Inside ‘Planting Change:’ Beyond Meat’s New Film on Food, Health, and the Planet

Beyond Meat is best known for its realistic-tasting plant-based meat products. Think juicy burgers, ground beef, meatballs, sausages, and more—all packed with protein and other essential nutrients like carbohydrates and fiber. That’s why the California-based brand, which sells its vegan products globally and partners with major food companies (including McDonald’s), has released a new film focused on plant-based nutrition.

Introducing ‘Planting Change’

The new YouTube film, called Planting Change, is narrated by Beyond Meat’s founder, Ethan Brown, and aims to explore why plant-based nutrition can be a game-changer for both human health and planetary health. It features interviews with medical experts, climate advocates, and historians, all in a bid to demonstrate why the future of food should be plant-based. 

Planting Change also goes behind the scenes at Beyond Meat, showing viewers what goes into its products and how they’re made. This comes, in part, as a response to the growing narrative in media that all ultra-processed foods are inherently bad for human health, according to a company spokesperson who spoke with VegNews.

“The film highlights our very strong commitment to clean, simple ingredients and ingredient integrity. Further, it seeks to make accessible the process we use to deliver center-of-the-plate protein from the field to the consumer,” they explained. “It is a straightforward process that obviates the need for antibiotics, hormones, and veterinary drugs, while sidestepping other undesirable components of factory farming. We believe it is a better process, and one that is a strength and not a weakness.”

Ultra-processed foods: A nuanced discussion

Right now, the conversation around ultra-processed foods is both complex and contentious. Many such products—like sugary sodas, chips, frozen fries, fast food, and processed meats—lack nutrients and, when consumed frequently, have been linked to chronic diseases such as cancer and heart disease.

However, the issue is nuanced. Some ultra-processed foods—like hummus, baked beans, and plant-based meat alternatives—offer beneficial nutrients like protein and fiber. In 2024, research published in PLOS Medicine emphasized that lumping all ultra-processed foods together oversimplifies the science and harms public health messaging.

The new film sees Ethan Brown interview various experts on plant-based food. | Beyond Meat

Author Alexandra Johnstone, PhD, of the Rowett Institute of Nutrition and Health at the University of Aberdeen, said in a statement: “We should be thinking very carefully about what advice is being given to the public, as opposed to providing simplified and potentially misleading messages that grab headlines.”

Beyond Meat’s spokesperson agrees that media narratives are distorting reality. “There is an enormous amount of industry-sponsored and culture war misinformation that characterizes Beyond products as ultra-processed and with questionable ingredients,” they said. “Of course, this information reflects an agenda, not the truth, and we want people to have the facts.” They added: “Setting the facts straight is an important motivation for the film.”

An environmental call to action

The film also carries a strong environmental message—one of Beyond Meat’s major selling points. Beyond Burgers, for example, require 99% less water and 93% less land than their beef equivalents and generate 90% fewer greenhouse gas emissions. To highlight this, Planting Change includes commentary from multi-generational farmers who now grow plant-based crops to help the planet.

‘Planting Change’ goes behind the scenes of the Beyond Burger. | Beyond Meat

“It is our hope that Planting Change introduces to a new generation the many benefits of sourcing our protein from plants versus running plants through an animal to generate protein,” explained the brand’s spokesperson. “The quickest path between two points is a straight line. Our more direct route from field to table (bypassing the animal) is not only a clean and simple process but one that frees up a huge amount of land currently devoted to feeding livestock.”

“By shrinking the global agricultural footprint, plant-based protein supports the rewilding of lands to restore ecosystems and absorb carbon to slow climate change,” they said.

Planting Change premiered on YouTube on April 24 in honor of Earth Month. Celebrated every April, Earth Month aims to raise awareness and inspire action for environmental protection and preservation—perfectly aligned with Beyond Meat’s mission.

“We want people to feel empowered when they think about our products—empowered to take control of their own health and drive real, positive outcomes,” said Beyond Meat’s spokesperson. “Empowered to take immediate and meaningful action to help keep our rivers clean, soil healthy, and put the brakes on a runaway climate problem. There is a bright path ahead for innovation, climate stewardship, and nutrition in American agriculture, and we are excited to be part of it.”