Plant-based alternatives to meat have found their way into upscale restaurants and fast-food joints alike, but the trend hasn't really cracked Thanksgiving — one of the biggest meat-eating days of the year.
The big picture: Companies have made big strides in re-creating the taste of burgers and chicken nuggets with plant protein, but there are relatively few vegan options for the Thanksgiving turkey.
The backdrop: The most popular vegan alternative to the Thanksgiving centerpiece is Tofurky, which hit the market around 25 years ago. But even that product doesn't aim to re-create turkey's unique taste.
One reason companies haven't attempted a faux turkey is because it's much easier to re-create the texture and flavor of a processed meat product — like burgers or sausages — than it is to mimic something like steak or roasted chicken.
The stakes: While eating beef has the steepest environmental impact — a diet that includes beef has 10 times the climate impact of a plant-based diet — other types of meat-eating hurt the planet, too, Hurowitz says.
But, but, but: "The biggest obstacle to plant-based turkey is how central eating turkey is to the Thanksgiving tradition," says Hurowitz. "It has meaning and values and traditions, so that's very hard to replace," San Martin says.
The bottom line: When considering the deep and wide-ranging climate effects of the meat industry, switching to a plant-based diet is one of the most impactful actions individuals can take to reduce their carbon footprint, experts say.
