Changing the plate: how alternative proteins can help create a healthier planet

This increase in livestock agriculture could have a devastating impact on our environment. As it stands, animal-based foods are responsible for, 57% of all agricultural emissions and livestock grazing takes up 80% of farmed land. Clearly, attractive alternative protein sources are vital. 

Innovators worldwide are racing to find solutions that not only meet demand but also work within our planet’s limits. That includes diversifying the proteins in our diets and creating alternatives. 

The need to diversify our diet with alternative proteins

The 2020 independent review into the National Food Strategy showed there is a clear need to invest in alternative protein production for the health of people and the planet. Recommendation 11 notes the huge potential size of the market, estimating that an alternative protein industry in the UK would create around 10,000 new factory jobs and 6,500 in farming. But, with significant investment already in the USA, Europe and Asia, it also warns that ​“The UK must do more to foster our own start-ups, or they simply will migrate abroad.” 

There is a clear market opportunity to assume leadership in the alternative protein space now. However, if we fail to act, we will become followers, not leaders. 

In 2022, the review’s lead author, Henry Dimbleby pointed out the need to reduce meat consumption and that, in a country heavily dependent on the current farming system, alternative proteins can play a key role. According to recommendation 11, the report noted that 85% of farmed UK land is used to either grow food for livestock, or to rear meat, ​“even though meat and dairy only account for one third of our calories. Plant-based proteins produce, on average, 70 times less greenhouse gas emissions than an equivalent amount of beef and use more than 150 times less land.” 

If 50% of meat was substituted with plant-based products, land-use emissions could be cut by 31%, while drastically reducing deforestation and natural land degradation. 

Let’s take a look at beef, for example, one of the most carbon and resource-intensive meats. A table of four at a restaurant might eat four steaks – let’s say around one kilogram of beef in total. That’s equivalent to 500kg of CO2 emissions, the same amount as a car driving the length of Britain three times. Skipping meat or eating a lower resource-intensive alternative protein for that one meal can cut carbon emissions significantly. 

Add poultry, lamb and pork to that, with the associated land impacts, such as deforestation, soil degradation and freshwater use, and the impact is staggering. As demand for animal protein grows, the environmental effects could increase 50 – 90% by 2050. There are also health implications, including the overuse of antibiotics in livestock farming that is contributing to the spread of antibiotic resistance, the potential for new diseases to emerge, like H5N1 bird flu, and animal welfare to consider. 

In the quest for sustainable diets, meat could be replaced with naturally occurring protein sources (often known as protein diversification), including bread and potatoes, grains, beans, pulses, legumes and even insects. 

A more environmentally friendly plate could also include alternative proteins created using new technologies and processes, such as lab-grown meat – also known as cultured or cultivated meat – and microbial proteins produced by fermentation. These products are designed to replicate traditional meat and dairy’s taste and nutritional profile, with lower fat and salt content. 

Innovative alternative protein technologies

So, what alternative protein technologies can drive this transformation? There are several promising avenues. Each of them has its own merits and potential use cases, not just for people but for animal feed as well. 

Cultivated meat has gained a lot of attention and funding, even appearing on the menu in Michelin-starred restaurants. This can help pave the way for public acceptance, even as it remains a luxury product hindered by cost, regulation and challenges around commercial-scale production. The meat is grown on a scaffold in the lab, with cost-effective and ethical nutrient sources helping drive down the carbon footprint further – as much as 90% less than beef.

Microbial and plant fermentation can also be used to grow meat and protein products, such as food for farmed fish that can replace fishmeal and soy. Winston Churchill even saw this coming back in 1931. Plant cell culture and molecular farming, which involves genetic engineering of plant cells, can similarly be used to make plants produce animal proteins. This technology could become especially valuable in regions where water scarcity and deforestation are major concerns. 

Another innovative approach is the use of microalgae as an egg replacement in vegan products. Microalgae are a sustainable source of protein with a small ecological footprint, and some companies are successfully using it to create egg substitutes that are both palatable and nutritious. 

Overcoming challenges in production

Producing alternative proteins at scale takes significant capital investment and adoption can be slowed by the need to comply with strict regulatory requirements. It also requires food-grade certified facilities and specially designed bioreactors. This can result in unique and unconventional setups depending on the type of fermentation. 

There is a myriad of potential ingredients that could be created using fermentation and each might need its own special fermentation conditions. For example, a fermenter that uses methane as its feedstock to produce feed protein for aquaculture works best as a long pipe fermenter. An alternative process may make a product that adheres to bioreactor internals, this would require a bespoke system to maximise productivity, requiring extensive testing and modelling before commercial scale production was possible. Each of these processes requires a large amount of capital, (working and infrastructure) access to the right facilities, produce material for market testing and passing regulatory protocols. Such challenges can present a barrier to adoption, especially without consumers driving demand in the market, making it difficult to get new projects off the ground, particularly for smaller startups. 

But perhaps the biggest barriers are texture and taste, a formulation and processing challenge that adds another complex and costly layer to the process. Manufacturers aim to mimic the taste and texture of meat while avoiding the ​“ultra-processed” food label, which could end up being subject to a tax.

Nevertheless, significant progress is being made. The UK has greenlighted a regulatory sandbox for cultivated meat that will boost innovation in this sector. In Scandinavia too, there is a movement towards alternative proteins. The Danish government published a national plant-based action plan, and there are several plant-based protein projects and an alternative protein innovation hub in Sweden, amongst several other projects. 

It’s an exciting time to enter this sector. According to one source, the alternative protein market can potentially replace 22% of the overall protein market by 2035. We need new companies to support this growth. Collaboration is key to this, as all these protein technologies require multi-disciplinary capabilities and teams. 

Companies that can harness the skills, facilities and capital needed can take innovative technology from a lab bench to supermarket shelf and drive transformative change of our food system.