September 2024
We are often unaware that our consumption decisions frequently harm animals.
Most food we consume is made of animals or contains animal products, such as eggs, milk, cheese, yoghurt, or butter. As tasty as those products are, they often come with an animal welfare cost: Intensive farming of animals for massive production of meat and animal-derived products offers low-quality living conditions for the animals, negatively impacting both the animal welfare and the quality of the final products.
Thus, let’s opt for products that respect our fellow earthlings.
Kick-start your journey as a considerate consumer by learning about the surprisingly wide variety of partly innovative options and choices that do not involve causing animals to suffer.
Here are plenty of ideas on where to get started.
WHY CONSUME ANIMAL PRODUCTS MORE SUSTAINABLY
Why should we eat a more animal-friendly diet? Here are a few reasons summarised in a nutshell. Check out our sources to learn about the details.
MEAT
The livestock farming industry is focused on massive meat production at all costs: It is often blamed for slaughtering animals that lack a healthy and decent living environment. Animals are abused, disrespected of their natural needs and deprived of proper food, space and care.
EGGS
Hen housing is generally focused on production efficiency and ease of management, which means:
Groups far exceed the ideal maximum of 20, leading to behavioural disorders.
To avoid feather-pecking, a phenomenon of overcrowded environments - beaks are partially removed in a painful procedure that can lead to cannibalism and death.
Legal loopholes are exploited to optimise production over animal welfare.
MILK & DAIRY
Millions of factory-farmed dairy cows in Europe spend nearly their whole lives sick, confined and in pain. They are forced to produce massive amounts of milk while lacking adequate access to pasture, housing and proper monitoring and treatment. Most dairy calves are separated from their mother within 24 hours after birth. Dairy cows and calves also spend too much time alone, bored and starving.
For dairy cows to give milk, they must give birth to calves; a dairy cow has one calf a year. Typically, female calves are raised to be dairy cows, while male calves are reared for meat production. About 40 per cent of the beef we eat is a by-product of the dairy industry – either male calves or female cows at the end of their milk-producing lives.
FISH & SEAFOOD
More often than not, slaughter methods are inhumane, causing fish immense suffering. Moreover, in intensive fish farming, many fish are confined in small spaces with poor water quality and inadequate oxygen. Fish are often deprived of food before procedures such as transport or slaughter.
MEATLESS DIET
Various diets exclude meat altogether. These include
Pescatarians, who still eat fish and seafood.
Vegetarians are people who eat animal-derived products. Ovo-lacto vegetarians eat eggs and dairy, and Lacto-vegetarians only eat the latter. Learn more about a vegetarian diet at internationally organised interest groups, such as theivu.org or proveg.com.
Vegans eat any animal-derived products. There are also raw foodist vegans, who mainly eat raw fruits, veg and nuts. Check out the internationally organised interest groups, such as vegansociety.com or vegane.org
Browse appropriate (International) Food Organisations → to find an interest group in your home country for in-depth information and tips.
PLANT-BASED ALTERNATIVES To ANIMAL PRODUCTS
In this chapter, we present plant-based alternatives to animal products.
Stay curious!
PLANT-BASED MEAT SUBSTITUTES
There are countless plant-based meat alternatives on the market. Cold cuts, sausages, burger patties, minced meat, sliced meat and grilled meat are some of the most common products. These products are based on various plants, such as soya, wheat, peas, mushrooms, and lupins.
Companies such as Beyond Meat, Jack and Bry, Better Nature, Tofoo, Taifun, and Tempehmanufaktur offer such alternatives. Check with your country's vegetarian organisation to find out more about brands available for sale in your country.
Check out our manual entry on Alternative Protein Sources → to learn more.
EGG ALTERNATIVES & SUBSTITUTES
Switching to substitutes can reduce egg consumption. Various plant-based products, such as MyEy, VegEgg, or Follow Your Heart, are available in supermarkets or online. Check with your country's vegetarian organisation to find out more about brands available for sale in your country.
If not substitutes, other ingredients can replace the role of eggs in recipes. Here are some rules of thumb:
Try Agar Agar flakes, arrowroot, avocado, corn starch, nut butter or soy protein for binding.
Try apple cider vinegar, baking powder, carbonated water, potato or corn flour for leavening. Bananas, chia, or flax seeds can both bind and leaven.
For moisture, try fruit or vegetable purée, oil, plant-based milk or silken tofu.
For colouring, add spices like turmeric, paprika or saffron.
For texture, a ¾ cup of tofu can imitate one egg.
DAIRY SUBSTITUTES
Plenty of plant-based alternatives exist for those who wish to abstain from milk and dairy consumption. Check with your country's vegetarian organisation to find out more about brands available for sale in your country. Alpro, Oatly, Allos and Naturli are just some brands selling plant-based products.
FORMO, a German startup, is currently launching cheese using koji, a naturally occurring fungi primarily found in Japan.
MILK ALTERNATIVES
Such milk alternatives include milk made of Almonds, Cashews, Coconut, Flax seed, Hazelnuts, Oats, Rice, Soy, Hemp, and Macadamia nuts.
Potato starch is an excellent raw material for producing vegetarian milk. The Swedish company DUG has introduced a novel plant-based milk derived from potatoes. The Danish company KMC has mastered replacing milk proteins in cheese with potato starch.
BUTTER ALTERNATIVES
Vegetable oil is the most-used butter substitute, but fruit and vegetable purées are also good alternatives to fats in cooking. For example, courgette or carrot purée is versatile; pumpkin is good for baking, and most baking and apple work in cakes.
FURTHER DAIRY ALTERNATIVES
Plant-based creams, yoghurts, butter, cheeses, spreads, and fillings are readily available at conventional, organic, and online vegan shops from producers such as Filata, Soyana, Tofutti and Vegourmet.
FISH & SEAFOOD SUBSTITUTES
Many plant-based alternatives can substitute fish and seafood in appearance, texture, or taste. Manufacturers use wheat gluten, soy, seaweed, legumes, or mycoprotein ingredients.
For example, in the US, New Wave Foods produces shrimp imitations of algae and other plants, and Ocean Hugger Foods makes a plant-based tuna substitute called ‘ahimi’.
In Europe, German WIESENHOF makes vegan fish fingers crafted from wheat protein, while Me-at and Schouten Food in the Netherlands produce a wide range of plant-based substitutes for meat and fish.
There is also a way to substitute fish and seafood in your cooking:
Tofu is used as an alternative to fillets and fish sticks
Due to its flaky texture, Jackfruit can be used as a plant-based substitute for tuna.
If marinated in flavourings, carrots can make an excellent salmon substitute
Seitan can make fish fillets, burgers, and vegan shrimp.
Mushrooms emulate the texture of fish and are a great fish substitute.‘
Vegan fish stock and sauce can be made from dried mushrooms and algae.
Also, remember that you can opt for vegan sushi made very quickly with delicious vegetable fillings, such as cucumber, avocado, carrots, bell pepper, etc.
ANIMAL-FRIENDLY OPTIONS
Abdicating from meat and animal products is not for you?
No worries, of course, there are animal-friendly options for enjoying animal products. And, remember, already consuming fewer animal products means active animal welfare, as fewer farm animals are needed per capita.
Here are the basics you should know.
REDUCED ANIMAL PRODUCE DIETS
One option is a flexitarian diet, also called a semi-vegetarian diet. It consists primarily of plant-based foods with limited or occasional inclusion of animal products.
Many organisations, such as The Flexitarian, The Reducitarian, and Meat Free Monday, can help you reduce your meat fish. dairy and egg consumption and guide you through the “how-to-dos”.
ORGANIC PRODUCTS
Whatever you buy, meat, fish and seafood, milk or dairy products or eggs, opt for organic-certified products.
WHY ORGANIC FOOD
Organic → meat, fish, dairy and eggs are the products of stricter regulations that ensure they are more environmentally friendly and better for the animals.
HOW TO SPOT ORGANIC PRODUCTS
Watch out for the EU and/ or a national Organic Label →. They mark organic produce.
WHERE TO SHOP FOR ORGANIC PRODUCTS
Organic Food → can be found anywhere, from conventional supermarkets to local farmers' markets. If you don't have an organic food supply where you are, there are online shops such as Rhug Estate (UK) or My Cow (Germany).
ANIMAL CONSIDERATE MEAT
Here is how to consume meat in a more animal-friendly way.
PASTURE SHOOTING
Pasture shooting is a more humane method of killing animals on the field rather than subjecting them to the pain and stress of long transport, stun bolts and slaughterhouses.
The availability of pasture-shot meat can vary between countries. Ask at your local butcher or market, or check with relevant national organisations. Shopping online is also possible.
GAME
Game is high-quality meat from regional wild animals.
In contrast to farmed animals, regional wild animals live with far less stress, don’t need large production sites, and feed naturally. So, consuming game can be a sustainable and healthy alternative to farmed meat.
Find game at supermarkets or ask your local butcher, hunter or market seller. Hunting associations and online shops can also help you acquire game.
Please research your country’s hunting laws to ensure humane practices regulate them.
REGIONAL MEAT
Transporting large quantities of live animals within the EU by road seriously impacts animal welfare. Choosing regionally produced meat from small-scale, local farmers supports the better living conditions of farmed animals while reducing Carbon Emissions →.
EGGS FROM DUAL-PURPOSE BREEDS
The industry favours hybrid chickens bred for more egg-laying or a higher meat capacity. Regardless of the eggs’ certifications, male chickens of the laying breed are killed right after hatching or being suited to meat production.
Therefore, opt for eggs from dual-purpose breeds, which are productive in egg-laying and meat production and in which males and females are equally valued.
VEGETARIAN RENNET - RENNET-FREE CHEESE
Cheese is traditionally made using rennet, an ingredient that helps milk coagulate. Rennet is a byproduct of meat production, coming from calf/lamb stomachs.
To be sustainable in your cheese consumption, opt for products containing vegetarian rennet or rennet-free cheese types, such as cream cheese and cottage cheese.
Vegetarian rennet can be plant-based, which you may find in the list of ingredients such as nettles, dried caper leaves or artichokes, fermentation-based, and microbial rennet.
Usually, cheesemakers are not obliged to specify what type of rennet they use. Still, many who use vegetarian rennet choose to share this information, and some cheeses are labelled as “suitable for vegetarians".A good cheese store can provide information about which cheeses are vegetarian.
CERTIFIED FISH & SEAFOOD
Look for sustainable certifications when buying fish and seafood:
Marine Stewardship Council's scheme for seafood products ensures sustainable fishing has been used and that fisheries won’t overfish.
Naturland seal certification means fish stocks and ecosystems are conserved, low stock densities are maintained, and fair working conditions are upheld. It also prohibits genetic engineering/hormones.
The Aquaculture Stewardship Council ensures proper water quality, the location suits the type of fish being farmed, and antibiotics are used only for sick fish.
A Bioland Association seal proves carp are bred without hormones, are stocked low in density, and eat naturally from their pond or organic vegetable feed.
LAB-GROWN ANIMAL PRODUCTS
A game-changer technology is the possibility of producing animal products in the laboratory.
Learn more about how this works and the availability of the products.
CLEAN MEAT
Clean meat, or lab-grown, cultivated or cultured meat, is real meat grown in a lab by incubating stem cells to make them grow and divide into meat tissue – instead of killing animals for it.
Clean meat products are not yet available in Europe. However, in September 2023, the first European clean meat product was submitted for approval to the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA).
We have compiled more details for you in our manual entry on Clean Meat →.
LAB-GROWN DAIRY
The future could see lab-grown milk fulfil consumer demand for dairy, though it is still an emerging science.
This entails recreating milk proteins through fermentation.
Studies show that such milk could take up half the market by 2030.
In the U.S., several companies have already approved their lab-grown products to be available on the market:
Perfect Day is a pioneer in lab-grown dairy, such as ice cream, milk, and cream cheese,
Turtletree Labs has become the first company worldwide to produce animal-free lactoferrin, one of milk’s most valuable proteins. This protein provides numerous health benefits.
In Europe, German startup Senara is the first European company to make cell-cultured dairy and aspires to make such products a standard supermarket option by 2028.
You find many more details in our manual entry on Eco-Friendly Milk Consumption →.
LAB-GROWN SEAFOOD
Lab-grown seafood, also known as “cultivated” or “cell-cultured”, is produced in a lab with marine animal cells using cellular biology.
The American companies Finless Foods and BlueNalu grow tuna products in a lab with marine animal cells that are nationally available on the market.
In Europe, the German company Bluu Seafood is pioneering the production of lab-grown fish, aiming to achieve industrial-scale production by 2026 or 2027.
LEARN MORE
Check our sources: Bibliography →.
