Research
Energy balance
Plant-based meat alternatives may have a lower environmental footprint than feedlot beef but a higher footprint than pasture-raised beef, and their nutritional complexity is underestimated by reductionist formulation.
If you are choosing plant-based meats for environmental reasons, know that they are generally better than feedlot beef but may not be as good as pasture-raised beef. Focus on a balanced diet that includes diverse plant sources to maximize health benefits, rather than relying solely on processed alternatives.
ModerateQualifiesMEDIUM confidence
Life-cycle analyses suggest that the novel plant-based meat alternatives have an environmental footprint that may be lower than beef finished in feedlots, but higher than beef raised on well-managed pastures... mimicking of animal foods using isolated plant proteins... likely underestimates the true nutritional complexity of whole foods.
Why this rating
Based on life-cycle analyses and general review statements.
Source
Plant-Based Meats, Human Health, and Climate Change
Stephan van Vliet et al. · Frontiers in Sustainable Food Systems · 2020
DOI 10.3389/fsufs.2020.00128
narrative_reviewCited 204×
Read the paper DOI resolved against Crossref · corpus check 2026-06-10
More from this paper
- Novel plant-based meat alternatives should be treated as sensory meat alternatives but not as true nutritional replacements for animal meat due to differences in nutrient bioavailability and complex food matrix interactions.Good
- Plant-based meat alternatives generally provide lower bioavailability of key micronutrients (B12, Iron, Zinc) compared to animal meat, even when fortified, due to food matrix effects and anti-nutrients.Good
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