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The Rise of Meatless Meat
- 3. WHAT IS THE ARGUMEN T? Is Meatless Meat (e.g. Beyond Meat or Impossible Burgers) better for you? Is this a new topic? (No!) “Veggie burgers have been around for many decades… Plant-based meats are still just getting started. The next generation is really designed for meat eaters, so the stakes are higher for what the products need to deliver on. People really like the taste of meat. Instead of trying to convince them… why not try to make meat for them in a better way?” –Caroline Bushnell
- 4. Yes, the meat alternatives whether Beyond Meat or Impossible Foods are better than meat options. A few reasons why: Environment Nutritional Value Health
- 7. New study shows vegetarian/vegans: Higher risk of stroke Due to low cholesterols Low levels of some nutrients More saturated fat and sodium Less fresh produced, more processed fillers
- 10. Avramova, Nina. “Vegetarians Might Have Higher Risk of Stroke than Meat Eaters, Study Says.” CNN, Cable News Network, 5 Sept. 2019, https://www.cnn.com/2019/09/04/health/vegetarian-vegan-diet-stroke-heart-disease-risk- intl/index.html. Lydia Mulvany and Deena Shanker | Bloomberg. “Analysis | The Vegan Economy.” The Washington Post, WP Company, 24 Sept. 2019, https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/the-vegan-economy/2019/09/24/dfd8a980-ded0- 11e9-be7f-4cc85017c36f_story.html. Piper, Kelsey. “The Rise of Meatless Meat, Explained.” Vox, Vox, 30 Aug. 2019, https://www.vox.com/2019/5/28/18626859/meatless-meat-explained-vegan-impossible-burger. Roos, Olivia. “Is Fake Meat Better for You, or the Environment?” NBCNews.com, NBCUniversal News Group, 14 Oct. 2019, https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/fake-meat-better-you-or-environment-n1065231. TodayShow. “There's a Growing Backlash against the Rise of Fake Meat - Here's Why.” TODAY.com, 15 Oct. 2019, https://www.today.com/food/there-s-growing-backlash-against-rise-fake-meat-here-s-t164597. Wiener-Bronner, Danielle. “Dunkin' Is Launching a Breakfast Sandwich with Beyond Meat Sausage.” CNN, Cable News Network, 24 July 2019, https://www.cnn.com/2019/07/24/business/dunkin-beyond-meat/index.html. Wiener-Bronner, Danielle. “The Meatless Burger Revolution Is Just Getting Started.” CNN, Cable News Network, 3 May 2019, https://www.cnn.com/2019/05/03/business/plant-based-protein-revolution/index.html.
Editor's Notes
- Hi Everyone! My name is Benjamin Hung and the topic for my food issue position project is on the rise of meatless meat.
- So, what sparked my interest in this topic? Originally, for this project I was going to talk about diet sodas, however, a few weeks ago, when I visited Dunkin’ Donuts, I noticed a major change on their menus, and that is the Beyond Sausage Breakfast Sandwich. Seeing a major change on this menu really impacted me because as a vegetarian for my whole life, the only food options I could get at fast food places like McDonalds were usually just egg and cheese. But, seeing how there is an additional option, in which it can be made in many ways like in a croissant, bagel or English muffin, really gave me more varieties for my breakfast options. As such, it reminded me of this project which essentially sparked my curiosity as to why just recently such a major change has occurred. Thus, I began my research and learned that in an article titled, “Dunkin’ is launching a breakfast sandwich with Beyond Meat sausage”, from CNN Business that, “The chain will start selling a breakfast sandwich made with Beyond Meat’s vegan sausage at 163 locations across Manhattan on Wednesday, with plans to roll out the $4.29 sandwich nationally at some point” and that other chain stores “like Burger King, Tim Hortons and Little Caesars, have also partnered with Beyond or Impossible Foods… to add plant-based foods to their menus” (Wiener-Bronner).
- So, what is the argument? The argument on the media today is “Is Meatless Meat better for you?” And the question then comes to: Is this a new topic? No. There has been veggie burgers around in groceries or in certain restaurants like Burger King, however, what makes this a topic in our media today? According to the article, “The rise of meatless meat, explained” by Kelsey Piper, a graduate from Stanford University, she interviews Caroline Bushnell who oversees retail research at the Good Food Institute, which is a nonprofit that works to promote meat alternatives, on her views of this debate. Bushnell responds stating, “Veggie burgers have been around for many decades… Plant-based meats are still just getting started. The next generation is really designed for meat eaters, so the stakes are higher for what the products need to deliver on. People really like the taste of meat. Instead of trying to convince them… why not try to make meat for them in a better way?” (Piper). As Bushnell has claimed, the reason to why this topic has now become a debate is mainly because it is not the same as veggie burgers, as it is more geared towards meat eaters than for creating food options for vegetarians.
- Personally, putting away the fact that I am a vegetarian, I would argue that meat alternatives are better options than eating the meat itself because of environmental, nutritional and health reasons. First of all, these meat substitutions are better environmentally. They cost less water, less agricultural land, fewer greenhouse gas emission, and less energy in comparison to making a beef burger. In fact, in an article titled, “Is fake meat better for you, or the environment?”, Bruce Friedrich, the co-founder and executive director of the Good Food Institute, stated that if everyone replaced meat with plant or cell-based alternatives “The pressure on the planet would be impacted in a huge and positive way” (Roos). Moreover, with the global population expecting to swell to 9.7 billion by 2050, meat alternatives can be an effective way to create a more sustainable food supply without forcing people to change their diet too much.
- Next, the nutritional value different between meat alternatives and the regular meat version really shows how these meatless meat are made to be similar or even better than the meat. As shown in this chart, comparing the impossible burger to the whopper, other than the fact that the impossible burger has more sodium, it has less calories, less fat, saturated fat and protein. Also, remember the fact that, environmentally, it costs like water, land, and energy to make. This all shows how the impossible burger, or the meat alternative is more beneficial than the original.
- Finally, in regards to this debate, I would also argue that to a certain extent, meat alternatives are better than meat for your health. In the article, “Vegetarians might have higher risk of stroke than meat eaters, study says”, by CNN health, it shows, “Vegetarians (including vegans) were found to have a 22% lower risk of coronary heart disease than meat eaters by the research team” (Avramova). This demonstrates how vegetarians and more-son vegans have a lower risk of heart disease than meat eaters. Moreover, if you look at the chart as shown, it shows how U.S. consumers have more negative views towards eating meat alternatives, and I believe one source of this is because not everyone knows about health impact it can affect you. Which, essentially, I believe this is the reason behind the creation of Beyond Meat and Impossible Foods, so meat-eaters can still consume food that tastes like meat but is healthier to them. That being said, you may be wondering that the article’s title say otherwise, which is where it leads to what the opposing side may argue.
- People who are against meat alternatives have argued that there has been a new study that shows that, yes- vegetarians have lower risks of coronary heart disease because they don’t eat meat, but that in fact, increases the risk of getting a stroke and that is due to low cholesterols and low levels of some nutrient. (Avramova). Furthermore, in “There’s a growing backlash against the rise of fake meat – here’s why”, it argues that the products the meat alternatives are made of have more saturated fat and sodium than animal proteins like lean beef or turkey (TodayShow). Moreover, it also claims that the Beyond Meat and Impossible Foods are less freshly produced and have more processed fillers, meaning that it may require 20 ingredients to make the plant-based patty, whereas the original burger patty has just one, that is ground beef.
- Essentially, that being said, here is a diagram that shows the difference between Beyond Meat and Impossible Foods. While both are made plant-based and targeted towards meat eaters, but they are made of different ingredients and thus they have different nutritional values that differentiate them –which makes them rival each other.
- In conclusion, the rise of meatless meat is slowly but gradually changing our society. In fact, according to the Washington Post, “The Vegan Economy”, it shows that in a survey “31% of respondents labeled themselves ‘flexitarians’ – people who regularly substitute other foods for meat. In other polls, one-third of Britons said they had scaled back or stopped meat purchases… The change is happening even as global meat consumption rises, including in the U.S. and developing countries such as China with traditionally plant-heavy diets” (Lydia Mulvany and Deena Shanker). Like they have stated, slowly but gradually, even with people opposing such ideas, our world is having more people consuming less meat and some even going vegetarian or vegan. In the diagram shown, if 30% of the beef in our burgers are changed or replaced into a plant-based patty, then it can save as many emissions as taking 2.3 million cars off the road, conserve as much water as 2.6 million Americans use at home, and reduce agricultural land demand as big or even bigger than Maryland, per year. This shows how much positive impact we can create on our planet and essentially also the environment, or even our health. Let’s all begin by trying out the beyond burger in our schools dining commons, or possibly the beyond sausage in Dunkin’ Donuts and create a change in our world.
- Lastly, these are my sources. Thank you!