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Burger King is introducing a vegetarian patty from the start-up Impossible Foods

nytimes.com

281–290 of 663 posts

Re: Burger King is introducing a vegetarian patty from the start-up Impossible Foods

#281

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Just out of interest, what's the reasoning behind a strict separation of the two? I understand it in the case of gluten free products because that can really have health implications, but when you are vegan for ethical reasons it shouldn't make a difference, right? But I'd say this is great news either way. I like meat, but when there's a way to get the same taste and texture without the bad consequences for animals…

The taste and texture aren't anything at all like ground beef. What they have created is something that DOES taste good in a 'hamburger bun with hamburger-style toppings' You can prove this by trying to make meatball or spaghetti or a taco with the 'impossible burger', and it's nothing like it should be.

Actually I used the Field Roast burger patties a lot to make spaghetti bolognese sauce and it tastes exactly right.

Haven't tried the Impossible patties yet though

Re: Burger King is introducing a vegetarian patty from the start-up Impossible Foods

#282
post #187

The most interesting thing about this particular announcement is that it may normalize plant-derived meat-substitutes among the typical fast-food-burger eating population, and not just the mostly-vegetarian folks (like myself) who will spend $10 on an Impossible Burger at a fancy sports bar. Within a decade this might just be normalized, and nobody will make much of it.

I agree, this could be big. The health implications could be a driver of this, consider how many people there are with high cholesterol that should be eating less beef. And then think about how many health driven alternative products there are, eg diet soda, margarine, alt-milks, etc that really can take off in the mainstream once big budget marketing gets behind it.

iirc margarine is really unhealthy tho

Re: Burger King is introducing a vegetarian patty from the start-up Impossible Foods

#283

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Interesting. Speaking as a carnivore, I find eating human flesh morally wrong, and would be quite insulted if someone cooked my burger next to some 'man' burger. So I can understand their point of view.

You are not the target audience for the Impossible Burger.

I was responding to the parent, who despite being an ex vegan, can't understand why other vegans wouldn't want their food cooking with meat based food.

I'm not a vegan, or vegetarian, and I can understand that point of view.

So I don't understand how your comment is at all relevant.

Re: Burger King is introducing a vegetarian patty from the start-up Impossible Foods

#284

I'd like to add that I see a lot of people saying, "If you're vegetarian/vegan why are you going Burger King?" - Well, I don't go often, but on the off chance that I'm with some friends and they go to a fast-food restaurant, it's much easier and less awkward if there's something I can eat too.

Burger King has had a traditional ("possible") veggie burger for a long time as well. Best, cheapest option in the airport, unless they have Subway.

Re: Burger King is introducing a vegetarian patty from the start-up Impossible Foods

#285
post #69

White Castle has had Impossible Burgers available for about a year now. Just interesting to see the trend emerging from what I would consider the "bottom-most" market segment. I suppose they had the most to gain from drawing in a meat-averse audience. Whatever your feelings on this particular product, it seems that the perhaps-inevitable decline of the traditional meat industry is going to take place on many fronts (…

The patty in the normal $1 White Castle slider is so thin, that the $2 Impossible Slider feels like an improvement already just because the patty is thicker.

Re: Burger King is introducing a vegetarian patty from the start-up Impossible Foods

#286

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's already most likely cheaper when you take into account false pricing signals due to the fact that the US meat industry is heavily subsidized through taxation. Add to that lower healthcare costs due to less heart disease and realistically it should be pretty cheap comparatively. I've had this burger and I prefer the Beyond Burger, but the meat eaters that had it said it tasted just like a run of the mill fast foo…

Be careful, ounce for ounce, the meat substitute burgers may not be all that healthy. The impossible burger has more fat, more saturated fat and more sodium than the standard beef patties. Less cholesterol though. Again, by mass (their patties are smaller, so direct comparisons are a little harder). Comparison chart about halfway down: https://www.mcgill.ca/oss/article/nutrition-environment-gene... I know that the be…

Nutrition per mass is irrelevant -- that depends on water content (meaningless) and starch content (minor). your choice of toppings and bun dominate the "per unit measure" analysis.

What matters is the ratios protein vs sat fat vs fat vs carbs, and what your view of health science tells you is optimal.

Per g of protein, impossible burgers are low fat, and Beyond Meat is reguar fat.

Re: Burger King is introducing a vegetarian patty from the start-up Impossible Foods

#287

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I’m curious about this. I had the first generation many times and found it to be pretty good. After the second generation came out, I went to my favorite place to get the IB (Gotts in Palo Alto) and asked if they had the new recipe. They seemed uncertain at first but then said they did. I ordered it and it was fine, but not as good as I’d seen in online reviews. Honestly, if I was told it was the first generation, I…

I was at The Counter on California Ave. over the weekend, and they confirmed they had the v2 recipe. Maybe give that a try!

Will do! How did you find V2, compared to V1?

Re: Burger King is introducing a vegetarian patty from the start-up Impossible Foods

#288
post #249

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What makes you think "processed" and "chemicals" are bad for you?

Some of the biggest and best studies on nutrition told us that processed food is not very good for us : Study links heavily processed foods to risk of earlier death https://www.theguardian.com/society/2019/feb/11/study-links-...

Regular burgers are heavily processed. They don't grow on burger trees or in burger coops.

Re: Burger King is introducing a vegetarian patty from the start-up Impossible Foods

#289

Every modern society, looking back fifty years, condemns behavior once considered normal (male-only voting, interracial marriage bans, jailing gays, etc). I'm convinced industrial animal agriculture will be one of the things today's society is condemned for, fifty years from now.

I'm in complete agreement. What's interesting are the people who speak out or act on behalf the advancement when the practice is still completely normalized.

There is a group of vegan activists in Portland called the Cube of Truth. They hide their identity and hold up monitors on the street. If you approach and consent, they will display difficult to consume video of industrial animal practices.[1]

I commented there that "the cavalier, even gleeful use of animal products in food and and consumer goods will be a regrettable cultural wave."

[1] https://www.reddit.com/r/Portland/comments/awp0zc/vegan_papi...

Re: Burger King is introducing a vegetarian patty from the start-up Impossible Foods

#290
post #151

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Abstinence from meat seems like an extreme step if all you are concerned about is environmental damage. Just eating meat at a "normal" frequency of two or three times a week would be enough to mitigate much of the impact. True organic agriculture is not possible without meat production as a side effect, and this can only be replaced by nonrenewable synthetic fertilizers.

I'm not the person you're responding to, but for me it's much easier to abstain from meat than to moderate it to a certain amount of times per week. It's not difficult for me to eat meat, but it would be if I were to half-abstain.

Our family buys a whole animal from a local farmer periodically. We evaluate how the animal was raised, the sustainability of the farm, etc. to the best of our ability. It's the one exception to my vegetarianism. It results in me eating meat every now and again, but meat I know was treated humanely.

It does make it much easier to 'half-abstain' because it's not an exception I can make easily on a whim at the grocery store. Buying a whole animal takes some planning.

It's been an ideal combination for us -- higher quality meat, considerably less meat consumed, and education to my kiddo about where meat comes from (and what responsible looks like on a farm).

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