Quorn, the UK’s No.1 meat free brand (Kantar + IRI MAT Nov 2017), has partnered with TV presenter Ben Fogle and footballer Jermain Defoe to launch a short film showcasing how eating less and better meat is better for the health of consumers and the planet.

The film forms part of Plate Up, a three-part series, which sees Ben go on a journey to discover how relevant eating less meat is to modern-day living, as people take more interest in how their lifestyle choices, including diet, impact on the environment.

The first in a series of celebrity partnerships kicks off with Premier League star Jermain Defoe, focusing on the role protein plays in sport and how eating less meat has had a positive impact on his sporting performance.

Peter Harrison, marketing director at Quorn, said: “Plate Up comes at a time when people are giving much more thought to the benefit of eating healthier, more sustainable food.

“This forms part of a bigger picture in which retailers, suppliers and shoppers are all more aware of how the choices we make today, including diet, will impact on future generations.”

Annual meat production emits more Greenhouse Gases each year than all the vehicles on earth put together (Chatham House, The Royal Institute of International Affairs, 2014) and a meat based diet generates a carbon footprint that is 50% bigger than a plant based diet (Peter Scarborough, ‘Dietary Greenhouse Gas Emissions of Meat-Eaters, Fish Eaters, Vegetarians and Vegans in the UK’; Climatic Change) but not everyone is aware of the impact our diets have on the environment.

“We are eating far too much meat and with the population set to increase to 11bn by 2050,” adds Harrison,“we need to reduce our meat consumption and eat more protein sources that have a low impact on the planet, now.

“That is why we have partnered with Jermain, Ben and others. We want to help get the message out there that we all need to start considering the health of our planet as well as our own health, when it comes to the food we eat. It doesn’t require a radical shift in our lifestyles at all. There are simple changes the whole family can make and by just eating less meat once a week, we can honestly start to make a big change.

“We’re not asking everyone to give up meat entirely. But there are loads of tasty alternatives out there that can still give us the protein we need. If Jermain Defoe can go meat free and get picked for England, I reckon we can all afford a few more meat free meals as part of our weekly dinners.”

The activity forms part of Quorn’s £14 million brand support package throughout 2018 and follows record sales growth of £19 million in 2017 (Kantar + IRI MAT Nov 2017).

Watch the first video here - https://youtu.be/kY2Dq17N66A.