The Spectacular Rise and Fall of Fake Meat in America
The Spectacular Rise and Fall of Fake Meat in America
Derek and Deena Shanker talk about the spectacular rise and fall of fake meat—and what it tells us about food, taste, politics, and technology
The provided transcript doesn't explain the fall...
I can explain the fall. They're all really expensive, and times are hard. For people experimenting with eating less meat, it's a luxury and meat is just cheaper. For full vegetarians, it's a luxury and vegetables are just cheaper. It seems they just haven't managed to reach a wide enough audience to bring costs down. Which is a shame in my opinion. I eat meat, but I do like to use the replacements to reduce my meat consumption, and some of them are honestly quite good. Beyond burgers for example I love. And a lot of replacement minced meat is great for things like Bolognese where it's not the main focus.
Agreed, seems like the price point would have to be significant or you’re going to miss a lot of possible consumers.
Yeah I was going to say, they explained that meat substitutes are down “80%!” and then they just go on for 8 paragraphs about how the want to change the world.
Bad article.
This article sounds like it could be written about the rise and fall of electric vehicles as well. Gas prices plunge and suddenly declining stock for EV companies signals the demise of the industry...
I do suspect that the Impossible and Beyond companies have to worry not only about growth rate of their own products, but also other emerging technologies like lab grown meats taking market share.
I tried a lot of meat substitutes and most are not that good or more expensive. I do like a shrimp substitute that I found that kicks ass.
Try impossible meat.
What's the shrimp substitute you like?
Sophie's Kitchen Breaded Vegan Shrimp
I don't get the point of fake meat. It's full of artificial stuff.
If you want to be vegetarian for health reasons, eat a mushroom patty.
If its religious, you shouldn't be emulating what you're not supposed to eat.
Sometimes I just want something that tastes like meat. I ate meat for most of my life, and I do miss the taste of it sometimes (though less and less over time). But Gardein fake meats usually scratch that itch -- I like Beyond Meat, but they are way too high in calories for me.
It depends on the brand, but a lot of them are actually plenty healthy and a lot lower fat. The Beyond/Impossible ones are basically supposed to be 1-for-1 recreations of actual burgers or whatever, so naturally they're chock full of fat.
it's not fat, but a lot of salt and other chemicals that I'm worried about.
The point is protein. Wheat gluten and soy products are meat substitutes for their protein value. Dairy is an option for vegetarians who are not opposed to animal products, but vegans shun it.
Half of my family eats meat. These meat substitutes are a way to get us all eating the same meal without anyone complaining. If we didn't have these, then on the nights when someone wants to eat a burger, a sausage, a chili or a pasta dish, they'd be eating meat. So while there are still stubborn meat eaters in the household, these products help reduce our overall meat consumption by providing an easy option everyone will eat.
Ok that's fair.
Just because there are ingredients listed it is not inherently bad and these products are targeted and mostly consumed by people who want to eat less meat or miss it. There are people who want to eat less meat because of ethical reasons. Regardless of the reason, whatever helps people eat less dead animals is a good thing.