Alternative proteins are foods that try mimic or improve upon conventional animal proteins such as meat and milk.
Some examples include oat milk, veggie burgers, and this salmon nigiri cultured in a lab.
Alternative proteins are in their infancy and still getting cheaper, healthier, and tastier. They aim to replace conventional animal products because the status quo requires bothering tons of farm animals and
- feeding these animals consume tons of resources and produces lots of waste so its usually not good for the environment
- these animals act as great places for diseases to develop and spread to people (like swine flu).
- and don’t get me started how unhappy the animals must be
So if alternatives were developed that could supply the growing demand for animal proteins it would make the world way less shitty.
Credits: Photos courtesy of Wild Type and Ivy Farm respectively and licensed under CC BY 4.0. I’m to blame for the meme.