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

nytimes.com

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

#441

Post by nightski »

plemer wrote: post #397
nightski wrote: post #328

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Weird, I tried it and wanted to like it simply because it was higher in fat and lower carb than your traditional veggie burger - but it was very obvious I was eating fake meat. It was ok, I'd eat it again. But I would not replace real beef with it any time soon. But I am keto. So I am not eating it with a bun and tons of sugary sauces to cover up the meat flavor. You can really tell the quality of a burger (meat or n…

Similar experience: I wanted to like it, but found that, at best, it tasted like meat I wouldn't eat again. Nevertheless, for the sake of the environment and industrially farmed animals, it's good to see meat substitutes progressing into the mainstream.

I'd prefer just more humane animal farming vs. fake meat. It may be more expensive - but if we incentivized humane farming of animals as much as we subsidized corn and/or wheat it might not be that bad (or just got rid of subsidies altogether).

I also think the environmental cost of plant farming is vastly underrated.

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

#442

Post by cmonnow »

packet_nerd wrote: post #390
munk-a wrote: post #305

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Eh, even with the lengths this comment went to present a working framing I still don't accept it. Either cannibalism is so objectionable that I'd refuse to patronize a restaurant that served human flesh, or I'd probably not mind them being cooked side-by-side. That might be a bigger things for vegans, by buying even vegetarian stuff from burger king you're supporting a company that financially motivates a lot of acti…

For the particular extreme religious community (almost cult) I grew up in, meat eating was a sin (more or less). Financial support for a company wasn't really a big deal, it was more about keeping their bodies "pure" for God. I even knew a rancher who raised cattle to sell, but wouldn't eat any kind of animal products himself.

which religion is this ? I know many Hindus & Jains are strictly vegetarian.

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

#443

Post by munk-a »

JeremyBanks wrote: post #353
munk-a wrote: post #305

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Eh, even with the lengths this comment went to present a working framing I still don't accept it. Either cannibalism is so objectionable that I'd refuse to patronize a restaurant that served human flesh, or I'd probably not mind them being cooked side-by-side. That might be a bigger things for vegans, by buying even vegetarian stuff from burger king you're supporting a company that financially motivates a lot of acti…

This isn't complicated. Many vegans would prefer to never eat where meat is being served, but recognize the practical reality that if you want business to start providing more ethical alternatives, you need to actually patronize those businesses. So they compromise by providing that revenue, while still trying to avoiding cross-contaminating what they're eating with what they see as murder-byproducts.

So I don't disagree with anything in this statement, but what is it about cross-contaminating that's an issue here specifically? Is there a health reason to avoid any intake of meat products or an ethical/moral one?

For the later case... I'm on board with sane things (don't fry veggie burgers in animal fat) but less with (don't prepare this food where meat products were prepared) simply because... I feel like the same amount of effort should be taken with each meal and vegetarians shouldn't require separate processing things.

To draw a parallel, I'm lactose intolerant myself, but I've always felt it's a bit silly that has separate blenders for milk/soy/other (except almond, due to the factor of nut allergies).

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

#444

Post by Dylan16807 »

harimau777 wrote: post #420
veryworried wrote: post #395

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This religious rule comes from a well known scientific observation: meat blocks calcium absorption.

I've also heard the argument that it comes from an animal welfare perspective: It seems a little ghoulish to eat a calf with its mother's milk.

That doesn't explain the rule as practiced.

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

#445

Post by xienze »

shaggyfrog wrote: post #381
vanattab wrote: post #377

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Do Jews not eat beef? I thought it was mainly pork?

The prohibition is against meat and dairy simultaneously. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Milk_and_meat_in_Jewish_law

That reminds me of the time I was in Jerusalem on Saturday (the Sabbath, so like everything was closed) and I stumbled upon a restaurant that reveled in being as un-kosher as possible: the main menu item was cheeseburgers and of course they were open on Saturdays. There were probably other things they did that rubbed people the wrong way because apparently the restaurant had been firebombed at one point.

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

#446

Post by 1024core »

I have never eaten beef, except for 2 occasions.

Recently, I ordered an impossible burger. It was so close to real beef (or as I remember it), that after 1 bite I stopped. I wasn't sure if I was eating real beef or not, and I didn't want to risk it.

For those who crave the taste of meat but want to be vegetarian: you must try the Impossible Burger.

Personally, I don't crave the taste of meat, I just like the form factor. So a good veggie patty is all I need.

BK was the first burger chain to carry the Gardenburger line of veggie burgers and this is why I would seek out BKs whenever I travelled. I hope they continue to carry them if they decide to include the IB too in their offerings.

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

#447

Post by atombender »

gowld wrote: post #279
scott_s wrote: post #174

The Impossible Burger is the best veggie burger I've ever had. I was a vegetarian for 10 years, and have now been a pescatarian for 8 years. It has been 18 years since I have had a proper cheeseburger, and since then I have had many thousands of veggie burgers. Cheeseburgers are probably my favorite food, and I haven't had one in 18 years. If someone told me that the world would end tomorrow, I would go out and eat a…

It's an Impossible Burger, and left undersaid is that it's a fast-food burger. It's not an Impossible Steak or an Impossible Grill Burger. I just don't see the point, vs a high-protein high-fat patty made of bean or soy protein isolate that tastes good in it own non-fake-fast-good-meat-burger way. The only reason I am tempted to buy meat patties is that they are so much cheaper than Boca patties. An even-more-expensi…

I disagree. Momofuku Nishi in New York sometimes (weekend brunch only, I believe; the rest of the time it's a boring fast food version) serves a high-end version of the Impossible Burger for lunch, and it's decidely not a fast-food burger. It's the best veggie burger I've had the pleasure of eating.

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

#448

Post by 1024core »

jedberg wrote: post #308

FYI for a lot of folks in here who may not know, Taco Bell is vegan certified. If you order something vegan they will prep it separately and make sure no animal products touched your food. I suspect they might add Impossible Meat (or a competitor) some time soon.

> Taco Bell is vegan certified.

I did not know that! Thanks, that's good to know.

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

#449

Post by Dylan16807 »

astura wrote: post #419
lifeisstillgood wrote: post #343

Earlier quoted context omitted.

(off topic) Is there any reason you seem to have replaced the a in vegan with an asterisk? It happened twice so I am guessing it was not a typo? I am just curious? Is it like x86 or something?

* is the wild card character so veg*n "matches" both "vegan" and "vegetarian." It's a short-hand way to say "vegetarian and/or vegan."

It's not very obvious that it's supposed to stand for more than one letter. Is it less confusing to do this way than to say "vegetarian" since that includes vegans?

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

#450

Post by hexane360 »

nightski wrote: post #441
plemer wrote: post #397

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Similar experience: I wanted to like it, but found that, at best, it tasted like meat I wouldn't eat again. Nevertheless, for the sake of the environment and industrially farmed animals, it's good to see meat substitutes progressing into the mainstream.

I'd prefer just more humane animal farming vs. fake meat. It may be more expensive - but if we incentivized humane farming of animals as much as we subsidized corn and/or wheat it might not be that bad (or just got rid of subsidies altogether). I also think the environmental cost of plant farming is vastly underrated.

But you do realize that the environmental cost of animal farming is guaranteed to be >10x the cost of plant farming, correct? Each step up the food chain wastes roughly 90% of the energy, meaning that you need to grow more than 10 kcal of plants to raise 1 kcal of animal. So feeding animals is 10x as expensive as growing plants, in addition to the costs incurred by actually raising the livestock.
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