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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

#311

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Most Italian pizza has rather little cheese. I remember watching something once where the chef of a fancy pizzeria said that the most important thing in pizza is the bread: it should taste great without any topping. Then the sauce and finally everything else. I've had a great vegan pizza once and between bread, sauce and toppings, it tasted like great Italian-style pizza. Sure, a sprinkle of cheese would have made it…

I grew up on pizza in the NYC/NJ area. The Italian styles with minimal cheese are a disappointment to me. Many are able to get the crust and sauce perfect, which is no small feat, and then it feels like they just gave up with the cheese. Pizza in NYC usually not only has great crust and sauce, but it also has plenty of cheese. They don't "overload" it like many places outside the area. (I am purposely separating "Piz…

> The Italian styles with minimal cheese are a disappointment to me.

Have you had one in Italy? Personally, I quite like American style pizza, but the Italian style I still find has a more interesting flavour profile and therefore I tend to prefer it.

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

#312
post #244

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Over half of under-5 child mortality in India is the result of malnutrition, and half the children under 3 are below a healthy weight. The WHO has citied not only insufficient food, but also a substandard diet.

That's due to poverty, not vegetarianism. If anything, being vegetarian in India is (loosely) associated with wealth and the higher priestly castes.

Poverty is obviously a factor. I was simply pointing out that India is not a good example of vegetarianism and plant based foods being cheaper. You also seem to discredit the comment I was replying to.

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

#314

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It is more the concept of wanting something you claim to not want by making a fake version of it. Just eat vegan products? It seems like a cognitive dissonance when I see the words vegan and burger together.

But vegans want burgers, they just don’t want to kill an animal for that burger. This is no different than someone making a turkey burger because they don’t like beef. For some reason, only vegans get called out for making substitutions.

Hmm, then I guess that leads to my next question: what is a burger? Is a turkey burger a burger? Is a burger ground meat? Is it simply ground protein (making a vegan burger a burger)?

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

#315

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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

Most Italian pizza has rather little cheese. I remember watching something once where the chef of a fancy pizzeria said that the most important thing in pizza is the bread: it should taste great without any topping. Then the sauce and finally everything else. I've had a great vegan pizza once and between bread, sauce and toppings, it tasted like great Italian-style pizza. Sure, a sprinkle of cheese would have made it…

[deleted]

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

#316
post #109

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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?

Yes, there are a gazillion ways of making pizza without cheese. And I'm not vegan :)

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

#317

Earlier quoted context omitted.

But vegans want burgers, they just don’t want to kill an animal for that burger. This is no different than someone making a turkey burger because they don’t like beef. For some reason, only vegans get called out for making substitutions.

"Vegans" aren't who really want burgers. Newbie vegans who have been indoctrinated by a lifetime burger culture. Burgers aren't a huge deal in Asia, for example.

I strongly suspect you have never been to Japan. Massive burger culture here.

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

#318

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The appeal of vegan pizza is that no animals were industrially farmed to make it. If you think your cheese is suffering free you are lying to yourself.

The reality is, the appeal to eating a vegan pizza to some is that they know it will be cruelty free, and I admire that, to be sure. However, if you want to win over the average consumer, or someone who has developed tastebuds over twenty years, or really anyone who doesn't already eat a vegan diet, you have to overcumb 1 crucial thing: It needs to taste good or better than whatever you are trying to replace. I haven…

For anyone curious, the largest non-profit focusing on exactly that (cheap & delicious vegan alternatives) is the Good Food Institute: https://www.gfi.org/

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

#319

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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

I make cashew "mozzarella" for my vegan pizza. Everybody I know absolutely loves it.

Out of interest, are you aware of how cashews are farmed and harvested? And the health implications involved in doing so?

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

#320
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…

a veggie burger is almost always not healthier.

Do you have a source for that claim?
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