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Beyond Meat signs global supply deals with McDonald’s, KFC and Pizza Hut

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Re: Beyond Meat signs global supply deals with McDonald’s, KFC and Pizza Hut

#931
post #928

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This appears to be untrue, based on a cursory google search.

"The flavor enhancers and preservatives BHA and BHT are subject to severe restrictions in Europe but are widely used in American food products." https://www.nytimes.com/2018/12/28/well/eat/food-additives-b...

"Subject to severe restrictions" is not banned, and that claim is unsourced anyway.

They're "approved" as E320 and E321 according to: https://www.food.gov.uk/business-guidance/approved-additives...

Re: Beyond Meat signs global supply deals with McDonald’s, KFC and Pizza Hut

#932

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That ocean doesn't seem very wide to me. If someone is eating an animal's flesh rather than plant-based food, presumably they are doing so "purely for enjoyment" of the taste of that flesh, especially if the animal flesh is more expensive. I don't see why enjoyment of the taste of an animal is any better reason to kill it than enjoyment of the "sport" of hunting it or enjoyment of the bragging rights of having killed…

I say in another comment that humans like to eat meat because meat is a very good food for humans. What we like and don't like to eat depends on our biology and is tuned to drive us to find the food we need to survive, and thrive. So I don't believe you can decouple enjoyment _of food_ from the needs of a biological body- and so you can't sensibly speak of "purely for enjoyment". On the side, this biological drive to…

> "In any case, the desire to kill an animal to show off one's hunting prowess is rather on a different level to biological needs. Nobody _needs_ to kill an animal for sport in order to stay alive. Everybody needs to eat. That is the ocean of difference I refer to in my comment."

This is the disconnect I'm confused by.

Nobody _needs_ to eat meat to stay alive either. Plenty of people survive just fine without doing so (vegetarians and vegans).

It'd be different if we did need meat to live, but we don't.

Re: Beyond Meat signs global supply deals with McDonald’s, KFC and Pizza Hut

#933
post #2

This is the best news I've heard all week. The more widely vegan "meat" is available, the more likely it is to be adopted by average people and not just dedicated vegans. Reducing the demand for real beef is probably one of the best things we can do in the short term for the environment, due to the amount of land required for cattle farming, and due to the surprising amount of methane emitted by cattle. (see the docu…

I truly don't understand the methane issue. Historically worldwide the # of ungulates is probably well below historical averages. It looks like today we have around 98 million head of cattle in the US. Historically we had bison in excess of conservatively 60 million. This doesn't even begin to count all the animals in Africa. Overall wide life is declining. https://www.statista.com/statistics/194297/total-number-of-c…

Iirc dinosaur farts caused the ice age [citation needed].

Re: Beyond Meat signs global supply deals with McDonald’s, KFC and Pizza Hut

#934

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I say in another comment that humans like to eat meat because meat is a very good food for humans. What we like and don't like to eat depends on our biology and is tuned to drive us to find the food we need to survive, and thrive. So I don't believe you can decouple enjoyment _of food_ from the needs of a biological body- and so you can't sensibly speak of "purely for enjoyment". On the side, this biological drive to…

> "In any case, the desire to kill an animal to show off one's hunting prowess is rather on a different level to biological needs. Nobody _needs_ to kill an animal for sport in order to stay alive. Everybody needs to eat. That is the ocean of difference I refer to in my comment." This is the disconnect I'm confused by. Nobody _needs_ to eat meat to stay alive either. Plenty of people survive just fine without doing s…

[deleted]

Re: Beyond Meat signs global supply deals with McDonald’s, KFC and Pizza Hut

#935

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The corn consumed by cattle includes the corn stalks which are more or less the same as consuming grass. Corn is after all in the grass family. The actual kernels of corn increase the calories versus grass, but it’s not like cows are just eating corn off the cob all day long. They need to consume tons of roughage to help with their digestion. I think a good argument is that converting grain and grass to beef is ineff…

It is well documented that once cows are switched to the pure corn diets we now feed them, their health starts immediately declining and they start dying. Factory farms time it so that they grow up on grass and similar, then are switched to grain to fatten them, and are slaughtered before becoming too ill. There are many unhealthy modifications made to their diet and environment to force them to consume corn. This is…

Ugh, this is worse than a lot of inhuman cattle farming stuff I've come across.

Re: Beyond Meat signs global supply deals with McDonald’s, KFC and Pizza Hut

#936

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I say in another comment that humans like to eat meat because meat is a very good food for humans. What we like and don't like to eat depends on our biology and is tuned to drive us to find the food we need to survive, and thrive. So I don't believe you can decouple enjoyment _of food_ from the needs of a biological body- and so you can't sensibly speak of "purely for enjoyment". On the side, this biological drive to…

> "In any case, the desire to kill an animal to show off one's hunting prowess is rather on a different level to biological needs. Nobody _needs_ to kill an animal for sport in order to stay alive. Everybody needs to eat. That is the ocean of difference I refer to in my comment." This is the disconnect I'm confused by. Nobody _needs_ to eat meat to stay alive either. Plenty of people survive just fine without doing s…

My comment was "Everybody needs to eat". We need to eat food to stay alive and meat is a very good kind of food. It doesn't have to be a choice of life and death, eat meat or die. As an analogy, you also don't _need_ to wash to survive, but it vastly improves your quality of life if you do.

As to vegetarians and vegans- while it's possible to maintain a healthy diet while being one or the other, it is much easier to do when eating some meat and animal products.

Re: Beyond Meat signs global supply deals with McDonald’s, KFC and Pizza Hut

#937
post #791
post #692

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Brazilians are currently cutting down forests to grow crops for cattle feed. Plant based meat uses less resources than beef so I would call that a win in my book.

You seem to have missed the important part of my comment. If you tell an Iowa corn farmer than he can't grow corn anymore, he doesn't just give up and let his land turn in to prairie. He will grow soy, or raise pigs, or whatever else monetizes the land. Brazilians will keep cutting down forests because they depend on the land for income. They ultimately don't care what the deforestation is for, only that it feeds the…

Corn is an excellent carbon sink btw.

Re: Beyond Meat signs global supply deals with McDonald’s, KFC and Pizza Hut

#938
post #2

This is the best news I've heard all week. The more widely vegan "meat" is available, the more likely it is to be adopted by average people and not just dedicated vegans. Reducing the demand for real beef is probably one of the best things we can do in the short term for the environment, due to the amount of land required for cattle farming, and due to the surprising amount of methane emitted by cattle. (see the docu…

As a beef “fan” i was amazed by the taste of beyond meat. I am trying to reduce meat (due to practical moral considerations) so dont be harsh. Happy to try such alternatives.

Is it healthy?

Re: Beyond Meat signs global supply deals with McDonald’s, KFC and Pizza Hut

#939
post #819

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What I think is worse. Is that they call it "meat". People who aren't that switched on will start eating it, when there is no proof it is actually good for you. I'd like to see a 10-20 year study before we just accept that Beyond Meat is actually good for long term health. Supermarkets are putting this stuff in the "meat" section too. Poor old person who can barely see that actually needs real tried and test nutritio…

They need to rename peanut butter too, it's not actually butter :/

Start with "peanut". It's not a nut. Peanuts are a type of pea, related to lentils and beans.

Call the result "goober goo".

Re: Beyond Meat signs global supply deals with McDonald’s, KFC and Pizza Hut

#940
post #762
post #427

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> starting to think of meat as a luxury I remember growing up drinking soda with every meal because the common perception was that you ordered water at a restaurant only if that was all you could afford. Trying to make meat a luxury is the best way to ensure long term increasing demand.

> I remember growing up drinking soda with every meal because the common perception was that you ordered water at a restaurant only if that was all you could afford. That's really interesting. Where was that?

Probably somewhere where human labour costs less then soda.
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