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The Beginning of the End of the Beef Industry?

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Re: The Beginning of the End of the Beef Industry?

#31

Post by davidhopper »

formalsystem wrote: post #9

I'm starting to think more and more that people promoting plant based burgers have either never tasted beef or never tasted a plant based burger. If the main concern is environment I get it and go for it. But if you are claiming that plant based burgers are healthier or tastier you are borderline delusional. Last time I cooked a Beyond Meat burger I noticed it was 30% canola oil. 30% CANOLA OIL, might as well just in…

Agreed on vegetarian products not automatically being healthy (or tasty for that matter). Likely not the point of your post, but cholesterol is only found in animal products, so I don’t think you’d be injecting that with these burgers, though they still sound unhealthy.

Re: The Beginning of the End of the Beef Industry?

#32

Post by AnimalMuppet »

wyldfire wrote: post #5

I just learned this bit on the radio the other day and was quite surprised: out of 1.9 billion acres in the US, the #1 and #3 ranked uses are cattle and crops (respectively) [1]. Out of the crops, much of it is used for livestock. [1] https://www.npr.org/2019/07/26/745731823/the-u-s-has-nearly-...

And why is that land used for livestock? Much of this is land in the west, and there's not much else you can do with it. You can't grow crops on it - not enough water. You can't even grow trees on it - not much land got cleared of trees to make room for grazing. All you can do is run some cows or sheep on it. And, behold, it becomes part of this huge acreage used for cattle.

Re: The Beginning of the End of the Beef Industry?

#33

Post by moreranchplease »

soperj wrote: post #18
omarhaneef wrote: post #11

I think the part that rings clearly in my head is the ethical part. I really cannot believe we eat animals. I know other animals do it all the time -- and I don't hold it against tigers and lions -- but its still strange to me that we, humans, do it. If you don't feel that strong surprise, then I think the other arguments may or may not work for you. But if you have that sense that it is strange and perhaps off, then…

I feel the same way about vegetables. I know other animals do it all the time, but when you add them up all the plant deaths are horrific.

It is, unfortunately the majority of plants die at the hands of livestock. To reduce the needless killing of plants, improve your health and the environment is surprise.... to eat less or no meat.

Re: The Beginning of the End of the Beef Industry?

#34

Post by moreranchplease »

moreranchplease wrote: post #33
soperj wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I feel the same way about vegetables. I know other animals do it all the time, but when you add them up all the plant deaths are horrific.

It is, unfortunately the majority of plants die at the hands of livestock. To reduce the needless killing of plants, improve your health and the environment is surprise.... to eat less or no meat.

Livestock don't usually have hands but you get the point.

Re: The Beginning of the End of the Beef Industry?

#35

Post by ziddoap »

dashundchen wrote: post #23
formalsystem wrote: post #9

I'm starting to think more and more that people promoting plant based burgers have either never tasted beef or never tasted a plant based burger. If the main concern is environment I get it and go for it. But if you are claiming that plant based burgers are healthier or tastier you are borderline delusional. Last time I cooked a Beyond Meat burger I noticed it was 30% canola oil. 30% CANOLA OIL, might as well just in…

Agree that it's not as healthy as eating less processed plant based foods, however I don't think anyone is going to Burger King or White Castle expecting that. But are these plant burgers actually claiming or marketing themselves as healthy? The only places I have seen them served are in restaurants and bars alongside burgers and unhealthy bar food - which I think you might be surprised is a big chunk of many people'…

>But are these plant burgers actually claiming or marketing themselves as healthy?

Yes. A snippet from the top paragraph of Beyond Meat's Product Page:

"Imagine your favorite meaty dishes[...]while being better for you [...]"[1]

[1]https://www.beyondmeat.com/products/

Edit: Beyond Meat is not claiming they are healthy, just that they are healthier.

Edit 2: Looking farther, they also state that they are "IMPROVING HUMAN HEALTH" on their about page. This would likely still fall under that they claim they are "healthier" rather than healthy, though.

Re: The Beginning of the End of the Beef Industry?

#36

Post by Junk_Collector »

jessaustin wrote: post #20
hirundo wrote: post #3

"Chipotle, Arby’s and Burger & Lobster are not jumping on the Beyond Meat and Impossible Foods plant-based culinary movement ... We have spoken to those folks and, unfortunately, it wouldn’t fit in our ‘food with integrity’ principals because of the processing, as I understand it, that it takes to make a plant taste like a burger. ... Are they healthier as far as sodium, calories and fat content? Definitely not ... Z…

Arby's at least would require a complete rebranding in order to sell this stuff. "We have the meats ^H^H^H^H anufactured plant products!" (I'm not familiar with B&L marketing but presumably they would be in a similar position?) I can also understand Chipotle's point of view on this.

Didn't Arby's just recently release a "meat based vegetable" as part of their marketing campaign.

Re: The Beginning of the End of the Beef Industry?

#37

Post by ribs »

soperj wrote: post #18
omarhaneef wrote: post #11

I think the part that rings clearly in my head is the ethical part. I really cannot believe we eat animals. I know other animals do it all the time -- and I don't hold it against tigers and lions -- but its still strange to me that we, humans, do it. If you don't feel that strong surprise, then I think the other arguments may or may not work for you. But if you have that sense that it is strange and perhaps off, then…

I feel the same way about vegetables. I know other animals do it all the time, but when you add them up all the plant deaths are horrific.

Right? At least a cow has a chance to run away. But a carrot - it’s stuck in the ground, no legs, no sensory apparatus. It doesn’t have a chance.

Re: The Beginning of the End of the Beef Industry?

#38

Post by technothrasher »

omarhaneef wrote: post #11

I think the part that rings clearly in my head is the ethical part. I really cannot believe we eat animals. I know other animals do it all the time -- and I don't hold it against tigers and lions -- but its still strange to me that we, humans, do it. If you don't feel that strong surprise, then I think the other arguments may or may not work for you. But if you have that sense that it is strange and perhaps off, then…

I don't hold it against tigers and lions

I additionally wouldn't hold it against a tiger or lion for eating me. I'd certainly attempt to avoid it, but I won't blame the animal. Animals eat other animals. We're animals. While not eating other animals seems morally virtuous, I don't necessarily see it as a moral imperative simply because we can think about it in a more abstract way than other animals likely can.

Re: The Beginning of the End of the Beef Industry?

#39

Post by dreamcompiler »

sbooher wrote: post #19

Pea protein isolates, rice protein, mung bean protein, canola oil etc are Not food. I would not feed this to my dog. In fact, lined up against a bag of cheap dog food, you might pick the dog food... In a world awash in heavily-processed food, we now add this to the mix and get excited about it. Statements about how "inefficient" cows are in making meat re calories ingested, usually fail to mention that for most of th…

Less than 3% of cattle wander around eating wild grass. Most cattle are fed grains, grass, and alfalfa that was farmed on purpose as cattle feed. If cattle didn't need the grass, the farmer would be growing human food on that land.

Re: The Beginning of the End of the Beef Industry?

#40

Post by pranjalv123 »

formalsystem wrote: post #9

I'm starting to think more and more that people promoting plant based burgers have either never tasted beef or never tasted a plant based burger. If the main concern is environment I get it and go for it. But if you are claiming that plant based burgers are healthier or tastier you are borderline delusional. Last time I cooked a Beyond Meat burger I noticed it was 30% canola oil. 30% CANOLA OIL, might as well just in…

Canola oil (and all plant products) have no cholesterol; red meat is high in cholesterol.
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