Sustainability of proteins

What is sustainable?

The broadly accepted definition of sustainability is meeting present needs without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their needs. In relation to natural resources, that means not depleting them faster than they can be replenished. 

Limiting factors

In the case of food proteins, in practice, many factors other than sustainability criteria influence the choice of protein sources for pet foods. For instance, there are some proteins that are highly limited in volume because the plant or animal from which they are obtained exists in relatively low numbers, such as bison or duck. 

Marketing, regulatory and cultural factors can come into play also. For example, in some pet markets, marketing campaigns demonise by-product proteins, thereby limiting their use, even though the use of such by-products is a key part of a circular approach, reducing waste. Campaigns promoting ‘what would your pet eat in the wild’ force the use of certain meat proteins over highly accessible, plant and animal protein meals. 

Regulatory processes can be influential, too, impacting the take-up of, for example, pea proteins, or limiting the approval of others, such as faba bean protein. Culturally, while there may be admiration for cultures that use the entire animal in their food ecosystem, there is limited acceptance of new protein sources, like insect meal. 

Fish proteins

At times, it appears that the question is not whether there is enough protein for the pet industry, but if the industry is open to using what is available, and use it more effectively.  

One option is to look at fish proteins and, in particular, the Alaskan Pollock harvest in the Bering Sea which has the highest sustainability score of all fisheries in the world, as assessed by the Marine Stewardship Council (MSC). Processing water is completely made onboard food vessels and the overall carbon footprint is lower than that of tofu, almonds and any other fishery. The Alaskan Pollock also has a very low ‘bycatch’ – that is, the secondary species inadvertently caught. 

Monumental efforts have been made by the Marine Stewardship Council to develop fisheries, seaweed and custody standards. MSC has a Technical Advisory Board made up of independent experts and has a Stakeholder Advisory Council to improve quickly.  Other fish protein sources are used, but none reach to this level of sustainability.

Being sustainable

Until the last few years, finding sustainable proteins has been a secondary question, but market research today indicates consumers would approve of steps to reduce environmental impact. The pet industry has been very conscious of being environmentally focussed in the recycling of packaging, planting of trees and using new sources of energy in production. The Pet Sustainability Coalition was formed to draw attention to environmental issues and pulling the pet industry together, which is a mission