CELPIP Reading Part 4 Practice Test: Plant-Based Meat

A decade ago, most Canadians had only read about plant-based burgers. Today they fill whole freezer sections, and shoppers like Ottawa mother Jennifer Fortescue, who started buying them after her doctor warned her about her blood pressure, buy them every week. "They're on sale half the time, they keep forever in the freezer, and the kids eat them without a fuss." Their makers pitch them as better for both the body and the planet. Not everyone is buying it.

Teresa Zamora is marketing director at GreenPatty Foods, a Montreal maker of pea-protein burgers. She says swapping beef for plant protein eases pressure on farmland and water, and she cites studies showing that a pea-based patty produces roughly one tenth of the greenhouse gas emissions of a beef patty. "Sure, beef still wins on flavour, and on iron too. But when you look at what beef costs the environment, it's not even close, and that's what matters most to us." GreenPatty buys the bulk of its pea protein from processors in China.

Vera Penhale, a registered dietitian at a Toronto hospital, tells shoppers to read the nutrition label and ignore the pictures on the package. Many of these products, she says, are built from protein isolates, oils and binders rather than whole vegetables, and some contain a third of a day's recommended sodium in a single serving. "If your doctor has told you to watch your blood pressure, that's something you need to know about." She adds that people worry about protein for no good reason, since most products have about as much as beef.

Paul Weatherby, president of the Council for Whole Food Reform, is unimpressed by any of it. He says the patties are extruded at high heat, which strips out much of the fibre, and then loaded with coconut oil, which is high in saturated fat. He also argues that the peas are grown in huge monocultures that wear out the soil, and that much of the Prairie crop is shipped to China to be made into protein isolate. "These things are junk food in a green wrapper. Calling them health food is a joke."

I grow peas in Saskatchewan, and until now I'd never thought much about where they end up. It turns out the peas from my fields might 6. Choose…cross the Pacific twicelose most of their proteinbe processed near my farmbe blended with animal fat before they reach a freezer in Montreal or Toronto. If so, the emissions figures GreenPatty likes to quote before they reach a freezer in Montreal or Toronto. If so, the emissions figures GreenPatty likes to quote 7. Choose…deserve wider publicityare beyond disputemay need a second lookdeserve no attention. There are processors right here on the Prairies, so the long trip is about cost, not necessity.. There are processors right here on the Prairies, so the long trip is about cost, not necessity. 8. Choose…EchoingUnlikeQuotingThanks to Weatherby, though, I'm not worried about Weatherby, though, I'm not worried about 9. Choose…factory processingadded sodiumsingle-crop farmingoverseas shipping. Farmers here rotate peas with wheat and canola, and peas put nitrogen back into the soil. The dietitian's advice makes the most sense to me: shoppers should. Farmers here rotate peas with wheat and canola, and peas put nitrogen back into the soil. The dietitian's advice makes the most sense to me: shoppers should 10. Choose…check the fine printworry less about proteinavoid processed foodseat whole vegetables instead of trusting the pictures on the box. My neighbour switched to veggie burgers last year and says his cholesterol hasn't budged.