Americans, especially millennials, are embracing plant-based meat products

By 2050, many scientists estimate that the world food supply will have to increase sharply from today’s level to meet anticipated demand from a global population of 9 to 10 billion people. With debate over the impacts of meat production intensifying, we have been tracking U.S. attitudes related to plant-based alternatives through Michigan State University’s Food Literacy and Engagement Poll. In 2018 the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved the plant-based “Impossible Burger,” which relies on an ingredient from genetically modified yeast to incorporate “heme,” an iron-containing molecule into the product, allowing its meats to “bleed.” In an endorsement of sorts, vegetarian CNET reporter Joan E. Solsman found it to be so close to real beef that it “grossed her out.” Fast-food chain White Castle’s “Impossible Slider” won several awards at the 2019 Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. Curious consumers With these products gaining wide media coverage, it’s no surprise that the latest results of our biannual, nationally representative survey of over 2,100 people suggest perspectives on meat alternatives are shifting rapidly. These results closely parallel a 2019 survey commissioned by Impossible Foods, which found that over half of millennial and Generation Z respondents consumed plant-based meat at least once a month, compared to just one-fifth of U.S. adults ages 55 and up.