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Meat-free 'Impossible Burger 2.0' tastes even closer to the real deal

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Re: Meat-free 'Impossible Burger 2.0' tastes even closer to the real deal

#21

Post by giarc »

SupaFlyak wrote: post #12

Do vegan/vegetarians really want something that reminds them of meat products? Why not just make a good meat-free sandwich that doesn't imitate another product?

I'm not a vegan/vegetarian but I want this product. I'm concerned about the environmental cost of raising beef cattle and I'd like a better option. My family has already cut down our red meat consumption. We use ground turkey and chicken quite a bit. I still want the ability to grill a good steak once a month, but I'd love to use some of this ground meat in pasta sauces, taco's etc.

Re: Meat-free 'Impossible Burger 2.0' tastes even closer to the real deal

#22

Post by Vinnl »

toyg wrote: post #9
nindalf wrote: post #3

Congrats to that team for building a great product. I hope they see a lot of success. Long term, I hope plant based meat alternatives become commoditized. If there are a bunch of alternatives that taste just as good and importantly are cheaper than meat , most people will switch. That's a huge win for the environment (and also animal rights), and I can't wait to see it happen.

Until the people currently destroying forests to grow cattle, start destroying forests to grow ingredients for these burgers. Soil depletion is also a thing. I still remember the argument for biofuel and where it ended up. More options in the mix is always good, but trying to replace everything with vegetable stuff is not going to work in the long run.

We're so far from that being even close to a problem that I feel it's a bit disingenuous to see it repeated so often when vegetarianism comes up. There's a whole lot of meat we can cut out of our diets without any of that becoming a problem.

(And of course, if the soy that is currently fed to cattle is fed to humans directly, we can feed quite a few more humans from that than that cattle currently can, without needing to use more resources. That's not to say it does not come with its own problems, but they're unlikely to be as severe as the ones we get with meat anytime soon.)

Re: Meat-free 'Impossible Burger 2.0' tastes even closer to the real deal

#23

Post by giancarlostoro »

danharaj wrote: post #6

That's really cool. Although I wish there were more vegan food that didn't try to replicate non-vegan textures and flavors. Imitation can only be playing catch-up. The best vegan and vegetarian food does its own thing.

Well in this case it allows you to eat a burger if you like burgers. Me personally I eat vegan, vegetarian and non-vegan / non-vegetarian foods so it doesn't bother me as much.

Re: Meat-free 'Impossible Burger 2.0' tastes even closer to the real deal

#24

Post by JoeAltmaier »

rsynnott wrote: post #16
toyg wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Until the people currently destroying forests to grow cattle, start destroying forests to grow ingredients for these burgers. Soil depletion is also a thing. I still remember the argument for biofuel and where it ended up. More options in the mix is always good, but trying to replace everything with vegetable stuff is not going to work in the long run.

Generally, most of that forest destruction is to grow soy beans for animal feed. Feeding the soy beans directly to humans is far more efficient, so, if more people adopt TVP instead of meat, you'd expect a drop in land requirements.

You go ahead and spend your money on that stuff. But in a free market, soy-based protein is going to be a hard sell.

Re: Meat-free 'Impossible Burger 2.0' tastes even closer to the real deal

#25

Post by the_gastropod »

danharaj wrote: post #6

That's really cool. Although I wish there were more vegan food that didn't try to replicate non-vegan textures and flavors. Imitation can only be playing catch-up. The best vegan and vegetarian food does its own thing.

Hear hear! These kinds of foods I think are handy for people transitioning to a more vegetarian/vegan diet, when they still crave "traditional" foods like hamburgers and hotdogs. But I think they also goof up public perceptions of what good veg* food is.

Re: Meat-free 'Impossible Burger 2.0' tastes even closer to the real deal

#26

Post by philg_jr »

SupaFlyak wrote: post #12

Do vegan/vegetarians really want something that reminds them of meat products? Why not just make a good meat-free sandwich that doesn't imitate another product?

A product like this is primarily for people who already eat beef, who may be wanting to cut back on their meat consumption. Most vegetarians/vegans I know would never bother trying a product like this.

Re: Meat-free 'Impossible Burger 2.0' tastes even closer to the real deal

#27

Post by alangpierce »

toyg wrote: post #9
nindalf wrote: post #3

Congrats to that team for building a great product. I hope they see a lot of success. Long term, I hope plant based meat alternatives become commoditized. If there are a bunch of alternatives that taste just as good and importantly are cheaper than meat , most people will switch. That's a huge win for the environment (and also animal rights), and I can't wait to see it happen.

Until the people currently destroying forests to grow cattle, start destroying forests to grow ingredients for these burgers. Soil depletion is also a thing. I still remember the argument for biofuel and where it ended up. More options in the mix is always good, but trying to replace everything with vegetable stuff is not going to work in the long run.

Plant-based foods are almost always significantly more efficient to produce than meat since you no longer need to grow all of the food to feed an animal for its entire life.

From another article ( https://www.cnet.com/news/impossible-burger-2-0-tastes-like-... ):

> But Impossible Foods can produce a burger using a fourth of the water and less than 4 percent of the land -- and emit one-tenth of the greenhouse gases -- than a conventional burger, Brown said.

So yeah, we might still destroy forests to make veggie burgers, but it'll be 1/25th of the forest destruction (if you believe the numbers).

Re: Meat-free 'Impossible Burger 2.0' tastes even closer to the real deal

#28

Post by 52-6F-62 »

Vinnl wrote: post #11

I'm really curious about the "fake meat" products that exist in other countries. In the Netherlands, there's been enormous growth both in the number of vegetarians and in the number of "fake meat" products that have become widely available, and the quality of the latter has improved dramatically. Before, these products were mostly useful for the non-vegetarians wanting to prepare a meal for vegetarians without having…

Yves is really popular here in Canada. You can get it in just about every grocery store and some corner stores: http://yvesveggie.com/en/

That said, it's more traditional "fake meat", and probably not a close synthesis.

I'm actually more curious about the lab grown meat as an alternative. It almost seems like that could catch up by the time anyone gets a veggie burger actually tasting like meat.

Re: Meat-free 'Impossible Burger 2.0' tastes even closer to the real deal

#29

Post by Vinnl »

SupaFlyak wrote: post #12

Do vegan/vegetarians really want something that reminds them of meat products? Why not just make a good meat-free sandwich that doesn't imitate another product?

That depends on the person, but most of the vegans/vegetarians I know are not vegan/vegetarian because they are disgusted by the product, but because they have ethical concerns about the process that created it. If they can get the same taste experience without the ethical concerns, that's a net win.
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