Ingredients in place for shift to plant-based diets – so why does meat still dominate?

Key points

• Despite health risks and environmental damage, the meat industry is working hard to safeguard its dominance Average person eats six times more chicken than in 1961, UN report finds Should I tuck into a juicy steak or stick a tofu patty in a bun and call it a burger?
• Twenty years ago, that question was largely seen as a moral dilemma influenced by grim conditions in factory farms and slaughterhouses.
• Back then, animal rights activists were the loudest campaigners arguing for people to abstain from meat.
• They had limited success because vegetarians and vegans made up less than 5% of the population in rich countries – and the best fake meats were bland replicas of real flesh.
• The word flexitarian had not yet made it into the dictionary.