She breaks down the Paris Climate Agreement into simple, personal terms as well. For example, she says that switching one plant-based burger for one beef burger saves the same amount of CO2 emissions as driving the average American car for 12 miles. Jay is particularly good at putting the environmental impact of food into simple terms. “The other part is that ruminant animals have another mechanism for introducing greenhouse gas equivalents,” she says, “which would be the fact that they produce methane as part of their natural digestion.” In other words, when cows belch and pass gas, they produce one of the most potent greenhouse gases driving climate change. So part of the carbon footprint comes from just the additional food that you need to grow for the animal.” “Most of the calories go toward maintaining the animal… and a lot of the energy that you’re giving the animal doesn’t become meat. “When you feed animal feed to an animal, most of the calories don’t go toward making meat that we would eat,” she says. Jay explains that animals are an especially energy-intensive food source. She works in UCLA’s Institute of the Environment and Sustainability, and also runs the website Meals for the Planet, which publishes environmentally friendly recipes and related news. Jay is an expert in how food impacts our environment. Beef alone accounts for a whopping 41% of livestock emissions. According to the United Nations, livestock accounts for 15% of global greenhouse gas emissions - a larger source of emissions than transportation. Many people aren’t aware of the impact diet has on the environment, especially as a contributor to climate change. How plant-based meat can help fight climate change For her and Jennifer Jay, the most exciting part is plant-based meat’s environmental impact. While the science and technology is impressive, they’re not what Rowat gets most excited about. It feels delicious on your tongue.” To create that effect in plant-based burgers, coconut oil is a popular ingredient. “So when you cook it, their liquids will ooze out and melt. “Meat has a lot of saturated fat, which melts at a higher temperature,” she says. Most importantly: Plant-based meat has to deliver the same taste and melting mouthfeel of a beef burger. “Extrusion is a popular method to get the fiber structures, used famously by Beyond Meat.” Beyond’s extrusion machines heat and pressurize the plant proteins to realign their structure, creating that meaty texture. “Using technology to organize how all these molecules are arranged in the burger is an important component for the texture,” Rowat says. When you touch a plant-based burger patty, it has a similar texture to beef. It’s very similar to hemoglobin, which gives the red color to blood.” That’s a fancy way to say they use microbes to produce a protein that gives the red color. “Others, like the Impossible burger, use industrial fermentation. “Some products use molecules from plants like beets, which are naturally red,” Rowat says. To achieve that color, engineers use two different methods. The first impression of an Impossible or Beyond burger is that it has the same pink color as raw meat. Rowat points out that tens of millions of dollars have been poured into research and development at companies like Beyond and Impossible - all with the goal of satisfying each of our senses. Rowat leads UCLA’s Rowat Lab and helps organize Science&Food, a series of popular public lectures at UCLA featuring chefs and food critics. She uses food to teach scientific concepts - undergraduate students eat apple pie on the first day of her class to learn how butter’s molecular structure creates a perfectly flaky crust. So how do companies like Impossible Foods and Beyond Meat pull this off?Īmy Rowat specializes in answering this kind of question. The success of plant-based burgers depends on how much they look, smell and taste like meat. Here, Rowat and Jay break down the science of how plant-based meat is made, and show us how these new burgers can help fight climate change. To better understand these foods, we talked to two UCLA experts: Amy Rowat, associate professor of integrative biology and physiology, and Jennifer Jay, professor of civil and environmental engineering. As millions of people try it for the first time, they’re having conversations and asking a lot of questions. Plant-based meat has exploded in popularity in recent months, popping up in fast-food restaurants and grocery stores all over the country. “Have you tried these new plant-based burgers that taste like beef?”
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