This seems fundamentally wrong to me. You can not compare the efficiency of two methods unless they get the same result. But fake meat is not meat. Compare fake meat to unprocessed vegan food, let's see how that turns out for your marketing materials. And we can all guess which is healthier too.
How sustainable are fake meats?
61–70 of 121 posts
Re: How sustainable are fake meats?
#62If you know much about agriculture, this question has an almost certain answer. The contrast of energy and resource expense between plants and animals is staggering, even if you’re comparing a less demanding animal like chicken. You can refrigerate, process, and ship many plants by sea, truck, and plane and they won’t catch up to animal foods. We’re also not seeing a clear economic picture in Canada and the USA becau…
The alternative we do is: * Order vegetarian when eating out. Non-western cuisines do incredible food that doesn't have any meat in it. * Only buy meat + eggs from a local farm that effectively does things "small batch". Their farm is open for visitors and you can see pigs and chickens that actually look happy . The pigs even run over to you when they smell you and you can see their cute little tails wigglin'. * Try…
Buying local and small batch generates more carbon dioxide and is less sustainable.
https://worksinprogress.substack.com/p/notes-on-progress-an-...
Re: How sustainable are fake meats?
#63I always think it's interesting to view meat production through the lens of history.
Goats or sheep can be raised on land that's completely unsuitable for farming. Pigs and chickens can recycle food-waste into usable protein.
You can make an argument that modern feedlots aren't great for the environment, the animals, or our overall health. But it's a big jump to go from that to "all meat is bad for the environment".
Re: How sustainable are fake meats?
#64My wife is pescatarian, which has really lowered my consumption of meat. There is such a weird contrast between meat marketing and the actual use. With my reduced consumption, I am still sometimes pulled in by marketing: the masterfully grilled steak; the shawarma roasting on a spit; the artisanal burger with a delicate balance of ground beef, fat, sausage, and maybe one or two secret ingredients... ...but this expec…
> modest goals (replacing the chicken nugget, replacing the pepperoni) Quorn have made 'Crispy Nuggets'[1] from funghi for decades. They're a great replacement for chicken nuggets and I feel like if someone ate them without realising they wouldn't question what they're eating. 1: https://www.quorn.co.uk/products/chicken-style-nuggets
My old boss gave me one of hers at lunch one day. I noticed instantly.
But I'm still of a mind that if you want to promote vegetarianism, make vegetable recipes taste better; don't make the vegetables imitate something they're not.
Re: How sustainable are fake meats?
#65If you know much about agriculture, this question has an almost certain answer. The contrast of energy and resource expense between plants and animals is staggering, even if you’re comparing a less demanding animal like chicken. You can refrigerate, process, and ship many plants by sea, truck, and plane and they won’t catch up to animal foods. We’re also not seeing a clear economic picture in Canada and the USA becau…
> whole grains and legumes covering most of my protein requirements.
What are your protein/calorie goals, and how are you meeting them with grains and legumes? I have to take pea protein and on top of that eat a lot of eggs because otherwise I can't imagine getting enough protein just from beans and oats. If you avoid oxalates, it becomes even more difficult.
Re: How sustainable are fake meats?
#66Earlier quoted context omitted.
The alternative we do is: * Order vegetarian when eating out. Non-western cuisines do incredible food that doesn't have any meat in it. * Only buy meat + eggs from a local farm that effectively does things "small batch". Their farm is open for visitors and you can see pigs and chickens that actually look happy . The pigs even run over to you when they smell you and you can see their cute little tails wigglin'. * Try…
Buying local and small batch generates more carbon dioxide and is less sustainable. https://worksinprogress.substack.com/p/notes-on-progress-an-...
Ethical/morally it is probably way better. Less so than plant-based.
Re: How sustainable are fake meats?
#67Even just looking at this article, switching from beef (and lamb) to pork would already help a lot.
The issue there is that pigs and chickens spend their lives in confined pens, and to avoid mass disease outbreaks in those conditions, they're pumped with lots of antibiotics (possibly growth promoters as well). Such facilities also produce vast quantities of fecal matter, leading to water pollution problems (and likely methane as well).
https://www.rollingstone.com/culture/culture-news/boss-hog-t...
Probably the best way to raise beef is small herds on grasslands, but this results in extremely expensive meat. That's more reasonable anyway: meat should be viewed as a luxury item, not a staple.
Re: How sustainable are fake meats?
#68I always think it's interesting to view meat production through the lens of history. Goats or sheep can be raised on land that's completely unsuitable for farming. Pigs and chickens can recycle food-waste into usable protein. You can make an argument that modern feedlots aren't great for the environment, the animals, or our overall health. But it's a big jump to go from that to "all meat is bad for the environment".
Even best case emissions of meat production are higher than the worst case emissions of plant protein
> Many argue that this overlooks the large variation in the footprints of foods across the world. Using global averages might give us a misleading picture for some parts of the world or some producers. If I source my beef or lamb from low-impact producers, could they have a lower footprint than plant-based alternatives? The evidence suggests, no: plant-based foods emit fewer greenhouse gases than meat and dairy, regardless of how they are produced.
Re: How sustainable are fake meats?
#69Earlier quoted context omitted.
It’s not actually that simple. Livestock don’t necessarily eat the same plants people eat. Cattle can eat indigestible-to-humans cellulose in grasses and turn it into meat and milk. Grass can grow on marginal land without fertilizer or irrigation, unlike food crops for humans. Pigs and chickens can eat garbage and turn them into meat and eggs.
Interesting that you chose cows which are, by far, the worst animal for the environment from the clear-cutting of old growth forests, to the shocking contribution to climate change their gases produce, to the sheer amounts of water and food it takes to grow a full cow. There's nothing on this planet (w.r.t. our diet) worse for the environment than beef. It's King Bad.
Interesting that you chose cows which are, by far, the worst animal for the environment from the clear-cutting of old growth forests, to the shocking contribution to climate change their gases produce, to the sheer amounts of water and food it takes to grow a full cow.
One of those things is a problem with governments. The other is a problem with the cows.
Don't blame the cows if your corrupt government can't keep people from clear-cutting forests.
Re: How sustainable are fake meats?
#70My wife is pescatarian, which has really lowered my consumption of meat. There is such a weird contrast between meat marketing and the actual use. With my reduced consumption, I am still sometimes pulled in by marketing: the masterfully grilled steak; the shawarma roasting on a spit; the artisanal burger with a delicate balance of ground beef, fat, sausage, and maybe one or two secret ingredients... ...but this expec…
> My wife is pescatarian
Not a judgment on your wife, but sharing for general awareness: I would eat land animals before eating fish again. You can read Outlaw Ocean for a quick look at how awful the seafood industry is. The seafood industry has everything from slavery, abuse, animal population decimation, and more, which is directly supported by anyone who eats seafood:
> Do you know if the fish on your plate is legal? A new study estimates that 20 to 32 percent of wild-caught seafood imported into the U.S. comes from illegal or "pirate" fishing
https://www.nationalgeographic.com/history/article/140409-il...