The faux meat thread

[Lou]

Seems like we have a number of threads that are all over the board. So I'm proposing this thread as the Everything Not Meat Thread.

Here is my first entry. An article where the author and her husband taste test 10 faux meat products. For most of us, there won't be anything new in here. and of course, there is no accounting for taste. Overall I thought the article was a good intro to the subject.

The article is just about the commercially available products you find in the supermarkets. but they did give a little lip service to "natural high protein sources like tempeh, lentils, tofu, and beans". Actually, that is about all they had to say on that subject.

Eating Less Meat in 2022? These Are the Best and Worst Meat Substitutes

We taste-tested 10 “fauxtein” products; here are the results from impressive to underwhelming.

www.runnersworld.com

 

[Lou]

“Vegan Costco” Now Offers a Veganuary Sampler Pack Stuffed with Plant-Based Bacon, Pepperoni, and Pulled Pork

To help Veganuary participants stick to their pledges, VEDGEco is offering a sampler pack filled with pounds of Impossible Burgers, JUST Egg, Plant Ranch Carne Asada, and more.

vegnews.com

 

[Lou]

“Vegan Costco” Now Offers a Veganuary Sampler Pack Stuffed with Plant-Based Bacon, Pepperoni, and Pulled Pork

To help Veganuary participants stick to their pledges, VEDGEco is offering a sampler pack filled with pounds of Impossible Burgers, JUST Egg, Plant Ranch Carne Asada, and more.

vegnews.com

Oh. this is not something you have to go to Costco for. This is an online company. Like Costco the things you buy are in bulk.

this Veganuary sampler pack includes.

• A 10-pack Impossible Burger
• 2-pound pack of JUST Egg
• 10-ounce pack of BE-Hive Pepperoni
• 12-slice pack of All Vegetarian Vegan Bacon
• 6-piece pack of All Vegetarian Vegan Drumsticks
• 8-ounce package of Blackbird Original Seitan
• one-pound pack of Plant Ranch Carne Asada
• 12-ounce pack of Barvecue Original Pulled Pork Alternative

VEDGEco.com | Wholesale Plant-Based Food & Vegan Bulk

Helping Restaurants Go Vegan. VEDGEco supplies uncompromisingly delicious plant-based meats, dairy, and eggs to foodservice operators nationwide.

vedgeco.com

 

[Lou]

Just the basics but in the spirit of Vegananuary

9 Meat Alternatives to Add Protein to a Plant-Based Diet

Whether you’re cutting back on meat or looking for ways to include more veggies in your meals, these delicious meat alternatives offer plenty of protein.

www.bhg.com

 

[HappyRoxy]

I recently tried some of the Lamyong meats. Lamyong They are really quite good.

 

[Urban Gardener]

I like Amy’s Texas Burger. They’re hard to find where I live, but they’re good. And of course Trader Joe’s Soy Chorizo, and any brand of vegan corn dogs.

I didn’t see any mention of peanut butter or nuts in general as a protein source. I’m a big nutter. They’re a good way to add variety so you’re not only relying on beans and bean-derived products for protein.

 

[HappyRoxy]

I recently tried some of the Lamyong meats. Lamyong They are really quite good.

I like Amy’s Texas Burger. They’re hard to find where I live, but they’re good. And of course Trader Joe’s Soy Chorizo, and any brand of vegan corn dogs.

I didn’t see any mention of peanut butter or nuts in general as a protein source. I’m a big nutter. They’re a good way to add variety so you’re not only relying on beans and bean-derived products for protein.

I haven't had a vegan corn dog before. I do like vegan hot dogs though, with mustard and ketchup.

 

[Lou]

I've been really disinterested in the whole "cultured meat" thing. I'm not sure why. I may have to examine my feelings on it one night while I lie awake.

I came across this article and I like the authors take on it. Oddly it comes from the National Review which is a conservative magazine. I've posted to a link to the National Review one time before here in the Vegan Forum. When they supported Cory Bookers bill against factory farming.

Hello Cultured Meat, Goodbye to the Cruelty of Industrial Animal Farming | National Review

Here’s a technology designed to rehumanize us, putting mankind’s brilliance and ingenuity in service to our gentler side.

www.nationalreview.com

The article even quotes Harris, the author of Sapiens. “if you measure crimes by the sheer amount of pain and misery they inflict on sentient beings,” then our modern, worldwide abuse of factory-farmed animals ranks among the worst crimes in human history."

Some other good lines from this article

We often worry about the “dehumanizing” effects technology can have. Here’s a technology designed to rehumanize us, putting mankind’s brilliance and ingenuity all in service to our gentler side.​

​

With the spread of industrial livestock methods — today the source of 95 percent of meat, eggs, and dairy items — the fate of farm animals went from regrettable to abhorrent, from merely sad to morally untenable.​

I have some thinking to do tonight.

 

[Urban Gardener]

I've been really disinterested in the whole "cultured meat" thing. I'm not sure why. I may have to examine my feelings on it one night while I lie awake.

I came across this article and I like the authors take on it. Oddly it comes from the National Review which is a conservative magazine. I've posted to a link to the National Review one time before here in the Vegan Forum. When they supported Cory Bookers bill against factory farming.

Hello Cultured Meat, Goodbye to the Cruelty of Industrial Animal Farming | National Review

Here’s a technology designed to rehumanize us, putting mankind’s brilliance and ingenuity in service to our gentler side.

www.nationalreview.com

The article even quotes Harris, the author of Sapiens. “if you measure crimes by the sheer amount of pain and misery they inflict on sentient beings,” then our modern, worldwide abuse of factory-farmed animals ranks among the worst crimes in human history."

Some other good lines from this article

We often worry about the “dehumanizing” effects technology can have. Here’s a technology designed to rehumanize us, putting mankind’s brilliance and ingenuity all in service to our gentler side.​

​

With the spread of industrial livestock methods — today the source of 95 percent of meat, eggs, and dairy items — the fate of farm animals went from regrettable to abhorrent, from merely sad to morally untenable.​

I have some thinking to do tonight.

Factory farming is so horrible. I think it will eventually be abandoned and then regarded the same way we look at historical practices that were cruel to people.

If more people were aware of it, there would be more outrage. It’s mostly an information issue. People don’t know how meat is produced and our culture discourages the spread of that kind of info.

 

[Lou]

Factory farming is so horrible. I think it will eventually be abandoned and then regarded the same way we look at historical practices that were cruel to people.

I have this fantasy/nightmare that someday in the future all my friends will feel really guilty or stupid about having not gone vegan with me. And will lambast me for not talking them into being vegan.
I would tell them I tried.
and they would say, you should have tried harder. You knew this stuff and didn't tell us.
I would say, I told you, you wouldn't listen
and they would say you should have made us

and so on.

If more people were aware of it, there would be more outrage. It’s mostly an information issue. People don’t know how meat is produced and our culture discourages the spread of that kind of info.

Well, yeah, Paul McCartney and glass walls. but this is 2021. Its not just PETA videos anymore. It's mainstream news. If they don't know its cause they don't want to.

Last year I saw articles on factory farming in the LA times, Forbes, the guardian, the NYT, USA...

on tv its been on Oprah, Vice, BBC, PBS....

but you won't get an argument from me. it should be on tv and in the paper every week, not once a year.

 

[Urban Gardener]

I have this fantasy/nightmare that someday in the future all my friends will feel really guilty or stupid about having not gone vegan with me. And will lambast me for not talking them into being vegan.
I would tell them I tried.
and they would say, you should have tried harder. You knew this stuff and didn't tell us.
I would say, I told you, you wouldn't listen
and they would say you should have made us

and so on.


Well, yeah, Paul McCartney and glass walls. but this is 2021. Its not just PETA videos anymore. It's mainstream news. If they don't know its cause they don't want to.

Last year I saw articles on factory farming in the LA times, Forbes, the guardian, the NYT, USA...

on tv its been on Oprah, Vice, BBC, PBS....

but you won't get an argument from me. it should be on tv and in the paper every week, not once a year.

Yeah, but there’s so much propaganda in the other direction. Mostly from the meat/dairy industry but also from conservative and religious groups. Most people don’t really know which side to believe, and they eat meat because it’s traditional.

It is changing, though. More people are going vegan. The public image of it is changing. Back in the 90’s, it was associated with a certain type of person (whether accurately or inaccurately). Now there are tons of very visible vegans who don’t fit that mold at all.

 

[silva]

Factory farming is so horrible. I think it will eventually be abandoned and then regarded the same way we look at historical practices that were cruel to people.

If more people were aware of it, there would be more outrage. It’s mostly an information issue. People don’t know how meat is produced and our culture discourages the spread of that kind of info.

Seems everyone I know is very much aware, and has seen documentaries like Earthlings or Meet your Meat. They say they don't like it, but they like meat. I knew a woman who constantly prefaced her food talk with pastured, free range, organic, how it's worth spending more....then would buy the breakfast bacon or sausage they served at the cafeteria
This is why I don't ever use the "friends no food". I'm more worried people will be swayed to why not eat dogs or cats here?

 

[Urban Gardener]

Seems everyone I know is very much aware, and has seen documentaries like Earthlings or Meet your Meat. They say they don't like it, but they like meat. I knew a woman who constantly prefaced her food talk with pastured, free range, organic, how it's worth spending more....then would buy the breakfast bacon or sausage they served at the cafeteria
This is why I don't ever use the "friends no food". I'm more worried people will be swayed to why not eat dogs or cats here?

I know plenty of people who aren’t aware of it, and people who only have the most basic knowledge of it.

But I have noticed the same thing. The word is getting out.

 

[Lou]

Seems everyone I know is very much aware, and has seen documentaries like Earthlings or Meet your Meat. They say they don't like it, but they like meat. I knew a woman who constantly prefaced her food talk with pastured, free range, organic, how it's worth spending more....then would buy the breakfast bacon or sausage they served at the cafeteria
This is why I don't ever use the "friends no food". I'm more worried people will be swayed to why not eat dogs or cats here?

I had already become vegan when I tried to watch Earthlings. (tried twice). I did watch Meet your Meat. but I really can't imagine someone watching those docs and NOT becoming vegan.

Despite my urgings I can't get anyone in my circle to even watch Cowspirarcy or What the Health.
I think they know it will turn them vegan and just don't want to.

 

[Urban Gardener]

My dad comes from a farming family where everyone raised their own meat. I talked to my grandmother about it a lot. She was born circa 1910.

It was not cruelty-free. The animals were slaughtered, and they lived their lives in captivity. But it was very different from factory farming. It was like having horses but not interacting with them. There was a rule that you don’t befriend meat animals. But there was concern for their well being. They had space, companions, good food and shelter, etc.

That’s a common story. A lot of people’s grandparents were farmers, the family farm was sold to a big company, and they keep eating meat while imagining the family farm.

Our reality today is so different. Factory farming snuck up on us.

We need stronger laws to protect the welfare of all captive animals, regardless of their intended purpose. Factory farming should not be legal.

 

[Chryssie]

My dad comes from a farming family where everyone raised their own meat. I talked to my grandmother about it a lot. She was born circa 1910.

It was not cruelty-free. The animals were slaughtered, and they lived their lives in captivity. But it was very different from factory farming. It was like having horses but not interacting with them. There was a rule that you don’t befriend meat animals. But there was concern for their well being. They had space, companions, good food and shelter, etc.

That’s a common story. A lot of people’s grandparents were farmers, the family farm was sold to a big company, and they keep eating meat while imagining the family farm.

Our reality today is so different. Factory farming snuck up on us.

We need stronger laws to protect the welfare of all captive animals, regardless of their intended purpose. Factory farming should not be legal.

I grew up on farms. In my early childhood, we had dairy cows and pigs and chickens. I helped with the cows and I fed the baby calves formula in bottles when they were taken from their mothers. I had no clue that it was cruel and eating meat was our way of life. We had our own pork and when we moved to a different farm and had beef cattle who are raised for meat. Then we had our own beef. I have memories of the butcher shop and saw the actual carcasses in the locker rooms. This was just our way of life. You didn't even think about it. Of course this was many years ago when small family farms were the norm. We had small herds of cattle and they were not subject to the conditions that the animals are today on factory farms. Of course now I look back and know it was wrong but many people just don't get it. It took me a long time to get to where I am today in my thinking. I never have watched any of those films either that seem to steer people to veganism. My ex and I just decided to go vegan after he had been doing some research online and I was getting sick of cooking meat. I had said just casually, "I could go vegetarian." And we did actually go vegan "cold turkey" back in 2007 or 2008. (I can't remember for sure)
I talk to people at work who are curious about the "lifestyle" but they often say "but I like the taste of meat" or "I could never give up bacon!" Some people really don't know the realities. Many I have talked to didn't know the cruel facts of the dairy industry. They actually are ignorant of the fact that cows don't just "give milk".
Ok this is getting too long! Just my experience and I don't know how to change people's attitudes!

 

[Urban Gardener]

I grew up on farms. In my early childhood, we had dairy cows and pigs and chickens. I helped with the cows and I fed the baby calves formula in bottles when they were taken from their mothers. I had no clue that it was cruel and eating meat was our way of life. We had our own pork and when we moved to a different farm and had beef cattle who are raised for meat. Then we had our own beef. I have memories of the butcher shop and saw the actual carcasses in the locker rooms. This was just our way of life. You didn't even think about it. Of course this was many years ago when small family farms were the norm. We had small herds of cattle and they were not subject to the conditions that the animals are today on factory farms. Of course now I look back and know it was wrong but many people just don't get it. It took me a long time to get to where I am today in my thinking. I never have watched any of those films either that seem to steer people to veganism. My ex and I just decided to go vegan after he had been doing some research online and I was getting sick of cooking meat. I had said just casually, "I could go vegetarian." And we did actually go vegan "cold turkey" back in 2007 or 2008. (I can't remember for sure)
I talk to people at work who are curious about the "lifestyle" but they often say "but I like the taste of meat" or "I could never give up bacon!" Some people really don't know the realities. Many I have talked to didn't know the cruel facts of the dairy industry. They actually are ignorant of the fact that cows don't just "give milk".
Ok this is getting too long! Just my experience and I don't know how to change people's attitudes!

I know what you mean. I grew up fishing. It was taken for granted that because animals kill and eat other animals, it’s natural for us to do so too.

In fact, I was against vegetarianism when I was a kid for that reason. I thought that eating meat is natural, and who are we to think we’re morally superior to other animals? Or any different from them?

But the way we eat meat is different from the way other animals do. As I grew up and learned more about that, I really didn’t want to support the industry. And it’s not natural for a meat-eating predator to have such a large population size relative to other animals. When that happens, it puts a strain on natural resources. We have to choose between being predators and being as populous as we are today, and that choice has already been made.

But, yeah, eating meat seems so normal until you become aware of the bigger picture and the other options that we have.

 

[Lou]

Personally, I'm not sure I would eat lab grown meat. It may not hurt any animals but it is still meat with all the adverse health effects of meat.
However, I guess I'm pro lab meat the same way I'm pro faux meat. Not necessarily for myself but that in the end it does result in less animals harvested.
Anyway, it seemed all sort of theoretical and far in the future stuff. Till now. Its really happening.

Eat Just: Good Meat sells lab-grown cultured chicken in world-first

 

[1956]

Yeah, I would Never eat it.
But, for those who won’t give up eating meat and for animal food it is a good solution...

 

[Lou]

Not sure why this is in the editorial section. Seems like news to me. but I guess it does have a good amount of "opinion"

Opinion | Is the Burger Nearing Extinction? (Published 2021)

Meat has more competition — and less justification — than ever before.

www.nytimes.com

The article spends a number of inches on " fermentation-derived proteins made from microorganisms, like fungi, that can be coaxed in a meaty, cheesy, creamy or milky direction. This track is arguably the most exciting — in terms of affordability, versatility, environmental gentleness and untapped possibility. There are microbes out there just waiting to feed us."

Cool stuff.