Diet’s implication in environmental issues influences trends
A lot of global investment was going into the development of synthetic meats and milks that were fermented by modified bacteria from plant sugars and other substrates. Many investors were large traditional meat and milk processors — Fonterra has a minority stake in Motif, a synthetic dairy protein company.
Last year, a Ministry of Health sustainability strategy for hospitals included cutting back on meat and dairy. Although endorsed by Prof John Potter, of the Centre for Public Health Research at Massey University Wellington, it was met with opposition from Dietitians NZ. Prof Potter and others have since criticised the Dietitians NZ response and questioned their funding sources, which, Prof Mirosa says, include Beef and Lamb NZ.
Internationally, there’s a trend for governments to incorporate sustainability into dietary guidelines. The Canadian Government, for example, is encouraging people to drink less milk and eat less meat. Its new food guide recommended 50% of what you eat should be vegetables and fruit, 25% whole grains and 25% protein, with an emphasis on plantbased protein, she said.
‘‘Recent research by Massey University has shown that New Zealand professionals from the agriculture, environment, and health sectors largely support including sustainability in New Zealand’s eating and activity guidelines and I expect we’ll see further developments here soon,’’ Prof Mirosa said.
While overseas the carbon footprint of products was starting to be shown on some food labels, it was a complex and confusing issue, especially for consumers wondering which product was most sustainable.
A New Zealandspecific life cycle analysis database of food emissions conducted by University of Otago researchers showed that a diet consisting of plant whole foods produced far fewer emissions than a diet consisting of mostly animalbased foods, particularly red and processed meats.
The authors of the report conclude that stark contrast between plant and animal protein sources in terms of climate impact, which is described repeatedly within the international literature, is no less relevant in the New Zealand context, and overrides any differences in meat production emissions between countries.
‘‘It is wonderful to finally have some New Zealand specific data to help us better understand the impact of a range of different scenarios,’’ she said.