Today, Beyond Meat released a life-cycle analysis report—prepared by researchers at the University of Michigan’s Center for Sustainable Resources—that compares the environmental impact of the vegan Beyond Burger to its beef-based counterpart. Researchers used a 2017 assessment report compiled by the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association as a baseline, and compared that to the life-cycle of the Beyond Burger. The research showed that the vegan patty generates 90 percent fewer greenhouse gas emissions, requires 46 percent less energy, has more than 99 percent less impact on water scarcity, and 93 percent less impact on land use than a ¼ pound patty of beef. In a 2009 report, UN’s Food and Agriculture Organization found that animal agriculture creates more greenhouse gases than the entire transportation sector combined—a fact that the report took into consideration. To illustrate their key findings, researchers revealed that if Americans—who consume an average of three burgers per week—replaced one beef patty with a Beyond Burger for one year, the shift would be equivalent to removing 12 million cars from the road, or saving enough energy to power 2.3 million homes. Today, the United Nations Environment Programme named vegan brand Beyond Meat 2018’s “Champion of the Earth”—an annual designation the organization gives to companies and individuals from the private and public sector that have had a transformative, positive impact on the environment.

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