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Meat-free 'Impossible Burger 2.0' tastes even closer to the real deal

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Re: Meat-free 'Impossible Burger 2.0' tastes even closer to the real deal

#191

Earlier quoted context omitted.

So you are basically saying "if I had to make no effort at all and I could also save some money, I would switch". Yes, that's obvious, everyone would, it's redundant to state it. But what those 'vegan proselytizers' are asking you for, is to not be so selfish and make a bit of a sacrifice to spare the lives of others. But of course, you 'can't stomach' to be asked to not be selfish, and they are the ones to blame.

My values are not yours. I do not consider animal lives worth valuing or deserving of rights. This is a fundamental disagreement, the only possible peaceful solution is agree to disagree (I hope we don't come down to the non-peaceful ones)

>I do not consider animal lives worth valuing or deserving of rights

So you're against animal anti-cruelty laws? Are you okay with animals like dogs and cats being torture for human entertainment?

Re: Meat-free 'Impossible Burger 2.0' tastes even closer to the real deal

#192
Does anyone know what the retail pricing is likely to be? A restaurant owner I talked to says he pays $11/lb for the stuff. If they ramp up production then they may be able to lower the price a bit. Or they could just spend VC $ to subsidize the price and gain market share. Either way, I'm excited to try it out when it's available!

Re: Meat-free 'Impossible Burger 2.0' tastes even closer to the real deal

#193
post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Until the people currently destroying forests to grow cattle, start destroying forests to grow ingredients for these burgers. Soil depletion is also a thing. I still remember the argument for biofuel and where it ended up. More options in the mix is always good, but trying to replace everything with vegetable stuff is not going to work in the long run.

> trying to replace everything with vegetable stuff is not going to work in the long run. I'm not sure what you think the alternative is. People need to eat.

Maybe cattle farming (plus fertilizer and methane recovery) in near-Earth orbit O'Neill Cylinders will be the answer?

Re: Meat-free 'Impossible Burger 2.0' tastes even closer to the real deal

#194
post #91

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Think of the difference between Indian vegetarian food vs. tofurkey, imitation bacon, etc. There are vegetarian cultures that have refined their cuisine over thousands of years to be nutritionally adequate and delicious. Western vegan food tends to just be imitations of non-vegan Western food and it's unfortunate.

Sure, but Indian vegetarian food already exists . The GP asked for more vegan food, so I wondered what was lacking in existing non-fake-meat alternatives.

I don't know! If I knew then I wouldn't be wondering about the possibility.

Re: Meat-free 'Impossible Burger 2.0' tastes even closer to the real deal

#195
post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Until the people currently destroying forests to grow cattle, start destroying forests to grow ingredients for these burgers. Soil depletion is also a thing. I still remember the argument for biofuel and where it ended up. More options in the mix is always good, but trying to replace everything with vegetable stuff is not going to work in the long run.

The cattle need to be fed too, and they don't turn their food into meat very efficiently. That's why replacing meat with plant based alternatives is (almost) always a huge gain in efficiency, in terms of resource use.

Instead of these abstract hypotheticals about efficiency, we can just look at the price.

>At Hopdaddy in Scottsdale, Ariz., the Impossible Burger (using the original recipe) goes for $12.25. A classic burger made of Angus beef with the same basic toppings costs just $7.25.

Re: Meat-free 'Impossible Burger 2.0' tastes even closer to the real deal

#196
post #177

The 1.0 version was not very good, at least to this meat-lover. I tried it at White Castle several months ago and I'd never order another one. Here's hoping the 2.0 version is good enough to move me further in the vegetarian direction.

I wonder how much the purveyor makes a difference in the quality of the product (I'm hoping not much). I had the opposite experience as you, but I bought my Impossible from an Umami Burger and it was seriously a surreal experience for me and my gf. I was so pleasantly surprised by how good it was that we went back the next day to get another.

Same here, fiancée and I had one at Umami Burger and were very impressed, had several since then (and we do eat meat), and always introduce friends to it when they are in town. Also tried it at some non-chain (I believe) SF restaurant and they nailed it, too, though in both cases I can imagine they know how to prepare it.

Re: Meat-free 'Impossible Burger 2.0' tastes even closer to the real deal

#198
If this does indeed taste like real meat, then they may move in the direction of making healthier products. That is, they've said from the beginning that their goal with the Impossible Burger is to mimic the taste and health profile of ground beef. But there's a lot of fat in there, and many people (like me) don't really ever cook with ground beef for that reason.

But if they've nailed the taste, then perhaps they can start making something leaner, akin to ground turkey? For me, that would have a larger impact on my regular diet.

Re: Meat-free 'Impossible Burger 2.0' tastes even closer to the real deal

#199
post #94
post #46

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Being born in India, I've had the privilege to eat vegetarian meals that can rival even the best meat based meal. While I welcome 'impossible' meat replacements, it is funny that the meat reduction movement is looking at such impractical and immature products instead of simpler solutions such as bringing veg friendly cuisines to the fore. I am opposed to advocating for cold-turkey veganism though. Milk products and e…

Being of Indian descent, I might be biased. But Indian cuisine is the only cuisine I'm aware of where being vegetarian isn't a compromise in the creativity, quality, and sheer flavors available to you. For other cuisines, where centuries of culinary creativity mostly went towards making meat, this is the only viable approach to weaning us off growing animals for meaty foods.

There are a ton of delicious Chinese vegetable dishes. I've always found it weird that Americans insist on meat being the only delicious food out there.

Re: Meat-free 'Impossible Burger 2.0' tastes even closer to the real deal

#200

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Well-being of animals is distinct from slaughtering them for food. The beef I buy comes from cows that roam in fields, usually in Ireland. They're not unhappy then, as I can attest having grown up in the countryside. And the fact there are so many of them means the total lifetime happiness (of the cows at least) probably outweighs their death, if it's done humanely.

My reply was to a very specific (and obviously troubling to me) statement: "I do not consider animal lives worth valuing". I totally get that there's a difference between the scenario you're describing and factory farms. In fact, I've posited before that those animals would never have any life if there wasn't a demand to eat them at some point. But the statement in question reads as "I don't give a fuck what happens…

You'll find about ~5% (depending on source) of people have severe difficulties feeling empathy towards fellow humans, let alone animals.
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