Culture & Design
Meat-Free Burgers Turn Climate Concerns Into a Sales Pitch
Vegan substitutes for meat are at the forefront of food products that promise to help fight climate change.
Illustration: Erik Blad
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Depending on how you want to read the numbers, the humble hamburger is a bigger contributor to the warming of the planet than the jumbo jet. Animal agriculture produces 14.5% of man-made greenhouse gases, and cows are responsible for the biggest chunk of that. Global aviation, on the other hand, accounts for just 2% of total emissions.
Awareness of meat’s carbon footprint has created an opening for products that appeal to lower-carbon dieters, with plant-based alternatives Beyond Meat and Impossible Foods now pitching themselves as part of a climate-friendly lifestyle.