Principle 20: Serve Less Red Meat, Less Often

Red meat— beef, pork, and lamb—can be enjoyed occasionally and in small amounts. Choose products from animals raised without the routine use of antibiotics, and that have been grass-fed or primarily pastured. Current guidance from nutrition research recommends consuming a maximum of two 3-ounce servings of red meat per week.

Chefs and menu developers can rethink how meat is used by featuring it in smaller, supporting roles to healthier plant-based choices, and experimenting with meat as a condiment. From at least some environmental perspectives (e.g., GHGE, feed efficiency ratio), pork is the better choice among red meats (though not distinguishable from a nutritional perspective). Saturated fat is one health concern associated with red-meat consumption, but it’s not the only issue. Chefs should strive to limit bacon and other processed and cured meats, which are associated with even higher incidence of chronic disease and some cancers than unprocessed red meats.

Many diners choose to splurge on red meat when they eat out, and for many there will always be an appropriate place for meat-centered dishes. But chefs can help to shift eating patterns by building a sense of theater and value in menu concepts that don’t rely so heavily on a starring role for animal protein. For example, they might offer delicious meat/ vegetable and meat/legume blends, or smaller tasting portions of red meat as part of vegetable- rich, small-plate formats.