Hola MaHigh-School - February 2024 - 2

Should we all be vegans?

Maybe it is worth considering if the future should force us to be vegans. If the only real impact on global warming is to reduce the amount of slaughter animals out there and turn our diet into being far less meat, we might just have to get on with it.

The overall question is of course: are humans designed to be vegans or are we really carnivores?

There are several degrees of being a vegan. Some are against the slaughter of animals (fair enough), some are looking broader and refrain from using any animal-derived products. And everything in-between I think.

Let us just look at the ones who would like to drop (some) meat from the diet (where practical).

Wiki says: “Vegan diets tend to be higher in dietary fiber, magnesium, folic acid, vitamin C, vitamin E, iron, and phytochemicals, and lower in dietary energy, saturated fat, cholesterol, omega-3 fatty acid, vitamin D, calcium, zinc, and vitamin B12.

As a result of the elimination of all animal products, a poorly planned vegan diet can lead to nutritional deficiencies that counteract its benefi-

cial effects and cause serious health issues, some of which can only be prevented with fortified foods or dietary supplements.

Vitamin B12 supplementation is important because its deficiency can cause blood disorders and potentially irreversible neurological damage”.

In essence: if you want to be a vegan, you have to seriously look at what you will then eat and ensure that you get the necessary supplements as well.

It does not necessarily mean that we are carnivores either. Supporting climate goals by reducing meat intake is surely worth it. It does not mean we need to totally cut out anything animal-derived.

I found an interesting article here.

What it states is that yes, we can be vegans, and we can get all the necessary essential foods from a plant-based diet. That also covers the B12 vitamins, the Omega’s and the proteins.

However, it also states that we need to seriously analyse the diet to ensure that we actually do get all elements needed.

Conclusion: in the greater global-warming debate, we might just drastically reduce the meat intake without becoming 100% vegan!

Is it hard to just reduce the meat intake? Not really. It is more a matter of habits and attitudes, because the alternatives are out there and they are being bought.

Let us look at a few things:

If we look at Checkers and see what they have in plant-based foods, we see the entire variety from Frys and from Simple Truth.

Here we see the traditional sausages, burger patties, schnitzels, meat-free polony, mince and much more.

It is all there and it only takes us to get used to it. Maybe we can use the plant-based sausages at the breakfast table? Or stick to the plant-based patties.

Does it taste? trust me! Yes, there is hardly any difference in either taste or consistency.

We can also go for fast-food vegan offerings:

The plant-based burgers (from fast-food

outlets) accounted for 28% of the total burger market world-wide.

First of all: it is huge, secondly it shows that we are all being more conscious about things!

Burger King is also up there: their plant-based burgers are there, but not certified vegan (they are cooked on the same grill as the meat patties). Good enough to me, but not to certified vegans.

The message is really: there are plenty of options out there. The products do exist and they are all made to be nice tasting and offering the same type of eating satisfaction as other products.

The interesting part is the growth rate in consumption. The plant-based products are chosen by a lot more consumers compared to just a few years back. Growth rates of 100% or more are not unusual anymore.

What is also says is that we might see a future where the plant-based products are marketed as the norm and not as an exception. The ‘meat’ counter may show us meat-bangers and plant-bangers – side by side.

There are the almond-milk and the soy-milk – side by side.

We need now to get used to new words:

Meat-free meat: yes, it looks like the bangers, but it is plant-based Finless fish: This is a bit more difficult, but yes, there are products out there already. Slaughter-free meat: this may be lab-grown meat.

Egg-free eggs: yes indeed.

And a lot more!