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McDonald's is adding plant-based burgers to the menu

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Re: McDonald's is adding plant-based burgers to the menu

#301

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>As a plus side their customers will still be starving for protein afterwards. Why? Meat replacements are engineered to have similar nutritional value as the meat-based version. for example, BK: >A traditional Whopper has 660 calories, 40 grams of fat (12 of which are saturated) and 28 grams of protein. The Impossible Whopper clocks in at 630 calories, 34 grams of fat (11 saturated) and 25 grams of protein, so it's p…

Distribution of proteins is also important. Meat is complete protein.

It’s currently thought to be less important than it use to be. Previously it was assumed that a complete protein needs to be consumed during every meal. Now it’s generally regarded as okay to have a complete protein across the entire day. This makes it very likely to have a complete protein by eating a variety of foods throughout the day.

Re: McDonald's is adding plant-based burgers to the menu

#302
post #58

I think it’ll be a big win when plant-based burgers are cheaper than animal based burgers. From a raw ingredients standpoint plant based food should almost always be cheaper than animal based food because the costs associated with farming plants is lower than the costs associated with farming animals. Hopefully, with McDonald’s scale and with their vertical integration they can make affordable, tasty, and comparably…

plant based burgers are heavily processed with all kinds of chemicals and not necessarily healthier

Re: McDonald's is adding plant-based burgers to the menu

#303

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>As a plus side their customers will still be starving for protein afterwards. Why? Meat replacements are engineered to have similar nutritional value as the meat-based version. for example, BK: >A traditional Whopper has 660 calories, 40 grams of fat (12 of which are saturated) and 28 grams of protein. The Impossible Whopper clocks in at 630 calories, 34 grams of fat (11 saturated) and 25 grams of protein, so it's p…

Distribution of proteins is also important. Meat is complete protein.

It's essentially impossible to avoid eating sufficient essential amino acids

Re: McDonald's is adding plant-based burgers to the menu

#304
post #109

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The price of animal agriculture products is artificially lowered by direct subsidy, price controls, and indirectly lowered by the unaccounted ecological costs. It is largely a matter of policy rather than a reflection of market forces. On a level playing field, the cost competitiveness is there. For instance, in New Zealand, one of the largest dairy export markets, I can buy a vegan pizza for the same price. In fact,…

What is the appeal of a vegan pizza? Is it even pizza without cheese?

I love all sorts of pizza: Meaty, cheesy, vegan, and everything in-between.

I've had some truly phenomenal vegan pizzas that I would regularly take over a "traditional" pizza.

I've also had some horrible ones. But you can say that about anything :-)

Re: McDonald's is adding plant-based burgers to the menu

#305
post #109

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The price of animal agriculture products is artificially lowered by direct subsidy, price controls, and indirectly lowered by the unaccounted ecological costs. It is largely a matter of policy rather than a reflection of market forces. On a level playing field, the cost competitiveness is there. For instance, in New Zealand, one of the largest dairy export markets, I can buy a vegan pizza for the same price. In fact,…

What is the appeal of a vegan pizza? Is it even pizza without cheese?

Pauline Gee’s slice shop in Greenpoint has some vegan options that would fool most people in a blind taste test, I think. The bread and the sauce are doing most of the work.

Re: McDonald's is adding plant-based burgers to the menu

#306
post #294

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You shouldn't make assumptions about how others see the world. I'd prefer that my cheese came from an animal that didn't live in abysmal conditions, but TBH I just enjoy the cheese and don't care all that much where it came from.

How is that relevant to the question of what appeal vegan pizza has to people that consume it?

It isn't. It's a response to the person I was replying to, who called me a liar.

Re: McDonald's is adding plant-based burgers to the menu

#307
post #193

Earlier quoted context omitted.

All true, but the names are still "cute". Small, regular, large, XL work just fine. That said, I'm already order what amount to a liquid dessert with a silly name, so IDGAF. Venti Frappathingamajig with extra whip and a side of the 'beetus please.

Around here I'll often go somewhere and ask for "your smallest size of chips" or something, and they'll tell me they don't have small, only regular. OK thanks for that unnecessary interaction.

To be fair they are warning you that the portion size might be larger than you’d like.

Re: McDonald's is adding plant-based burgers to the menu

#308
post #110
post #58

I think it’ll be a big win when plant-based burgers are cheaper than animal based burgers. From a raw ingredients standpoint plant based food should almost always be cheaper than animal based food because the costs associated with farming plants is lower than the costs associated with farming animals. Hopefully, with McDonald’s scale and with their vertical integration they can make affordable, tasty, and comparably…

> From a raw ingredients standpoint plant based food should almost always be cheaper than animal based food Genuinely curious: is it though? I can certainly see the strength of the argument if we're merely comparing 1 lb of soy vs 1 lb of beef, but my understanding is that veggie burgers require quite a bit of processing to become "meat-like". It'd be interesting to keep track of cost and environmental impact differe…

Impossible has tried to quantify the total energy and water inputs, and found that their burgers are still only 5% or so of the inputs of meat.

Obviously they could be fudging the numbers, but meat is also really, really inefficient.

Re: McDonald's is adding plant-based burgers to the menu

#309
post #218

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> It's also more accepting for people who have various dietary restrictions Except for those on a ketogenic diet.

There are vegan ways to do that. No idea if they’re worthwhile, but they are possible.

Vegan keto is a pretty small intersection of the Venn diagram of foods, particularly if you're also avoiding refined seed oils.

Re: McDonald's is adding plant-based burgers to the menu

#310
post #58

I think it’ll be a big win when plant-based burgers are cheaper than animal based burgers. From a raw ingredients standpoint plant based food should almost always be cheaper than animal based food because the costs associated with farming plants is lower than the costs associated with farming animals. Hopefully, with McDonald’s scale and with their vertical integration they can make affordable, tasty, and comparably…

> Hopefully, with McDonald’s scale and with their vertical integration they can make affordable, tasty, and comparably healthy veggie burgers a reality. McDonald's hasn't even made tasty meat burgers a reality, so that's asking a bit much. OTOH, I supect McDonald's will continue to harvest as much of a premium as the market will bear from anyone with special dietary preferences that they cater to, including vegetaria…

> McDonald's hasn't even made tasty meat burgers a reality

That might well be true in some countries. Certainly not true in Australia.

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