Fast food restaurants are finally beginning to save some animals as they’ve taken up plant-based meat products on their menus – and the effect is massive. Restaurant chains’ use of meat alternatives in 2021 saved the equivalent of more than 700,000 animals lives – 212,000 pigs, 92,000 cows and 405,000 chickens, according to new research from World Animal Protection, a global animal welfare nonprofit organization,

Many in the veg and animal communities have been saying for a long time that saving the animals begins in your kitchen. Well now it begins in your fast food restaurant’s kitchen too. This is more than we could have even hoped for just a few years ago. All those veggie burgers and “chicken” nuggets are having a big effect on the animals.

According to Maha Bazzi, farming campaign manager at World Animal Protection, “Restaurants are definitely trying to meet this rising demand for plant-based products by offering more meat alternatives on their menus.” Bazzi goes on to say, “The industry is expected to stay the course in 2022 as meat alternatives evolve and become more widely accessible. The plant-based food industry is showing no signs of slowing down,” World Animal Protection says, “Some of the biggest meat companies are trying to keep up by introducing their own lines of plant-based products.” Looking at the data we expect that over a million animals will have been saved in 2022.

Word is getting around. A 2021 survey from Piplsay found that 71% of the 30,700 people polled said they’d heard of plant-based meat substitutes at fast-food restaurants. While there’s a long, long way to go we’re encouraged by the progress.