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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

#251

Post by bradbeattie »

acomjean wrote: post #158
ceph_ wrote: post #43

Earlier quoted context omitted.

People enjoy eating certain foods. Having options that allow you to replicate a certain taste without having to kill something is desirable to people who have gone veg. There's also the aspects of food as a culture or social participation. People want to be able to participate in things like BBQs or eat out at restaurants with friends.

>without having to kill something I think even vegans/vegetarians have to acknowledge they are killing plants to eat. I suspect the better for environment/health argument is more prevalent (why I eat little meat). At some point somethings going to have to die to feed yourself (until we can gene edit photosynthesis into humans..). I take some consolation that I'll be feeding bacteria when I'm gone.

It takes way more plants to raise animals for our consumption than to just eat the plants directly. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trophic_level#Biomass_transfer...

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

#252

Post by acomjean »

ceph_ wrote: post #242
acomjean wrote: post #158

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>without having to kill something I think even vegans/vegetarians have to acknowledge they are killing plants to eat. I suspect the better for environment/health argument is more prevalent (why I eat little meat). At some point somethings going to have to die to feed yourself (until we can gene edit photosynthesis into humans..). I take some consolation that I'll be feeding bacteria when I'm gone.

Do you think killing an animal is the same as killing a plant? I've never met a someone who felt that way. I don't think it's common whatsoever, especially among vegetarians.

I'm not going to go that far, to equate plants and animals. The original comment said "without killing something".

so I wondered why it's a no brainer that plants are ethically ok to kill and eat but species closer to us aren't.

Anyone who's dealt with animals or pets sees intelligence and Personality. So it's easy to have empathy and want to let them live (especially if they're cute and docile). Nobody likes killing animals if unnecessary (for the most part, I never understood hunting for sport). Factory farming doesn't leave a pleasant feeling either.

But there is a trend of getting protein from bugs.. and I'm wondering were that fits into people's thinking.

It's more of a thought experiment than anything.

Idle thoughts from a species on top of the food chain with ample calories available that is the steward of the planet (and not doing too well)

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

#253

Post by killjoywashere »

benjaminjackman wrote: post #117
killjoywashere wrote: post #104

Earlier quoted context omitted.

A friend in LA got my brother and I to try impossible burgers (he's pescatarian, I'm vegawarian): we agreed it was not that great.

What does vegawarian mean?

I'm aware vegetables are better.

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

#254

Post by dragonwriter »

Danihan wrote: post #247
dragonwriter wrote: post #241

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Fluoride lowers IQ in children an average of 15 points, per Harvard meta-analysis. No. Aside from the fact that meta-analyses are primarily a means of identifying areas for direct research because they have a strong tendency to magnify publication bias (among other problems), that's not what the cited piece concludes. Your own quote shows that the conclusion is much weaker, noting that the meta-analysis “found stro…

You're right, it's 7 points. However, that means there are still considerable issues (both medical and ethical) with the mass-ingesting of fluoride, which lends more credibility to Mercola's paranoia than your skepticism, in my opinion. And regardless of that, you are still ignoring all the main issues brought up with TVP.

> You're right, it's 7 points.

You acknowledge that you got the number wrong, which is good, but the smaller problem. The bigger problem is that the number was not, in either case, an impact concluded by the meta-analyses, it was merely the average impact of high flouridation in the studies included.

> However, that means there are still considerable issues (both medical and ethical) with the mass-ingesting of fluoride

No, it doesn't. Again, the source you cite does not conclude that there is any adverse effect. The meta-analysis, according to it's authors, indicates only that there may be an adverse effect.

Even the follow-up study by the authors (linked from your source; meta-analyses rarely support strong conclusions about fact, but often provide direction for further research) seems to indicate some effect, especially at high dosage levels but again, mostly is an indicator for further research, not a basis for concluding a clearly quantified effect.

Without a qauntifiable effect tied to actual flouride levels, it's not clear if there is any probl with the actual flouridation practice in the United States. Almost every substance is harmful in excess, even ones where moderate amounts are better than none.

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

#255

Post by dEnigma »

jlebrech wrote: post #213
dEnigma wrote: post #177

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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

One is L-shaped (artificial and flavour enhancing) the other is natural. http://science.jrank.org/pages/4433/Monosodium-Glutamate-MSG...

Surely the flavour enhancing one must be the natural one, or else meat wouldn't have the umami taste, or am I missing something?

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

#256

Post by nicpottier »

HillaryBriss wrote: post #84
nicpottier wrote: post #20

I tried a Beyond Burger, which I believe is the main other horse in this "veggie burger" race and I was pretty impressed. It doesn't have the "plant blood" that seems to be Impossible's secret sauce, but on a bun, with ketchup, lettuce and tomato I thought it was pretty great. Great enough that I'd order it instead of a normal burger if it was widely available.

how did the cost compare to meat?

I think the patties were sold in pairs at Whole Foods for about $8, so $4 a piece. Kind of steep but in a world where people pay $9 a serving for BlueApron seems competitive enough.

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

#257

Post by tptacek »

schitzapplebits wrote: post #244
kevinmchugh wrote: post #239

Earlier quoted context omitted.

When I don't want to take the time to grind my own meat I have the butcher do it for me. I don't know any restaurants that incorporate freezing to improve quality, only to lower costs.

It comes down to logistics. Maybe I'm a smaller restaurant, and I want to serve BBQ or fresh bread. Might not be feasible for them to smoke a brisket every day if they're not a brisket place, but you can definitely freeze some brisket and bring it back to life in pretty good quality. It doesn't improve it, but it lets a restaurant serve something that they otherwise couldn't. Same goes for fresh bread. Maybe they wan…

You definitely cannot freeze cooked barbecue brisket and bring it back to life at adequate commercial quality. You can freeze raw brisket, but that doesn't solve the core problem of serving barbecue brisket, which is that it takes so long to cook that you have to either be really good at predicting your turnover or close up early when you run out.

Long story short: freezing brisket, not a great plan.

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

#258

Post by schitzapplebits »

tptacek wrote: post #257
schitzapplebits wrote: post #244

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It comes down to logistics. Maybe I'm a smaller restaurant, and I want to serve BBQ or fresh bread. Might not be feasible for them to smoke a brisket every day if they're not a brisket place, but you can definitely freeze some brisket and bring it back to life in pretty good quality. It doesn't improve it, but it lets a restaurant serve something that they otherwise couldn't. Same goes for fresh bread. Maybe they wan…

You definitely cannot freeze cooked barbecue brisket and bring it back to life at adequate commercial quality. You can freeze raw brisket, but that doesn't solve the core problem of serving barbecue brisket, which is that it takes so long to cook that you have to either be really good at predicting your turnover or close up early when you run out. Long story short: freezing brisket, not a great plan.

You certainly can freeze barbecued brisket and bring it back to life in great shape——I've done it plenty of times. It took a lot of trial and error, but it's not impossible. I'm not cooking a 18 hour brisket just to eat a quarter pound of it and toss the rest.

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

#259

Post by Danihan »

dragonwriter wrote: post #254
Danihan wrote: post #247

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You're right, it's 7 points. However, that means there are still considerable issues (both medical and ethical) with the mass-ingesting of fluoride, which lends more credibility to Mercola's paranoia than your skepticism, in my opinion. And regardless of that, you are still ignoring all the main issues brought up with TVP.

> You're right, it's 7 points. You acknowledge that you got the number wrong, which is good, but the smaller problem. The bigger problem is that the number was not , in either case, an impact concluded by the meta-analyses, it was merely the average impact of high flouridation in the studies included. > However, that means there are still considerable issues (both medical and ethical) with the mass-ingesting of fluor…

Are none of these studies convincing to you?

http://fluoridealert.org/studies/brain01/

If not, what would be?

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

#260

Post by kevinmchugh »

schitzapplebits wrote: post #244
kevinmchugh wrote: post #239

Earlier quoted context omitted.

When I don't want to take the time to grind my own meat I have the butcher do it for me. I don't know any restaurants that incorporate freezing to improve quality, only to lower costs.

It comes down to logistics. Maybe I'm a smaller restaurant, and I want to serve BBQ or fresh bread. Might not be feasible for them to smoke a brisket every day if they're not a brisket place, but you can definitely freeze some brisket and bring it back to life in pretty good quality. It doesn't improve it, but it lets a restaurant serve something that they otherwise couldn't. Same goes for fresh bread. Maybe they wan…

Yes, these are examples of people maximizing for a variable other than quality. The linked study indicates that the freeze-thaw cycle has significant negative effects on the quality of ground beef. I believe ground meat is probably more damaged by freeze-thaw than whole cuts of meat.

https://www.dti.dk/_/media/66980_Effect%20of%20packaging,%20... (PDF!)

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