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Beyond Meat fights for survival

foodinstitute.com

361–370 of 645 posts

Re: Beyond Meat fights for survival

#361

Earlier quoted context omitted.

By “processes food hysteria stuff”, do you mean “the growing research consensus around ultra-processed foods”?

The bulk of the harm from ultra-processed foods was specifically from meats, with smaller contributions coming from sugary drinks and dairy desserts. It’s the pink slime, reconstituted McRib, and hot dogs that are causing the most significant health problems. Beyond burgers have no cholesterol, hormones, or antibiotics. They’ve got significantly lower saturated fats. Studies have shown that swapping out regular burge…

The obesity crisis, and metabolic syndrome issues, has far more to do with sugary drinks and snacks made up of flour and oil devoid of fiber and protein. The risk attributed to processed meat is cancer, and CVD by extension of being meat and fatty, not BC its processed.

People don't really consume that much "processed meat" on the daily in the form of salami or w/e.

Re: Beyond Meat fights for survival

#362

The problem with Beyond Meat is that it is insanely expensive. I could buy a free range, organic and grass fed beef burger for the price of their ultra processed burger. Don’t get me wrong, as a vegetarian, I think they taste nice. They are just too damn expensive and not particularly healthy which goes against why I am a vegetarian. In Europe we have so many alternatives that are insanely cheaper and, as an Indian,…

The company's products in my and other people's views have caused a significant wane in vegetarian and vegan burger diversity. Gone are the chickpea and black bean burgers on menus—your only choice is Beyond Meat-esque burgers.

As someone who doesn't actually really like how Beyond Meat tastes, it's unfortunate that it's the only option sometimes. As someone who likes food variety and practically needs it, eliminating choice is the worst.

I have to concur about processing as well. Indian cuisine has so many unprocessed and nutritious meals that are vegetarian. So does Ethiopian cuisine. Mediterranean foods, Tex-mex, and lots of South American food can be made vegetarian. There are great ideas for burgers from here too. See https://www.shopdeepfoods.com/product/aloo-tikki-141-oz?pid=....

I've wanted to try some of the NYTimes vegetarian and vegan burger recipes when I get the chance. My point is, Beyond Meat seems to reduce the better-testing and less processed competition.

Re: Beyond Meat fights for survival

#363

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> 'we can do it and it may get more people to eat vegetarian.' That's a noble goal in and of itself. Every step to reduce environmental impact and animal cruelty has value. Beyond and Impossible were my "off-ramp" from eating meat every meal to exploring vegetarianism and veganism. I'm sure I'm not the only one.

If you're going to eat vegetarian, eat vegetarian. There are lots of foods out there. The idea that normal, healthy people are going to eat ultra processed vegetarian slop so they can pretend they are eating meat was never going to work.

Burgers were never considered a "health" item so replacement with slop qua occasional treat is not q crazy concept. As another user has whined about, burger restaurants almost always offer some variant of it, and grocery chains carry it. Beyond Meat has competition now, cheaper too

Re: Beyond Meat fights for survival

#364

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Have you never enjoyed a burger and a beer with your friends? Or is that you fail to see the social component of eating?

Doesn't seem relevant. There's a decent amount of veggie/vegan options these days without using fake meat. Fake meat isn't really a product for vegetarians/vegans. It's is a product aimed at creating vegetarians/vegans, and that's going to be much harder.

That is probably coming from someone that eats meat.

Re: Beyond Meat fights for survival

#365
post #251
post #145

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> When vegan parm and swiss cheese get as good as the real stuff, then I'd go vegan. Cheese I really doubt will get there any time soon. It's pretty doable to make milk-free cheese alternatives with eggs - at least in terms of taste - which is probably per gram a lot more sustainable than proper cheese, but there wouldn't be any market for it.

Can you say more? I've got milk allergies and I might want to try making this just for me.

You can make vegan cheeses with nut milk.

Here is a video for vegan blue cheese[1]. The basic idea is nut milk and the culture for the blue cheese.

[1] https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=cxMAl_LiSUU&pp=ygUZR29ydW1ldCB...

Channel is “Gourmet Vegetarian Kitchen”

Re: Beyond Meat fights for survival

#366
post #356

Hate these burgers. As a dairy-loving vegetarian, first the vegans came along and ruined everything by evicting most of the tasty options from restaurants, and then the meat eaters somehow wanted vegan food that tasted of animals and that became the default option on many menus. Vegetarians (who I grant you are difficult to pity as the centrists of the food world) got utterly screwed.

If the supposed tastier option is black bean burgers, can't say I agree, and I eat black beans all the time.

Re: Beyond Meat fights for survival

#367
post #133

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> It's one of my favorite foods but no substitute has come close to it Why do you want to? Lactovegetarianism is far more precedented than veganism.

Cheese uses lots and lots of milk. There are questions of ethics (the treatment of dairy cows is often less than stellar) and carbon footprint (cheese is worse than pork, for example.) I'd really love to see some good alternatives, too. I don't really expect to give up all cheese anytime soon, but having a substitute for at least some of it would be helpful.

You can split the difference by shelling out for high quality grass fed cheeses only on occasion. In terms of treatment it seems to me cows suffer far less than chickens and pigs.

Re: Beyond Meat fights for survival

#368
post #252

Earlier quoted context omitted.

A category that includes both twinkies and whey protein powder doesn't seem that useful.

Do you think that the poster who used the phrase "processes food hysteria stuff" unprompted is intending to make a statement about the broadness or usefulness of the category.

That's how I interpreted it. I don't think it's enough to say a food is unhealthy simply because it's ultra-processed.

Re: Beyond Meat fights for survival

#369
post #168
post #150

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That says a lot about the public

Food is one of the joys in life that people can enjoy no matter where they are on the socioeconomic spectrum. In the modern age, if you're poor, or just time poor, you can enjoy a tasty meal thanks to cheap food coming out of the modern food industry. Why would you pay more for a less enjoyable experience when tasty food might be one of the only joys in an otherwise mundane or hard-up existence? This is exactly why M…

Enjoyment and beneficial two different concepts that often get mashed together. Excessive amounts of sugar and salt are often added to food to make it "taste" good and become "enjoyable".

Food quality is Europe is often better then the USA. USA is a heavy user of oil by-product to fertilize the planets, which have less nutritious value than non-oil based fertilizers.

Those in poverty that are on food assistance programs can only use the funds for raw goods. This means no pre-made pizza or McDonald.

* Personally, I hate the idea of going to a restaurant that benefits a Wall Street ticker and a millionaire CEO that pays their real hard-working employees a non-living wage.

Re: Beyond Meat fights for survival

#370

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> But try to make protein powder 80% of your protein intake and see how you'll feel in a week. What? I've had >100g of protein from whey protein shakes every day for months now. I don't know what you're trying to imply.

Whey protein is definitely among the better options, but I once did what you described, and then switched to eating a large amount of chicken breasts. I definitely feel a bit better, and have a much easier time building muscle. If you run the numbers, you can actually eat a shocking amout of protein (300g+ / day) from lean meat while maintaining a calorie deficit. And if you buy frozen chicken breasts from Costco, I…

> frozen chicken breasts

How do you make that taste good though

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