Plant-based meat is turning out to be a flop • Hacker News Board

Re: Plant-based meat is turning out to be a flop

#451

Post by jononomo » Thu, Jan 19, 2023, 2:46 PM UTC

I am an advocate of the all-beef diet.

I didn't consume a single calorie from any plant-based source for the entirety of 2021 and I ended the year feeling fantastic and in the best shape of my life.

For some reason, I went off the "carnivore diet" in 2022, but I just gained belly fat and got lower back pain, so in September of 2022 I went back on it and this time I plan to stick with it for the rest of my life.

I buy my beef by the 1/4 cow and I find that it is a surprisingly time-efficient and economical way to eat. Of course, the health benefits are marvelous as well.

Everyone thinks that I must be constipated or about to die of heart disease, but I have the smoothest digestion I've ever had in my life, I absolutely never fart, and my cholesterol and blood work is exquisite.

I just wish more people were open to even hearing about, let alone eating, an all-beef diet. It is incredible the amount of resistance I get to my way of eating.

Re: Plant-based meat is turning out to be a flop

#452

Post by AnIdiotOnTheNet » Thu, Jan 19, 2023, 2:46 PM UTC

ChoGGi wrote: post #423

I don't eat meat, nor do I have any inclination to eat fake meat. I'm curious who thought people would rather eat more expensive fake meat compared to cheaper actual meat?

There was a massive market for meat substitutes long before Impossible and Beyond hit the scene. So I guess the real question is, why would you assume no one did any market research before bringing these products to market?

Re: Plant-based meat is turning out to be a flop

#453

Post by xwdv » Thu, Jan 19, 2023, 2:47 PM UTC

I hate these fake meats. It has led to the death of legitimately good alternatives like black bean burgers, all because vegans and vegetarians are obsessed with pretending they can eat something very similar to animals. So now it seems every restaurant only wants to offer fake meat.

Re: Plant-based meat is turning out to be a flop

#454

Post by spicymaki » Thu, Jan 19, 2023, 2:47 PM UTC

johnywalks wrote: post #56

monero-xmr wrote: post #9

It doesn’t taste that good, it smells weird when cooked, it isn’t actually healthier, it’s typically more expensive than real meat as it’s “premium”, the nutritional value is suspect… the list goes on and on

Tough choice. Weird goo that was grown in a lab by people that have no idea what they're doing OR natural food we've been eating since the dawn of time.

> natural food we've been eating since the dawn of time.

I don't know if you seen the factory farms that produce chicken and beef? There is nothing natural from the dawn of time from that. They are loaded with antibiotics, and they are naturally selected for maximum meat production. Deli meats and hotdogs sure are natural products made of some amalgamation of random animal parts.

Some people speak as if everyone procures their meat from Eden's organic farm in New Zealand where the animals are hugged to death. It really is not the case for most people.

Re: Plant-based meat is turning out to be a flop

#455

Post by jononomo » Thu, Jan 19, 2023, 2:47 PM UTC

georgyo wrote: post #437

maury91 wrote: post #429

I'm not a fan of plant-based meat, this is most likely because of my culture ( I'm Sardinian ), we do have many meat based dishes and many plant based dishes, and honestly I don't see the need to cook the meat based ones with processed food that tries to replicate the taste and consistency of meat. I believe that if you don't want to eat meat there's a world of recipes that do not involve meat and are made to elevate…

Meat tastes really good. I think there are many people who want to eat less meat but really enjoy meat. I am one of those people.

[flagged]

Re: Plant-based meat is turning out to be a flop

#456

Post by jeroenhd » Thu, Jan 19, 2023, 2:48 PM UTC

dvh wrote: post #80

[flagged]

I want to eat artificial meat. Meat is tasty and many great dishes require something meat-like. In my experience artificial meat has only replaced the bottom-of-the-barrel burgers/sausages/chicken slabs, though. The expensive brands have nearly nailed down the texture of semi-processed beef, but the taste relies too much on "add salt until tasty".

That said, I've cooked myself some decent fast food with fake meat instead of cheap €1 burgers. The cheapest, shittiest meat is just a protein source drenched in fat, plants can easily substitute that.

If you're going vegetarian, fake meat isn't the way to go. There are great dishes built around vegetables, mushrooms, and all other kinds of non-meat products that you can eat instead. You won't ever find an artificial steak that's any good, but you may find something even better if you try exploring other meals instead.

I don't care what anyone else eats, as long as you let me know of your dietary restrictions if we're planning on eating together.

Re: Plant-based meat is turning out to be a flop

#457

Post by jononomo » Thu, Jan 19, 2023, 2:49 PM UTC

dubcanada wrote: post #314

chimprich wrote: post #181

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I’d feel better if the ingredients list wasn’t as long as my arm. If you listed the "ingredients" in a cow, you'd also have a list that was as long as the proverbial limb. Proteins, fats, sugars, enzymes, hormones, antibiotics (quite likely with factory farming), microorganisms... it's just our labelling laws that mean they get to be lumped together as "meat". They're still chemicals assembled by organic nanotech.…

I am certainly not saying red meat is good, I don't eat red meat. I'm just saying that the whole make a plant burger like a meat burger and bam climate change solved is not going to work. Advertising it as a meat burger won't either, cause it's not. And that just makes meat lovers angry. It would be better to focus on making veggie burgers better. Not making a terrible copy of cow. > Slowly over generations is really…

I AM saying that red meat is good -- both for your health and for the environment.

Re: Plant-based meat is turning out to be a flop

#458

Post by Spivak » Thu, Jan 19, 2023, 2:52 PM UTC

jononomo wrote: post #455

georgyo wrote: post #437

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Meat tastes really good. I think there are many people who want to eat less meat but really enjoy meat. I am one of those people.

[flagged]

I know the new studies that walk back the "read meat is bad for your health" but I haven't heard anything about the environmental impact which puts beef at about 10x worse than chicken and 50x worse than tofu.

Re: Plant-based meat is turning out to be a flop

#459

Post by bunderbunder » Thu, Jan 19, 2023, 2:52 PM UTC

lawlorino wrote: post #447

themoonisachees wrote: post #430

My perspective from France: Fake meat has never been so available. There are several restaurants that serve it that are not your "we are explicitly vegan" restaurants, burger king served some, and all major supermarkets have it in stock in the freezers right next to normal meat. However, the price is still unattainable. A few days ago i bought patties to make burgers and meat was about 1 euro/100g and plant meat was…

Similar story here in Finland, real meat is just so much cheaper than the fake veggie stuff. My theory was this was supply chains (being physically far away from the rest of Europe) and a relatively small market size, but interesting you have the same price discrepancy in France which I guess has neither of these issues. Just speculating here but do you think it is because of the strong food culture and links to iden…

I would guess that it is because real meat is a commodity, and fake meat is not. That means that fake meat companies do not enjoy the same economies of scale, nor do they experience the same kinds of market forces that help keep prices down.

Re: Plant-based meat is turning out to be a flop

#460

Post by tarsinge » Thu, Jan 19, 2023, 2:52 PM UTC

lawlorino wrote: post #447

themoonisachees wrote: post #430

My perspective from France: Fake meat has never been so available. There are several restaurants that serve it that are not your "we are explicitly vegan" restaurants, burger king served some, and all major supermarkets have it in stock in the freezers right next to normal meat. However, the price is still unattainable. A few days ago i bought patties to make burgers and meat was about 1 euro/100g and plant meat was…

Similar story here in Finland, real meat is just so much cheaper than the fake veggie stuff. My theory was this was supply chains (being physically far away from the rest of Europe) and a relatively small market size, but interesting you have the same price discrepancy in France which I guess has neither of these issues. Just speculating here but do you think it is because of the strong food culture and links to iden…

I find people around me very averse to "fake"/replacement of a real product, there is no way it will replace meat in cooking. What I don't get is why it's not more successful in fast foods. In that setting you are already forgetting yourself for eating not healthy, and French paradoxically love fast food (McDonald's has a strong presence here for example). At Burger King I find it's nearly indistinguishable from real meat, so it should be a no brainer.