makes them very uncomfortable.
Now Cracker Barrel's
new meatless sausage patty
is creating quite the online debate.
The online announcement
was flooded with comments.
One person even commenting, quote,
"Don't ever try to push that crap in my direction."
Sorry I didn't give you a trigger warning
before showing those.
If you're feeling faint, you can try to hold
some beef jerky under your nose like smelling salts.
Look, part of the issue here is, obviously, cultural. Right?
Most of us have been brought up
to see meat as a critical part of our diet.
We've been socialized to think
that we couldn't possibly live without it.
And, of course, that culture has been shaped
and encouraged by businesses and lobbyists
that make money off of meat and ignore the fact
that we've had thousands of years of civilizations
that have been vegetarian.
All that PR makes a real difference.
A recent study by Deloitte found
that regardless of the facts,
many people don't even believe that plant-based meat
is healthier or more sustainable than animal meat.
At the end of the day, whether any meat alternative prevails
will come down to time and money.
The EV revolution shows that a cool, new product
can spark change but doesn't happen overnight.
Electric vehicles were around for a century
before they really caught on.
Hopefully, it doesn't take that long for plant-based meats.
And if their price relative to animal meat drops,
we could see a huge spike in demand
and angry Cracker Barrel diehards in the coming years.
Of course, meat isn't the only food
deeply ingrained in our culture
that turned out to have a negative impact on the climate.
Another one is palm oil.
Palm oil is cheap, versatile,
and in thousands of everyday products.
It's also a major driver of deforestation,
which is a major driver of climate change.
Our team traveled to Indonesia
to try to understand the challenges
of producing palm oil in a sustainable way.
We also spoke to scientists in the UK
working on alternative climate-friendly substitutes.
But not on the same day. They're really far apart.