Impossible Burgers’ key, bloody ingredient gets long awaited nod from FDA

Cattle naturally eat grass, in a symbiotic relationship with the grasslands.

Joel Salatin, legendary proprietor of Polyface Farms, considers himself a "grass farmer". He maintains the grassland, which the cattle graze on and perform several important functions. Not only does grazing stimulate root growth, but the cow digests cellulose (or technically, the bacteria in her rumen ferment it) and emits fertilizer, feeding the plants ever hungry for more nitrogen and predigested nutrients. Grass uniquely grows from its base instead of its tips, so the cows eating and grazing on grass doesn't kill the plant, but rather the opposite.

Contrast with other plants with thorns or spines or chemical deterrents (such as coffee, caffeine originally a pesticide generated by the plant to deter predators, now cultivated by humans as a stimulant) or anti-nutrients or toxins. Grass has none of these. Lierre Keith explains in her usually floral prose how grasses want to be grazed, metaphorically: the grass created the cows (a similar point can be made about human domestication and lactose tolerance gene).

Of course, concentrated animal feed operations additionally feed cattle with grains. Grains are a recent invention on the evolutionary timescale: they didn't exist until humans domesticated annual grasses about 12,000 years ago, whereas the progenitors of the domestic cow, the aurochs, were around more than 2 million years ago. Cattle aren't adapted for grain, upsetting the delicate balance bacterial balance of their rumen, causing sickness. Poultry fed too much grain will develop fatty liver. So why do it?

Grains are cheap, very cheap. An ideal commodity, storable and portable. A dense organic form of energy, most likely converted from fossil fuel fertilizer thanks to Fritz Haber. And they cause explosive growth in animals, dramatically increasing both meat and milk production. The economic incentives are there.

That doesn't mean it is a good idea, or is sustainable or ecologically wise or nutritionally healthy.

Fortunately, grassfed grass-finished pastured beef is getting easier and easier to find. Thousands of years ago, used to be the only kind there was, now we are coming back full circle.

This is the maximalist approach. However, you probably do lots of other things which have not been tested by history eg using mobile phones.

Also bear in my mind the way which our ancestors ate meat is very different to how we do it, and there is much evidence that red meat consumption is bad for your health in the modern context with our long lifespans.

To be honest, it is very confusing to try and work out what constitutes a healthy diet these days.

Since most people talk about meat bleeding, I don't really think most people make a big distinction between the two things to begin with. And it is blood, minus some of the components. The fluid portion is identical.

>I don't really think most people make a big distinction between the two things to begin with.

No kidding, that is precisely what I'm arguing about.

>And it is blood, minus some of the components.

I still don't understand your point. It is _not_ blood. Water is the same thing as chicken noodle soup, minus some components. Water is not the same thing as chicken noodle soup.

If I don't eat meat for a couple days, I start feeling tired and hungry all the time. So for me the problem is not the taste of the meat, but rather how it makes my body functional.

I haven't tried the Impossible Burger. Does it solve this problem?