Life Cycle Assessment of Environmental Sustainability and Nutritional Value of Animal Meat Substitutes

Abstract

The food industry is estimated to contribute to one-third of the global anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions; thus, it is a major driver of climate change. Within food consumption patterns, animal-based foods are the main contributors to unfavorable environmental impacts. There is increasing evidence that suggests that animal products have a substantially larger climate impact than most plant-based foods, indicating that the shift from animal-based food diets to more plant-based food diets may help reduce environmental burdens. However, when replacing meat, it should be ensured that the nutritional requirements of consumers are met. The purpose of this study was to compare ground beef and plant-based meat production assessment to analyze the environmental sustainability and nutritional aspects using LCA. Using the NRF11.3 score to calculate and discuss the health score between ground beef meat (GBM) and plant-based meat (PBM). Our estimates suggest that the GBM contributes to global warming 8.01 times more than the PBM. Further, GBM is associated with 1.56 times more fossil fuel depletion, 2.87 times more land usage, and 1.81 times more water usage than PBM.