One of the biggest questions around veganism surrounds protein, and where vegans get it from, even though cases of protein deficiency in the developed world are extremely rare. What people often forget, or are not taught in the first place, is that, in fact, it’s plants and not animals that can make their own protein. This means that animal protein is simply recycled protein (e.g., a cow eats grass, the grass was full of protein, person eats cow, person gets protein that cow got from the grass).
In a world where vegans are thriving in the protein department, things are about to get even better with recent product launches by Equinom.
The Israeli, seed breeding firm is currently making peas, chickpeas, and cowpeas with almost 50 percent more protein than they typically contain. This is big for the little pea, which is already a great source of plant based protein. Peas grown in France, for example, have about a 20 percent protein content and Equinom is looking to increase it to 28 percent.
The firm told FoodNavigator, “In a market challenged by the growing worldwide demand for sustainable, non-GMO, plant-based protein sources, an increase in protein levels represents significant financial gain to protein processors and food companies.”
The products won’t be readily available to the public until around 2020. In the meantime, though, they’re working with manufacturers from all around to see how their product would work in the supply chain. Perhaps this, among other plant based protein advancements, will be enough to bust the myth that vegans don’t get enough protein (but not the memes, please).
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