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The Future 50 Foods delivers a full spectrum of dazzling colours, tantalising textures and tastes that range from lightly refreshing and deliciously crunchy to pleasantly tangy and lusciously rich. Incorporated in The Future 50 Foods is a collection of vegetables, nuts, seeds, mushrooms, beans, legumes and sprouts, as well as cereals, grains, and tubers from a varied range of regional cuisines and cultural traditions.
So, what could be missing? Not much, in our opinion! Although you may have noticed there are no meats, dairy, or eggs in The Future 50 Foods. We’ll share the reasons why, and give you some tips for making diverse plant-based meals a bigger part of your life.
Why The Future 50 Foods Focuses on Plants
One of the goals of this report is to stimulate a shift toward plants-based foods because they have lower environmental impact than animal-based foods. Animal based food production uses more water, requires more land, and emits more greenhouse gas emissions than plant production. In fact, while all agriculture accounts for around a quarter of all greenhouse gas emissions, approximately 60% of that is attributed to animal agriculture, which includes production of meat, dairy and eggs[1].
What about the protein needs of people? Luckily, there is a plethora of protein-rich, plant-based foods in The Future 50 Foods. Just one cup of deliciously creamy and nutty-tasting sprouted chickpeas provides 10 grams of plant-powered protein. Foods in the algae group, such as wakame seaweed, provide protein and are packed with meat-like umami flavour.
Tips to Plant Power Your Meal Planning
- Start Small Start with small but impactful changes, such as trading half of the meat in your stew for protein and fibre-rich broad beans or try “meatless Monday” (or any day of the week) and declare one day each week to be for plant-based meals. Check Knorr cooking tips to add, swap, and create.
- Expand on Good Habits If you already eat meals that are plant-based, thank you for being part of the solution! Your next step can be to add variety by trying a new vegetable or grain each week in order to promote agricultural diversity. Try swapping rice for fonio, a tasty and easy-to-cook ancient grain.
- A Little Goes a Long Way Small amounts of animal-based foods can add strong flavor. In a meal that is not completely plant-based, try using less meat or dairy by adding in complementary tastes and textures from The Future 50 Foods. Silken tofu soaks up herbs and spices and can take the place of some softer cheeses in pasta dishes. You may be surprised by how far ground meat can stretch when you add umami-rich foods such as laver seaweed, black turtle beans, or saffron milk cap mushrooms.
