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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?

#51

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…

How did you land at 30% canola oil? There's three fats in Beyond Meat burgers, Expeller-Pressed Canola Oil, Refined Coconut Oil, and Cocoa Butter. The total fat content is 18g per serving. Each serving is 113g total. That's 15% total fat content per serving. We don't know the canola, coconut, or cocoa butter ratio, but we can at least assume total canola oil is There's also 0mg of cholesterol.

Nutrition Facts: https://www.beyondmeat.com/products/the-beyond-burger/

Edit: I should add I'm not saying this is the best food choice. 1 tablespoon of oil is about 13g. So you're basically eating a little over 1 tablespoon of oil.

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

#52

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…

The plant based burgers simply aren't burgers or even close and without massive genetic engineering I doubt they ever will be.

My guess is that lab grown meats (or some complete protein yeast type product much closer to meat than the clumsy impostors we see now) does replace animal grown meat shortly enough. So I agree with author, only it won't be Beyond Burger type things.

It's really about efficiency more than anything else.

The efficient way isn't chasing cows around and fencing them in and feeding them grain and cutting them up and eating half of them. That really makes only a little more sense than chasing deer through forests with pointed sticks. It scales poorly and is expensive.

But I do agree, these plant substitutes aren't it. The protein is poorer quality and the flavor is much poorer quality.

Getting people to care about abstract environment or animal rights is a losing battle. But offering the same flavor, same nutrition at a lower cost doesn't need selling.

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

#53

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…

> Last time I cooked a Beyond Meat burger I noticed it was 30% canola oil. 30% CANOLA OIL

Burgers are typically made from 80/20 ground beef. That's 80% meat, 20% fat.

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

#54
post #18

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.

What is wrong with death?

Its not death that is the issue. It is pain and suffering.

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

#55
post #47

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Considerably more water is used to raise cattle than plants. And then the plants that they feed on also need water.

Efficiency isn't really an argument that is going to get people to change their preferences. Case in point, Electron apps. Even if beef becomes the Electron of the food world, you know a ton of people are still going to consume it.

You don't think water shortages will change people's preferences?

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

#56

I don’t think most people will have a problem switching to plant based burgers as long as they taste good, but I think that’s still the sticking point at the moment. I’ve had an Impossible burger a few times and could always taste a strong difference (I even did a few blind taste tests). I don’t think it’s close to actual meat yet. Supposedly the second version of the burger has improved; I haven’t tried it yet. Chea…

Even with Wagyu and Kobe, the whole cow isn't getting turned into premium cuts of meat. Burger and sausage are going to be a byproduct of the parts that aren't high margin proportional to the demand for the rest of it. Kind of like how eggs are so cheap because they are a natural byproduct of the chicken meat industry and the insatiable American lust for all white meat breast. I wouldn't be surprised to see an effect…

[deleted]

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

#57
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.

I'd be interested in seeing a source for that less than 3% number.

However most cattle are certainly finished on grain without a doubt. Grain that could possibly put to better uses (or not grown and save the fuel and water).

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

#58

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

Yes, it was a turkey-based roasted carrot. It was a bit of a cheat, though, because they used actual powdered carrot as one of the ingredients.

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

#59

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.

That's a Naturalistic Fallacy. You can justify just about any behavior (theft, murder, rape) by the same reasoning that other animals do it.

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

#60

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…

>> I legit don't understand how this trend keeps going even though vegetarian burgers made with vegetables are delicious and way healthier and there are alternative cuisines like Indian or Mediterranean that gives you loads of options that aren't basically CANOLA OIL.

Upvote for that last bit. I haven't tried a synthetic burger yet so I don't know about your comments on taste etc, but it has to be said that there is a very, very long way you can go to feed yourself on plants before you have to eat a fake burger.

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