CROSSOVER SUSTAINABILITY
If you are on this page then you probably have learned that industrial agriculture and traditional hamburgers are pretty bad for the planet, and you want to play your part in making a difference... We understand that "sustainable meat" may sound sketchy and you would like to see the data behind our claims - we don't blame you.
“Environmentally responsible meat” - many have said it can't be done, or can only be done when pigs can fly, or when Jeff Bezos becomes a real astronaut. But with a little help from a brainy professor at Stanford, we made more sustainable meat happen (and no, we are not going to comment on whether Jeff can really call himself an astronaut).
Crossover Meats' line of all-natural blended protein products are based on a patent-pending process that uses poultry to replace a portion of lean muscle protein in ground meats such as beef, pork or lamb.
Numerous studies have shown that the production of animals such as cows, pigs, and lamb have a significant impact on key environmental factors, such as land use, water use and methane emissions compared to the production of chicken. This difference is big enough that our blended products that replace a portion of these meats with poultry has a materially lower negative impact on the environment.
Crossover Meats has three products that blend meat with chicken: beef & chicken (Tasty Twosome), pork & chicken (Delicious Double-up), and lamb & chicken (Flavorsome Friends). Each of these products are more than 60% poultry.
What kind of sustainable savings are we talking about?
The below charts quickly breakdown the math around how we got to each of the savings calculated on land, water and greenhouse gasses on the Tasty Twosome, Delicious Double-Up and Flavorsome Friends. You can find more information about the data and math if you continue reading.
Where did we get the data for this?
The data used to support these claims comes from a comprehensive study, “Reducing food’s environmental impacts through producers and consumers” (2018), performed by Joseph Poore of Oxford University and Thomas Nemecek of Agroscope, a research center affiliated with the Swiss Federal Office of Agriculture and published in Science magazine. The team gathered information from other studies and came up with values for GHG Emissions, Land Use, Freshwater Withdrawals, and Stress-Weighted Water Use associated with the production and farming of different food sources.
Poore and Nemecek have two different values for GHG emissions and water use. For the claims made here, GHG emissions calculated according to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s (IPCC) 2013 report, instead of the more outdated numbers calculated according to the IPCC’s 2007 report. Secondly, the water use claims made here are based on the Freshwater Withdrawals numbers instead of the Stressed-Weighted Water Use ones. This is because the authors seem to call into doubt the accuracy of these numbers in their report:
“To calculate scarcity-weighted freshwater withdrawals, we assumed that all irrigation water is evapo-transpired or embedded in the product, and none is returned to the watershed through percolation. This is sometimes true and sometimes an overestimation, depending on the need of the crop and the irrigation technique, but good data is lacking here, and we leave assessment of freshwater returns to further research.”
Based on this quote from the authors, it was determined Freshwater Withdrawals would be more reliable.
The 60.6% to 39.4% breakdown of chicken to the substituted meat is source internally from the recipes of Crossover Foods.
Want to take a really deep dive into our data?
Math nerds unite!
Calculations
Definitions
NU = Nutritional Unit
m2 = Square meters
kg CO2eq/NU = Emissions measured by their equivalency to kilograms of carbon dioxide per NU. The numbers used for our purposes are based on the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC)’s 2013 standards. These are more up to date than the other emission numbers in the study.
L/NU = Liters per nutritional unit
Preview
Some of the calculations below look incorrect due to intermediate rounding. The each number listed is the most accurate with no rounding until that number. If you're really intent on seeing the whole machine, just reach out and we'll send you more.
Tasty Twosome
Tasty Twosome is made up of 60.6% chicken and 39.4% beef. Multiplying the average land use (according to Poore and Nemecek 2018) for chicken (7.1 m2/nutritional unit) and beef (164 m2/NU) by their share of the product yields approximately 68.7 square meters per nutritional unit [(60.6% x 7.1 m2/nutritional unit) + (39.4% x 164 m2/nutritional unit)] = 68.7 m2/NU. This suggests that on average A Tasty Twosome patty uses 95.3 [164 – 68.7] less m2/nutritional unit or approximately 58.0% less than beef alone.
Multiplying the average GHG Emissions (according to Poore and Nemecek 2018) for chicken (5.7 kg CO2eq/NU) and beef (50 kg CO2eq/NU) by their share of the product yields approximately 11.3 kg CO2eq/NU. [(60.6% x 5.7 kg CO2eq/NU) + (39.4% x 50 kg CO2eq/NU)] = 11.3 kg CO2eq/NU. A Tasty Twosome patty uses 38.7 [50 – 11.3] less kg CO2eq/NU or approximately 53.7% less than beef alone.
Multiplying the average freshwater withdrawals (according to Poore and Nemecek 2018) for chicken (381 L/NU) and beef (728 L/NU) by their share of the product yields approximately 517.7 L/NU. [(60.6% x 381 L/NU) + (39.4% x 728 L/NU)] = 517.7 L/NU. A Tasty Twosome patty uses 210.3 [728 – 517.7] less L/NU or approximately 32.1% less than beef alone.
Delicious Double-up
Delicious Double-up is made up of 60.6% chicken and 39.4% pork. Multiplying the average land use (according to Poore and Nemecek 2018) for chicken (7.1 m2/nutritional unit) and pork (11 m2/NU) by their share of the product yields approximately 8.5 m2/NU. [(60.6% x 7.1 m2/NU) + (39.4% x 11 m2/nutritional unit)] = 8.5 m2/NU. A Delicious Double-up patty uses 2.5 [11 – 8.5] less m2/nutritional unit or approximately 20.8% less than pork alone.
Multiplying the average GHG Emissions (according to Poore and Nemecek 2018) for chicken (5.7 kg CO2eq/NU) and pork (7.6 kg CO2eq/NU) by their share of the product yields approximately 6.45 kg CO2eq/NU. [(60.6% x 5.7 kg CO2eq/NU) + (39.4% x 7.6 kg CO2eq/NU)] = 6.45 kg CO2eq/NU. A Del Double-up patty uses 1.15 [7.6 – 6.45] less kg CO2eq/NU or approximately 15.2% less than pork alone.
Multiplying the average freshwater withdrawals (according to Poore and Nemecek 2018) for chicken (381 L/NU) and pork (2049 L/NU) by their share of the product yields approximately 668.2 L/NU. [(60.6% x 381 L/NU) + (39.4% x 728 L/NU)] = 668.2 L/NU. A Del Double-up patty uses 1380.8 [2049 – 668.2] less L/NU or approximately 39.8% less than pork alone.
Flavorsome Friends
Flavorsome Friends is made up of 60.6% chicken and 39.4% lamb. Multiplying the average land use (according to Poore and Nemecek 2018) for chicken (7.1 m2/nutritional unit) and lamb (185 m2/NU) by their share of the product yields approximately 77.1 m2/NU. [(60.6% x 7.1 m2/NU) + (39.4% x 185 m2/nutritional unit)] = 77.1 m2/NU. A Flavorsome Friends patty uses 107.9 [185 – 77.1] less m2/nutritional unit or approximately 58.3% less than lamb alone.
Multiplying the average GHG Emissions (according to Poore and Nemecek 2018) for chicken (5.7 kg CO2eq/NU) and lamb (20 kg CO2eq/NU) by their share of the product yields approximately 11.3 kg CO2eq/NU. [(60.6% x 5.7 kg CO2eq/NU) + (39.4% x 20 kg CO2eq/NU)] = 11.3 kg CO2eq/NU. A Flavorsome Friends patty uses 8.7 [20 – 11.3] less kg CO2eq/NU or approximately 43.2% less than lamb alone.
Multiplying the average freshwater withdrawals (according to Poore and Nemecek 2018) for chicken (381 L/NU) and lamb (901 L/NU) by their share of the product yields approximately 585.9 L/NU. [(60.6% x 381 L/NU) + (39.4% x 901 L/NU)] = 585.9 L/NU. A Flavorsome Friends patty uses 1380.8 [901 – 585.9] less L/NU or approximately 35.0% less than lamb alone.
References
Poore, J., & Nemecek, T. (2018). Reducing food’s environmental impacts through producers and consumers. Science, 360(6392), 987–992. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.aaq0216