Win for veggie and vegan burgers, but plant-based dairy lose out. At this time, EU law already bans the use of terms such as milk, butter and cheese for selling plant-based foods. In addition, descriptions such as ‘yoghurt-style’ or ‘cheese-alternative’ could now be banned too.
Veggie disks? Sausages tubes?
For those who missed the vote against the so-called ‘veggie burger ban’ and terms such as ‘burger’, ‘sausage’ or ‘steak’ for plant-based products, the main argument behind this proposal was to avoid consumer confusion. However, NO ONE can get confused by ‘veggie burgers’. Terms as ‘veggie sausage’ or ‘veggie escalope’ provide important information regarding the taste and what to expect from these products.
Last Friday common sense won and the EU Parliament voted to keep ‘veggie burgers’. However, as I mentioned before, the EU Parliament voted Yes to Amendment 171 which will make it illegal for plant-based food to be compared to dairy products in the future. This means that companies which sell plant-based products can no longer talk about any of the health and environmental advantages they offer compared to dairy products.
This is an incomprehensible direction to take in the middle of a climate crisis. This amendment GOES AGAINST the EU’s own climate goals and their desire to direct the population towards the consumption of plant-based foods. As Jasmijn de Boo, vice president of ProVeg International, said:
”This is a major blow to the plant-based dairy sector – one of the most innovative and sustainable in the wider European industry.”
Jasmijn de Boo
A direct contradiction to the EU’s stated objectives in the European Green Deal
There are more than 200 million dairy cows WORLDWIDE. Producing a 200 ml glass of dairy milk requires 0.6kg of CO2e. That requires a hell of land space. And on top of that, these cows are mainly fed with soya, which requires all the land for that. And did you know that a little of cow’s milk needs around 1050 litres of water to produce?
As you can see, there are not more important things to be debating in the world right now. Coconut and almond milk have been called as such for centuries. Ok, oat milk isn’t technically milk, right? But if we get cocky, peanut butter is NOT butter, cream of coconut is NOT cream… as Stephen Fry said once ‘try as dairy farmers might, history and the nature of language development will decide.’
Still Hope
The dairy and meat industry is at the beginning of the end. This type of desperate move is proof they know it. I know that at this point, maybe a few of you might be asked why vegans look for meats, milk, yoghurt or cheese alternatives. Veganism is about saving lives, taking care of the planet. It’s for ethical reasons, is not about the taste.
Also, in my own opinion, as someone who promotes the reduction of meat and a plant-based lifestyle, the sale of meat substitute products encourage people to try. Nothing stops them from being a vegetarian or vegan now. They don’t need to give up their favourite food nor does it look that difficult to change their mindset and routine. These alternatives make it easy for people to eat better and live healthier lives without recklessly taxing the planet’s resources in the process. How can I be against that? I hope that this answer satisfies all those people who asked me this all the time!
However, there is still hope that this will not succeed because this has to be approved by the European Commission and the European Council. In the meantime… Whether or not you are vegetarian or vegan, I would love to hear your thoughts about this.