5 DENISE LACHAT Luc has prepared a fruit skewer for his mid-morning snack, along with some vegetable dips followed by pasta salad with cherry tomatoes and Halloumi for the main course and a layered glass of quark, yoghurt, berries, and crumble for dessert. The nineyear-old is attending a cookery course. Accompanying the boy is his father, who confesses he would have made something different. “But he enjoys it, that’s the main thing.” Luc’s primary school in Berne arranged the tuition. The idea is that children who dabble in cooking eat a more diverse, balanced diet and are more receptive to new foods. Studying the production process at Kempthal-based Planted Foods AG also feels like a classroom lesson, albeit the subject matter is related more to physics and chemistry. You start with a flour mixture. This can be made from peas, sunflower seeds, or oats. This is fed into a big machine, where it is mixed with water and rapeseed oil, then kneaded, heated, and pressed. You end up with a dough that can be cut in different ways depending on whether you want it to resemble chicken breast, chicken strips, or kebab. Clad in white smocks and sanitary hats, employees at the laboratory-like company factory in the Zurich Oberland are producing plantbased imitation meat. The Planted Foods mantra is clear: “Every chicken counts.” No animals are killed in the making of these products. The firm says that over a million chickens (and counting) have been saved from slaughter thanks to the consumption of its products. According to Planted Foods, global warming is another issue. Tradider cuts and adding micronutrients like vitamin B12? Planted Foods has an oven-ready answer for these and other FAQs: “We humans are creatures of habit, as we all know. To have an impact on the planet, our eating habits need to change. The best way to do this is with a meat-like product that can be integrated into our eating habits.” Meat alternatives from the supermarket giants Meat analogues, i.e. plant-based products that mimic meat, seem to satisfy a consumer need. As far back as 1997, Migros began selling products made from Quorn, which is derived from a fermented, edible fungus. Its Cornatur brand was pioneering at the time. Meat substitutes have become increasingly popular of late, and we are seeing greater innovation, says Migros spokeswoman Carmen Hefti. Migros now has over 1,000 different vegan items in its range, of which meat and milk substitutes are the most popular, according to Hefti. Erstwhile niche products such as these have entered the mainstream. Coop has had a wide range of meat substitutes on its shelves – including own-brand Délicorn – since 2006. Bratwurst and schnitzel were among its first plant-based products. The supermarket currently offers over 2,000 vegetarian products, of which more than 1,800 are vegan, says Coop spokesman Caspar Frey. The retailer stocks over 100 vegan meat and fish alternatives, more than 50 milk alternatives, 40 vegan yoghurts, 20 vegan butters, and some 20 vegan cheese alternatives. Vegan With climate considerations in mind, the Swiss are rethinking their shopping and eating habits, as plant-based protein becomes more mainstream. However, it is fair to say that Switzerland remains a nation of meat eaters. tional animal meat production is one of the largest instigators of the climate crisis, it writes. Looks like meat, tastes like meat Plant-based means more vegetables and cereals – and less meat. But why make imitation meat in the first place? Why invest so much technology into pulling globular plant-based proteins together to look like sinuous muscle fibres? Why ferment these proteins with microbes such as fungi and bacteria? And why go through the complex process of producing bigger, juicier, more complex and more tenFocusing on future-proof solutions The world’s population will be just under ten billion by 2050. If so many are to be fed without endangering the planet, food production as well as eating habits must radically change. This means less meat, sugar, and fewer eggs – and more vegetables, nuts, and legumes. In addition to the public sector, numerous NGOs in Switzerland are working to achieve this goal. One of them is the "Fourchette verte – ama terra" quality and health label for canteens, which applies to 17 cantons and aims to reduce meat and fish consumption, promote environmentally and animal-friendly food production, and minimise food waste. Tools such as Eaternity, which calculates the carbon footprint of canteen menu options, or Beelong, which scores foods on a scale from A to G, also help to improve sustainability for food caterers in care homes, hospitals, preschools, and companies. (DLA) Good examples of ways for municipalities and cantons to promote sustainable nutrition (document available in French, German and Italian): revue.link/menu Swiss Review / May 2023 / No.3
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