Live data from Hacker News

How to lower the price of plant-based meat

us14.campaign-archive.com

261–270 of 679 posts

Re: How to lower the price of plant-based meat

#261
post #30

Interestingly it doesn't even discuss the obvious solution: Let people who buy real meat pay for the externalities. (Interestingly even in places where there's some form of carbon pricing - like the EU - this often doesn't cover a large share of emissions from meat production, as methane emissions are very relevant here - I'm not aware of any methane pricing scheme anywhere.)

>> Interestingly it doesn't even discuss the obvious solution: Let people who buy real meat pay for the externalities. Are we going to have people paying for the "externalities" of all the products they consume? For example, the people who buy a new phone every year or half (this habit causes a significant amount of pollution, so-called "e-waste"). The people who drive their car everywhere. The people who fly a few t…

Ideally, yes, for sure.

One way or another, it's the only way we get a society that can live on the planet indefinitely without making it less and less fit for human habitation.

How you do that is not necessarily trivial, but we should start doing what we can figure out how to do now, yes. You don't have to do it for everything for it to be valuable to do it for what we can figure out how to do it for.

For meat, simply ending subsidies would be a good start.

Cell phones and other electronics as you point out are another obvious target, yes. Some have proposed that the cost of disposal/recycling should be built into the purchase price -- one practical way to do that, is require manufacturers to take back the products at end of life for recycling or disposal at no charge (and ban them from municipal waste stream).

Re: How to lower the price of plant-based meat

#262
post #176

Aside from personal preference, I would think there are two main reasons to consider replacing animal meat protein with plant protein. Because it could be healthier for the planet, and because it could be healthier for human consumption. I’m not sure we’ve proven either one is definitely true. I think the evidence leans towards plant farming being less impactful to the planet on a fundamental conservation of energy b…

> A typical diet for a dairy cow could include about 30 to 35 pounds of baled hay (26-30 pounds DM) and 25 pounds of grain mix (22 pounds DM). Grain includes corn, soybean meal, minerals, and vitamins.

Cows don’t just graze, in fact mostly they’re raised on the same staple crops which humans eat.

Re: How to lower the price of plant-based meat

#263
post #182

A tangential topic - I really think that in general calling plant-based things "meat", a terrible idea. It does not promote plant-base diet or meat consumption reduction. It is trying to be what is not. I think it pushes away those who are on the cusp of moving towards plant-base foods. Why? Because the consumer is told it is "meat", so they will compare it to meat. They will compare these patties to a real, prime An…

Definition of meat by merriam-webster: a: FOOD especially : solid food as distinguished from drink b: the edible part of something as distinguished from its covering (such as a husk or shell) The same as with milk. Nobody had problems with coconut milk until dairy lobby started fearing plant milk competition. And when one buys oat yogurt they know exactly what they'll get and what to compare it with. Or do you think…

So if I say 'We should all eat less meat' you immediately understand this to also include eating less plant patties?

Or could this possibly be the wrong definition?

Re: How to lower the price of plant-based meat

#264

A tangential topic - I really think that in general calling plant-based things "meat", a terrible idea. It does not promote plant-base diet or meat consumption reduction. It is trying to be what is not. I think it pushes away those who are on the cusp of moving towards plant-base foods. Why? Because the consumer is told it is "meat", so they will compare it to meat. They will compare these patties to a real, prime An…

I agree.

As a meat eater, these recreations are a joke. They can just about compete with chicken nuggets. I don’t like nuggets. So I’ve come to regard them as inedible. Same goes for vegan “cheese”. Bleurgh.

And the thing is, I love falafel. There’s bound to be plenty more plant-based patty things. Veggie dishes that don’t pretend to be something they’re not are delicious. Give me baked onions, baba ghanoush, and celery all day.

Re: How to lower the price of plant-based meat

#265

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You do know that a high proportion of all crops in the US are fed to cows right? We are not feeding cows grass, so your argument is mostly moot.

So, to recap, feeding plant crops to animals is the current best way to produce plant based meat. Seems like the best way to feed our crops is also with animal products. I don’t really understand why we want to work so hard to drive a technological wedge into this process. Is it to get rid of other animals on the planet?

> Seems like the best way to feed our crops is also with animal products.

You want to feed our crops with animal products? Like pour some ground meat in the cornfield?

Re: How to lower the price of plant-based meat

#266

A tangential topic - I really think that in general calling plant-based things "meat", a terrible idea. It does not promote plant-base diet or meat consumption reduction. It is trying to be what is not. I think it pushes away those who are on the cusp of moving towards plant-base foods. Why? Because the consumer is told it is "meat", so they will compare it to meat. They will compare these patties to a real, prime An…

The reason that I will be buying plant-based meat things is because they smell, look, and taste like meat.

>We can live up to great flavors vegetables, fruits, and herbs.

But that's a whole thing altogether. That's like completely missing the point. You aren't going to get meat eaters to switch to plant-based meat patties if they taste like vegetables or fruits.

Re: How to lower the price of plant-based meat

#267

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Well chocolate milk does come from brown cows, according to 16 million americans https://iheartintelligence.com/millions-of-americans-think-c...

I find it more likely that 16 million Americans decided to take the piss when answering that particular question, perhaps offended that such an obviously dumb question would be asked of them with a straight face. I would be.

That agrees with the lizardman constant:

https://slatestarcodex.com/2013/04/12/noisy-poll-results-and...

Re: How to lower the price of plant-based meat

#268

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Even if we ignore externalities and pollution costs, just stop outright subsidizing animal meat production so much. The reason meat is so cheap is because our government puts a lot of effort and money into making it cheap. I don't know why more people aren't trying to sell this to the "free market" crowd as government overreach. The reality right now is that plant-based protein is gaining popularity despite the marke…

Do you have any links to sources or further reading material regarding this current state of affairs? It seems not entirely obvious, nor easily checked for a casual reader. (Maybe that's part of the issue of why this is not a more popular topic yet.)

I would highly recommend 'The Meat Racket: The Secret Takeover of America's Food Business'

https://smile.amazon.com/Meat-Racket-Takeover-Americas-Busin...

Re: How to lower the price of plant-based meat

#269
post #43

Fresh fruit and veg prices have practically quadrupled in the last 10 years here (Florida). Beef is significantly up. On the other hand, chicken is ridiculously inexpensive. For under $7, a tray of 8 oversized chicken thighs. Following a Keto regimen for a bit over a year now, I'm very keen on trying a different approach to high-protein, low-carb intake. The novel proteins the article discusses (mung beans, potatoes,…

Subsidies and less genetically modified/highly selected specialized versions of the crops.
Post reply on HN