Demand for plant-based foods is growing fast in the U.S., with a 27 percent increase in sales of plant-based products in 2020, according to one report. The plant-food industry expects the global market to grow an additional 11 percent by 2027. As meat alternatives such as Beyond and Impossible burgers grow in popularity, the availability of more plant-based foods is making consumers more comfortable with the products. If that trend helps people consume less meat, it could have major benefits for efforts to reduce the environmental and climate impacts of the food system. Around the world, livestock production alone contributes nearly 15 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions, according to climate scientists.

Early opponents of the Green New Deal, a set of proposals to fight climate change while building a more equitable economy, zeroed in on the idea that the effort would mean the end of hamburgers. (The original text of the Green New Deal calls for working with farmers to build "a more sustainable food system that ensures universal access to healthy food," but it does not "ban" beef.) And while fighting climate change demands an overhaul of the global food system, with less production of livestock, scientists say that healthy, climate-conscious diets don’t need to be 100 percent plant-based.

In 2019, the medical journal The Lancet published "Food in the Anthropocene: the EAT–Lancet Commission on healthy diets from sustainable food systems," which includes recommendations for global agricultural and dietary changes in the face of health and climate concerns. The report was based on the work of a 19-member commission made of climate scientists, nutritionists, economists, and others. It is built around a recommended "healthy reference diet," which includes consuming lots of whole grains, fruits, and vegetables, small amounts of dairy (up to two servings per day), and minimal red meat.

"Basically some people would call this a flexitarian diet because it includes modest amounts of animal proteins if people would like that, but it could encompass being a vegan," said Walter Willett, a professor of epidemiology and nutrition at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health and chair of the EAT-Lancet Commission.

Read the full article about urban food incubators by Jared Brey at GreenBiz.