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Beyond Meat fights for survival

foodinstitute.com

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Re: Beyond Meat fights for survival

#441

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why do you believe it's not healthy? Because of the processes food hysteria stuff?

Processed food concerns are hysterical is a unique take

It is, mostly, hysteria. The problem is that we're just assuming processed foods are bad period, but even if you don't eat processed foods you can eat a very poor diet.

Burgers aren't processed, fried chicken isn't processed. And, you don't need to process food to make it "addictive". People who think you need chemicals and additives to make addictive food are just stupid, frankly.

Take whatever food, douse it in salt, deep fry it in fat, and boom: you have a 2,000 calorie meal that sets off every dopamine receptor in your brain. All natural. No processing needed.

The real harm isn't processed foods, it's hyper-palatable foods. Foods that are extremely delicious, addictive, and easy to overeat. Some are processed, some are not.

Take, for example, high-fiber tortillas. Those are ultra-processed, those aren't from God. But, 98% of Americans do not eat enough fiber. Fiber can lower your risk of obesity and heart disease. The high-fiber tortillas can be a great addition to your diet. They're not hyper-palatable - you're not gonna sit there and crave them like a drug and then eat 2,000 calories worth of high-fiber tortillas.

Re: Beyond Meat fights for survival

#442

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Consider how broad the phrase “treating food with chemicals” is, and you’ll start to see the problem with this kind of thinking. The word “chemical” includes literally everything that food is made of.

Particularly pointless pedantry. We all know what they mean, and are to assume the best reading of what they're saying. Bread, the example they used, is a particularly stark example where Americans are subjected to stuff that is rightly banned in most of the rest of the world.

It's not pointless pedantry at all, because whole foods are ALSO treated with chemicals.

When you grow a tomato, you use pesticides and herbicides. When you grow meat, you use drugs on the animals and then you also wash the meat in bleach to kill bacteria.

Why are these chemicals less harmful than, say, citric acid used in "processed" minced garlic to preserve it?

Re: Beyond Meat fights for survival

#443
post #168

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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…

Relatively cheap, it feels like fast food now has more emphasis on convenience/consistency and less on price/value (in my experience in the US midwest).

Value menu still exists

Re: Beyond Meat fights for survival

#444

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think that for this exact reason Beyond Meat (or other alternatives) need a similar boost, in order to be financially competitive as well.

Aren't they massively subsidized already? It's soybeans, after all.

I checked out one resource, and they say that there it's "pea protein isolate" mostly.

Whatever the case (I'm sure there are soy patties as well), I think as long as they are not pricing it cheaper than beef, it won't gain widespread adoption. Animals are cute and all but people need an incentive that they can directly feel.

Re: Beyond Meat fights for survival

#445
post #168

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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…

Agree. As a side note McDonalds veggie nuggets are from behind meat and they rank equally to the chickens one one the taste and processing scales.

The mcdonalds/wendys/etc nuggets are junk, injection molded meat paste in 4 shapes. You have to go to popeyes or chic fil a to get actual chicken nuggets.

Re: Beyond Meat fights for survival

#446

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, eliminatin…

I agree.

I’m not a vegetarian by any means but really enjoyed many of the vegetarian items inspired by things like burgers. I often found them a great vessel for hot sauce as a condiment v. ketchup on meat.

Re: Beyond Meat fights for survival

#447
post #397

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think the idea was that Beyond Meat would be a "transitional" product that would provide an ever growing vegetarian/vegan population an option that was familiar to them. For example, if you do not care about celebrating vegetables, and just want to end animal cruelty, but you miss the taste of meat, then a beyond burger was supposed to be for you. The biggest problem they have is the exhorbinant prices, which releg…

> just want to end animal cruelty, but you miss the taste of meat Does that actually describe a commercially relevant segment of the population? Intuitively, having known a lot of vegetarians, I'd expect the people whose primary concern is animal cruelty to be specifically turned off by realistic fake meat.

That's me. The first time I had a seitan dish at a chinese restaurant, I was certain they had given me chicken and asked them to check. The poor guy went and dug the empty tin out of the bin to show me.

Re: Beyond Meat fights for survival

#448
post #251

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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”

Sorry, I wanted to know about the egg cheese

Re: Beyond Meat fights for survival

#449
post #397

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think the idea was that Beyond Meat would be a "transitional" product that would provide an ever growing vegetarian/vegan population an option that was familiar to them. For example, if you do not care about celebrating vegetables, and just want to end animal cruelty, but you miss the taste of meat, then a beyond burger was supposed to be for you. The biggest problem they have is the exhorbinant prices, which releg…

> just want to end animal cruelty, but you miss the taste of meat Does that actually describe a commercially relevant segment of the population? Intuitively, having known a lot of vegetarians, I'd expect the people whose primary concern is animal cruelty to be specifically turned off by realistic fake meat.

Beyond Meat isn't designed to appeal to vegetarians. It's designed to appeal to people who would be vegetarians but aren't because they like meat.

Re: Beyond Meat fights for survival

#450

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,…

Why do you believe it's not healthy? Because of the processes food hysteria stuff?

Pea protein and coconut oil aren’t the greatest. Probably similar to meat.
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