Comparing the potential of meat alternatives for a more sustainable food system

Numerous studies highlight the significant negative externalities associated with meat consumption, necessitating a shift towards diets with reduced meat intake. Given the challenges in persuading individuals to reduce meat consumption in their diet and the low popularity of coercive policies, alternative proteins have been proposed as a solution to facilitate the protein transition. This scoping review stresses the risk that non-holistic analysis of alternative proteins bear in promoting suboptimal solutions, and therefore the need for a multidimensional approach considering aspects such as environmental performance, production scalability, acceptability, and animal welfare. For instance, a food product exhibiting favourable environmental performance but lacking scalability potential would likely have minimal transformative impact on food systems. Furthermore, supporting suboptimal solutions generates an opportunity cost in terms of the quantity of meat reduced. Thus, it is crucial to compare alternative proteins not only with conventional meat but also with each other. This review focuses on four main categories of alternative proteins: plant-based meats, single-cell proteins, cultivated meat, and insects. In this multidimensional analysis, plant-based meats and single-cell proteins emerge as having the greatest potential for contributing to sustainable food systems. Cultivated meat could also contribute positively if it finds a unique market segment and overcomes production scalability challenges. Insects demonstrate little promise and should not be considered a sustainable solution given the current state of evidence.