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Impossible Foods has raised $75M for its plant-based burgers

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Re: Impossible Foods has raised $75M for its plant-based burgers

#171

Post by lawik »

mikekchar wrote: post #145
aphextron wrote: post #26

What is it with first-world vegans/vegetarians wanting to eat these extremely processed imitation meat frozen foods? There is an entire tradition of vegetarian cuisine around the world from Rasta Ital, to Hindu Sattvic, Afghani, and Thai which you could learn with just a tiny bit of effort.

Hey, I like vegan food a lot, but it's not like "extremely processed imitation meat" foods haven't been part of vegan culture for a long time. Go to a tofu restaurant in Japan and take a look at what they do to yuba. As for the frozen part, vegans have traditionally had to cook virtually everything they ate in the first world. There has not historically been a lot of convenience food. The last 20 years or so, it's gr…

Appreciate how you illustrate the different aspects. I can take being the odd one out every now and then as a vegan. I'm aware that my choice places me in an odd spot from time to time. But it can be so good to not stick out sometimes. Whether it is that you have nice convenience food that can be handled just like the original or a taste that you thought you had given up or a social event where your food doesn't even register as weird.

And I believe these imitations really do help a lot of people make the transition either away from meat or towards less meat. Which I see as a good thing.

Re: Impossible Foods has raised $75M for its plant-based burgers

#172

Post by kbart »

mrfusion wrote: post #90
mmanfrin wrote: post #64

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Most burgers are improved with MSG, it is a miracle salt.

And msg is generally considered safe these days?

MSG itself is not a problem. Actually, it is so good, you can use lowest quality products, add some MSG and still get tasty meals. I avoid MSG precisely for this reason - I try to eat quality food and you may never know what's behind it when MSG is used.

Re: Impossible Foods has raised $75M for its plant-based burgers

#173

Post by hycaria »

shanev wrote: post #150
venantius wrote: post #144

Earlier quoted context omitted.

To be honest, it doesn't make that much of a difference when we compare the cost of calories from vegetable matter to the cost of calories from meat (and, when we're talking about a few ounces of organic matter for a burger, that is basically what we're talking about). Sure, you have to worry about soil erosion, but by the same token you have to consider the fact that a single cow has a large grazing area. Fertilizer…

Could you please enlighten me on how land gets fertilized on it's own without grazing herbivores to create a proper soil micro-biome? Sure cows need grazing land, but they don't require all the external inputs an industrial soybean farm, for instance, needs. All they require is land, sunlight, electric fences, and some water if rainfall is inadequate or the soil is in bad shape due to prior mismanagement or desertifi…

>Could you please enlighten me on how land gets fertilized on it's own without grazing herbivores to create a proper soil micro-biome?

You just keep their shit, let it decay, microorganisms flourish, and then spread it over the fields. Also switching plants regularily helps keeping decent amount of nitrogen in the soil.

>Sure cows need grazing land, but they don't require all the external inputs an industrial soybean farm, for instance, needs

This only works for extensive breeding, which is no more than 20% in the usa [1]. Sure, these eat hay in the winter, but thats not sufficient to keep animals fat enough. Inside their diet basically is the same as others, which is 50kg of corn silage, and some 2-5 kg of dehydrated soy protein. Per day. Good luck producing as much waste as a cow during her life time.

nb : I live and studied veterinary medicine in Europe, where we don't grow soy and import it from south america mostly (USA grows a lot already, idk if its autosufficient though). So yeah, deforestation exists so we can eat beef :)

1 - http://www.beefusa.org/beefindustrystatistics.aspx " feedlots with greater than 1,000 head capacity account for 81% of all cattle on feed". These mega farms don't do extensive breeding.

Re: Impossible Foods has raised $75M for its plant-based burgers

#174

Post by fragmede »

jjeaff wrote: post #114
tptacek wrote: post #105

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is a neat comment, but as someone who's been to a couple different Momofuku places (incl. Ssam Bar) but never had that dish: how heavily spiced is it? The dish is inspired (simultaneously) by Mapo Tofu and Bolognese --- it's supposed to literally be Ssam Bar's take on Mapo Tofu --- which suggests to me that the quality of the pork is probably not all that important to the overall dish. A good hamburger, on the o…

That really depends on the type of burger. Occasionally, I enjoy a good In n Out Burger. I don't expect their meat quality is particularly good. "Patty melt" style burgers are generally less reliant on meat quality as long as you can get a good, crunchy, umami seat on the thin mean patty or patties. I suspect the thicker higher end style burgers would be more reliant on the quality of the beef. However, for economic…

In-n-Out burger patties are never frozen and the chain has a number of high-profile chefs as fans. Their beef may be ground and it's fast food, but McDonalds it ain't.

Re: Impossible Foods has raised $75M for its plant-based burgers

#175

Post by kbart »

adrianmonk wrote: post #130
resf wrote: post #59

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Wow, do nutrition labels in USA generally not show figures per 100g?

It's per serving. Obviously, it's easier to compare if they are all relative to 100g, but arguably per-serving is more useful when making eating decisions. When I'm buying a food, I'm not trying to do science; I'm trying to figure out how much of a particular nutrient I'm personally going to get when I eat that item. For example, if I have soup, there's no way I'll have as little as 100g of it. If I have tea, there's…

Serving size is highly individual matter and, from my personal experience, usually much smaller than actual amount I take of pretty much everything.

Re: Impossible Foods has raised $75M for its plant-based burgers

#176

Post by seanwilson »

adrianmonk wrote: post #130
resf wrote: post #59

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Wow, do nutrition labels in USA generally not show figures per 100g?

It's per serving. Obviously, it's easier to compare if they are all relative to 100g, but arguably per-serving is more useful when making eating decisions. When I'm buying a food, I'm not trying to do science; I'm trying to figure out how much of a particular nutrient I'm personally going to get when I eat that item. For example, if I have soup, there's no way I'll have as little as 100g of it. If I have tea, there's…

The UK labels generally show per serving and per 100g together. Generally I find the serving sizes so low you're best to completely ignore them.

Re: Impossible Foods has raised $75M for its plant-based burgers

#177

Post by dEnigma »

mikekchar wrote: post #139
acchow wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I tried the Impossible Meats burger - it was nowhere near as tasty as a beef burger. I think it could be improved drastically by just adding a little MSG tho.

I just want to point out that there are lots of ways to get umami. MSG is just one of them (and not really a great way IMHO). I cooked vegan at home for a long time (I'm not actually an ethical vegan, I just like vegan food). Konbu dashi will give you similar glutamate profiles, but tomatoes, fermented products like shoyu and miso, etc are simple ways to boost the umami as well. Usually the biggest trick in good vega…

Most of the things you list as MSG alternatives actually contain MSG; like tomatoes, konbu dashi, and many fermented products.

Re: Impossible Foods has raised $75M for its plant-based burgers

#178

Post by sdrothrock »

spraak wrote: post #157
throwaway2016a wrote: post #56

I am extremely eager to see lab grown meat more so than I am eager to see better meat substitutes become mainstream. However, being a meat eater, since the news of this product came out however many months and years it was, I have been wanting to try it. Which is more than I can say for other meat substitutes.

It's hard for me to understand the excitement for lab meat. Can you explain your interest?

Reproducibility of particularly good strains of meat.

Re: Impossible Foods has raised $75M for its plant-based burgers

#180

Post by SmellyGeekBoy »

spraak wrote: post #157
throwaway2016a wrote: post #56

I am extremely eager to see lab grown meat more so than I am eager to see better meat substitutes become mainstream. However, being a meat eater, since the news of this product came out however many months and years it was, I have been wanting to try it. Which is more than I can say for other meat substitutes.

It's hard for me to understand the excitement for lab meat. Can you explain your interest?

Better control over the quality and consistency of the end product? I enjoy a wagyu steak a lot more than a tough cheap cut or minced up eyelids and connective tissue.
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