Perhaps I should have phrased it more precisely: I meant that nobody in this thread is under the delusion that they are “healthier” than meat.
Reasons have been given in this thread by multiple posters already. I am most definitely NOT a vegetarian, but I eat (and really like) the Impossible Burger. Part of it is that I do feel like I should be eating less meat in general and reducing my carbon footprint; part of me does feel some ethical concerns in terms of treatment of animals, as well, but not enough (at least yet) to go vegetarian or vegan. There is, in my experience, a sizable market of people out there like me, who aren’t vegetarian, but would like to reduce their meat consumption for myriad of reasons.
so far it’s main audience is trendy people trying to feel less guilty about eating meat all the time with the perception of "trying to be healthy while saving the planet " occasionally when at a fast food joint …
From an article about the founding of Impossible Foods, “In 2009, [Impossible Foods founder Patrick O.] Brown decided to devote an 18-month sabbatical [from Stanford University] to eliminating industrial meat production, which he determined at the time to be the world’s largest environmental problem. A staggering one-third of the land on Earth is used to raise livestock and their food. The Midwest is a giant feed trough. Reducing meat consumption, Brown figured, would free up vast amounts of land and water, would greatly mitigate climate change, would alleviate the suffering of billions of animals, would eliminate mountains of chemical fertilizer, and would make people healthier. It seemed like a no-brainer.”
From my experience and watching videos about the Impossible Whopper, the burger is a little tricky to make, that the window between under and over cooked is very narrow.
Anyone had experience with the meatless burger McDonald’s sells in India?
I shoot for Yahoo Finance daily. We had the founder and CEO in. He brought 3 or 4 of them in. Not all of the on-camera talent wanted one. I got to eat the better part of one.
Since it was new to me, I plucked out big chunks of JUST the “meat” with no toppings or sauce.
Gobsmacked. It tasted like a juicy perfectly grilled burger.
I am 100% on board with this. I adore meat and beef and am sad that my children’s child will grow up in a fucked up world partially because of the wholesale deforestation that is a DIRECT result of cattle farming.
I also am quite on board with seaweed & insects for protein. I’ve had crickets, and suspect I could get on well with mealworms, since they could be mashed up and flavored.
Anyway, that’s a hell of a burger.
Is this the Beyond or Impossible burger? I know the thread subject is about the Beyond Burger, but a lot of conversation is also about the Impossible Burger.
Beyond Meat is beyond screwed.
I kinda hope they go bankrupt and get bought out by some grocery store chain who just sells it as their house brand.
The stuff is way overpriced for being oily veggie mush.
I think at the end of the day most vegans/vegetarians are not going to want something that tastes like meat and non vegans/vegetarians are not going to be terribly interested. It’s not even a healthy alternative.
My understanding is that the target market is non-vegetarians who want to reduce their meat consumption and not vegetarians or vegans. (That said, there are products meant as vegan or vegetarian substitutes for meat. Tofurkey for one.)
I know plenty of vegetarians who like meat alternatives. There just aren’t enough of them, which is why they tried to get meat-eaters to like them. But as a meat-eater who wants to reduce my carbon footprint, I generally just eat a lot of bean, pasta, tofu, and/or dairy meals, with occasional analog meats like Soyrizo and Gimme Lean thrown in as rare grace notes.
I’m glad that you’re willing to eat things like beans or tofu instead of meat but plenty of other meat eaters are not. This webpage from Impossible Foods makes the point that many meat eaters want meat, or something just like it.
Meat’s got a big problem. It’s too good. We humans love it too much. And we can’t stop eating it, even though we’re told it’s basically bad for our bodies and will eventually cause us to run out of water and land, while filling up our air with carbon emissions. Somehow, none of that seems to matter, because meat is just too delicious to eat less of it.
So why not solve the meat problem with MORE meat? Wait, what? Yeah, as meat lovers ourselves, we’ll fix meat with meat—by giving the world seriously meaty and delicious meat from plants that tastes as good as meat from animals, while being nutrient-packed, better for the planet and better for animals too. So everyone can keep eating meat forever and someday, cows can go back to not becoming hamburgers. Imagine that.
We see a future where the planet thrives while generation after generation of humans live happy, meat-filled lives. Sound totally impossible? Perfect.
Absolutely–and I think Impossible Foods has put this idea to the test, and the results are really and tragically clear. The vast majority of meat eaters want meat, not something just like it.
Perhaps lab-grown meat will appeal to the committed mea-eaters?
I mean, maybe. But I think the beef industry has both financial and cultural influence far beyond reason, and conservatives have built their identity on opposing kindness, and a piece of that means that if you’re not killing an animal for meat, you’re doing it wrong. No matter how delicious vat meat is, I think Fox News will tell their viewership to stick to cow-killed beef.
Well, Beyond diluted their stocks and crashed to 50 cents, then became a meme stock worth $9 for an hour or two before going back down to $3.