For the past week or so, at least until Uber devoured the headlines, the market was buzzing about Beyond Meat, the US company famed for its plant-based burgers.
Having sunk their teeth into its IPO from day one - May 2 - ravenous investors watched the company’s stock sizzle to a positively succulent 148 per cent up by the end of last week.
Beyond Meat has fascinated the market for several reasons. After overcoming pea-protein supply issues, the company has set about convincing meat eaters that a viable non-carnivorous option exists. In creating a product that waves goodbye to the dry, limp, tasteless veggie burgers of yesteryear, they have also convinced retailers and restaurants that theirs is an idea worth chewing over.
For the US, the world’s largest beef producer as well as consumer, this is a big deal. America is, after all, the land of cowboys, not to mention chains like McDonald's, Burger King and Arby’s, whose advertising loudly proclaims: “We have the meats!”
“We have the non-meat alternative!” might not roll off the tongue, but the idea of mainstream America embracing a vegan option is certainly intriguing.
The UAE is no stranger to meat-free burgers. Back in February, plant-based meat substitutes were firmly on the menu at the UAE’s Gulfood exhibition, while Applebee’s in Dubai has started serving plant-based burgers manufactured by Moving Mountains Burger.
Good nutrition is part of this story. One recent US Department of Health & Human Services study showed that, compared to people eating diets rich in white meat such as fish and poultry or plant-based protein, those with diets rich in red meat such as beef and mutton had triple the levels of chemicals linked to heart disease.
Personally, I’m willing to overlook the health benefits and tuck into the occasional juicy beef burger, but there are other considerations with longer-term significance.
The UAE imports 90 per cent of its food produce, including live animals and meat. A report by the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) found that, on average, UAE residents each consumed about 73.2kg of meat per year, ranking them among the highest consumers of meat worldwide. It also predicts that meat consumption could increase by up to 70 per cent by 2050.
The UAE also has the highest per capita water consumption of any country in the world. According to the Water Footprint Network, if a UAE resident avoided meat for just two days a week, it would save the equivalent of their annual water usage.
Meat production is inherently inefficient. Producing 1,500 calories worth of meat, or about 1kg, creates around 46kg of CO2 emissions. Apply that same formula to producing rice, and you will create 54,000 calories worth of the stuff. That's enough to feed 27 adults for a day; a kilogram of meat will barely feed one.
Consider instead the numbers that Beyond Meat’s rival, Impossible Burger, posits for its patties: it claims one of its burgers requires 95 per cent less land and 14 per cent less water than a beef burger, and reduces greenhouse gas emissions by 87 per cent.
Those numbers relate to another pressing UAE issue: the country is heavily reliant on a handful of nations, one of which is Brazil, for animal-based products. Brazil has a keen eye on the Arabian Gulf region and has been working with the Dubai-based International Halal Accreditation Forum (IHAF) to unify halal certifications. According to Fambras Halal, Brazilian halal food exports grew by around 10 per cent last year, rising to almost $5 billion.
Good news for carnivores, perhaps; but the rate at which Brazil's forests are disappearing is profoundly alarming. Among the main culprits of deforestation is, of course, cattle farming.
According to Global Forest Watch, from 2001 to 2017, Brazil lost 50.9 million hectares of tree cover, equivalent to a 9.8 per cent decrease since 2000 and 4.21Gt of CO₂ of emissions.
The UAE is among the countries most vulnerable to climate change. By deepening its dependency on meat imports from Brazil, it may be contributing to one of its own most pressing problems.
The UAE famously has a Minister of State of Food Security, and Mariam Al Mehairi has helped the country carve out a deserved reputation for agricultural innovation. She has been warning of the need to develop strategies for a sustainable future and to bring issues such as climate change to the fore.
Eye-catching projects in the UAE are making real progress in sustainable agriculture. The Abu Dhabi Food Control Authority’s Protected Agriculture Project, which uses UV-ray treated recycled water and an inbuilt cooling system to grow plants without contributing to climate change, is one. There are now as many as 1,000 UAE farms operating hydroponic greenhouses. The sector is vibrant.
In this context, the enthusiasm around Beyond Meat’s IPO may point to a mouth-watering opportunity. Whereas the idea of the UAE becoming self-sufficient in rearing livestock might be rather far-fetched, the idea of its agricultural innovation placing it at the vegan vanguard is less so.
By growing burgers in its own backyard, perhaps the UAE could become a meat-alternative production hub – and help tackle one of its meatiest challenges in the process.
First Move with Julia Chatterley airs Monday-Friday at 6pm on CNN International
Sinopharm vaccine explained
The Sinopharm vaccine was created using techniques that have been around for decades.
“This is an inactivated vaccine. Simply what it means is that the virus is taken, cultured and inactivated," said Dr Nawal Al Kaabi, chair of the UAE's National Covid-19 Clinical Management Committee.
"What is left is a skeleton of the virus so it looks like a virus, but it is not live."
This is then injected into the body.
"The body will recognise it and form antibodies but because it is inactive, we will need more than one dose. The body will not develop immunity with one dose," she said.
"You have to be exposed more than one time to what we call the antigen."
The vaccine should offer protection for at least months, but no one knows how long beyond that.
Dr Al Kaabi said early vaccine volunteers in China were given shots last spring and still have antibodies today.
“Since it is inactivated, it will not last forever," she said.
What is hepatitis?
Hepatitis is an inflammation of the liver, which can lead to fibrosis (scarring), cirrhosis or liver cancer.
There are 5 main hepatitis viruses, referred to as types A, B, C, D and E.
Hepatitis C is mostly transmitted through exposure to infective blood. This can occur through blood transfusions, contaminated injections during medical procedures, and through injecting drugs. Sexual transmission is also possible, but is much less common.
People infected with hepatitis C experience few or no symptoms, meaning they can live with the virus for years without being diagnosed. This delay in treatment can increase the risk of significant liver damage.
There are an estimated 170 million carriers of Hepatitis C around the world.
The virus causes approximately 399,000 fatalities each year worldwide, according to WHO.
The specs
Engine: 3.0-litre six-cylinder turbo
Power: 398hp from 5,250rpm
Torque: 580Nm at 1,900-4,800rpm
Transmission: Eight-speed auto
Fuel economy, combined: 6.5L/100km
On sale: December
Price: From Dh330,000 (estimate)
The specs
Engine: 4.0-litre flat-six
Torque: 450Nm at 6,100rpm
Transmission: 7-speed PDK auto or 6-speed manual
Fuel economy, combined: 13.8L/100km
On sale: Available to order now
Test
Director: S Sashikanth
Cast: Nayanthara, Siddharth, Meera Jasmine, R Madhavan
Star rating: 2/5
Day 3 stumps
New Zealand 153 & 249
Pakistan 227 & 37-0 (target 176)
Pakistan require another 139 runs with 10 wickets remaining
Sole survivors
- Cecelia Crocker was on board Northwest Airlines Flight 255 in 1987 when it crashed in Detroit, killing 154 people, including her parents and brother. The plane had hit a light pole on take off
- George Lamson Jr, from Minnesota, was on a Galaxy Airlines flight that crashed in Reno in 1985, killing 68 people. His entire seat was launched out of the plane
- Bahia Bakari, then 12, survived when a Yemenia Airways flight crashed near the Comoros in 2009, killing 152. She was found clinging to wreckage after floating in the ocean for 13 hours.
- Jim Polehinke was the co-pilot and sole survivor of a 2006 Comair flight that crashed in Lexington, Kentucky, killing 49.
The Sand Castle
Director: Matty Brown
Stars: Nadine Labaki, Ziad Bakri, Zain Al Rafeea, Riman Al Rafeea
Rating: 2.5/5
MATCH INFO
Sheffield United 2 Bournemouth 1
United: Sharp (45 2'), Lundstram (84')
Bournemouth: C Wilson (13')
Man of the Match: Jack O’Connell (Sheffield United)
The specs
Engine: 6.2-litre supercharged V8
Power: 712hp at 6,100rpm
Torque: 881Nm at 4,800rpm
Transmission: 8-speed auto
Fuel consumption: 19.6 l/100km
Price: Dh380,000
On sale: now
Read more about the coronavirus
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
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MATCH INFO
Uefa Champions League, semi-final result:
Liverpool 4-0 Barcelona
Liverpool win 4-3 on aggregate
Champions Legaue final: June 1, Madrid
How much do leading UAE’s UK curriculum schools charge for Year 6?
- Nord Anglia International School (Dubai) – Dh85,032
- Kings School Al Barsha (Dubai) – Dh71,905
- Brighton College Abu Dhabi - Dh68,560
- Jumeirah English Speaking School (Dubai) – Dh59,728
- Gems Wellington International School – Dubai Branch – Dh58,488
- The British School Al Khubairat (Abu Dhabi) - Dh54,170
- Dubai English Speaking School – Dh51,269
*Annual tuition fees covering the 2024/2025 academic year
Key facilities
- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
- Premier League-standard football pitch
- 400m Olympic running track
- NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
- 600-seat auditorium
- Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
- An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
- Specialist robotics and science laboratories
- AR and VR-enabled learning centres
- Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
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MOUNTAINHEAD REVIEW
Starring: Ramy Youssef, Steve Carell, Jason Schwartzman
Director: Jesse Armstrong
Rating: 3.5/5
The specs: 2019 Mercedes-Benz C200 Coupe
Price, base: Dh201,153
Engine: 2.0-litre turbocharged four-cylinder
Transmission: Nine-speed automatic
Power: 204hp @ 5,800rpm
Torque: 300Nm @ 1,600rpm
Fuel economy, combined: 6.7L / 100km
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Veil (Object Lessons)
Rafia Zakaria
Bloomsbury Academic
Honeymoonish
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