Meaty issue we can front-foot
Ilove that my mum scours the UK papers and sends me articles to inspire my columns; this week’s was about the unexpected success of a vegan sausage roll. Bear with me here. The vegan sausage roll in question was created by UK bakery chain Gregg’s, which has been overwhelmed, literally, by demand. The company’s share price has shot up and in February it issued its third increased profit forecast.
Why the roll has been such a raging success is slightly unclear, but its effect on the company’s bottom line is unarguable. Some put it down to the tongue-in-cheek marketing campaign, which spoofed the same kind of look and feel Apple would use to launch a high-end mobile phone.
But the weight of thinking is that it’s more likely to do with the growing trend towards nonmeat eating. This isn’t a flash in the pan. Most UK supermarket chains now have vegan food ranges catering for vegans, vegetarians and flexitarians – those who go meat-free for a few days a week.
In Australia, Melbourne ground to a halt last week when animal rights activists blocked a major intersection. Their protest was to urge the Government to take an active role in transitioning farming from animal to plant-based businesses.
Going meat-free is a growing trend here, as well. The Better Futures report, released in February, found that one in 10 Kiwis said they were now vegetarian or mostly meat-free. Countdown supermarket has said it’s adapting its range to include more plant-based meal solutions such as vege burgers, ‘‘mince’’ made from plants, and other proteins such as falafel.
Last year, Air New Zealand launched its meatfree Impossible Burger on limited flights. It’s vegetarian but uses an ingredient called heme, an iron-containing molecule which comes from soy plants but is the same thing that makes meat sizzle and smell meaty.
For most people the reasons behind their decision to go meat-free are clear: the big three are concern for animals, the planet and personal health.
As a country whose wealth is based largely on the production of meat and dairy, there’s a fair bit of feeling that we should be backing our primary industries, not coming up with new-fangled vege alternatives.
But I think this is a trend that’s here to stay and New Zealand could get ahead of the debate. Let’s face it, we’ve shown before that we can take a world-leading stance on issues.
While Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison chose to describe the protesters as ‘‘unAustralian green criminals’’; New Zealand could take a different approach.
Having watched thousands of young people join the Strike 4 Climate Action last month, it seems New Zealand should be preparing for a different future. What about listening to what people are saying, paying closer attention to what is clearly becoming a worldwide trend, and looking at how we could become early adopters of new technologies and ways of doing things?
The Government’s own first System of Environmental-Economic Accounts published last year showed that about 60 per cent of greenhouse gas emissions are mainly due to methane emissions from agriculture. That figure had risen between 1990 and 2015.
I reckon if the next generation can take simple actions to better protect the environment, they will. And that will see more of them eating less meat and looking for plant-based alternatives.
There’s just one tiny thing that might stop this from taking a real foothold; the smell of frying bacon on a weekend morning and the lack of a decent vegan sausage roll for morning tea.