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Considering the damage that ultra-processed foods have already caused to humanity, and considering how new this kind of thing is, I'll stick with real meat and

Considering the damage that ultra-processed foods have already caused to humanity, and considering how new this kind of thing is, I'll stick with real meat and other whole foods until I've seen a decade-long study showing that these alternatives are safe.

bbmario 7y ago
Certainly safer for the animals.
- blunte 7y ago
  And probably less likely to include pathogens that come from animals. I think all people need an occasional look at where their food comes from. The amount of animal shit (rodents and the slaughtered animals themselves) in commercially sourced meat has increased in the last decade. If you stood a person in front of a meat grinder and said, "Here, now we throw in the appropriate legally-allowed amount of poop into the mix", fewer people would be in line to buy the end product. Or if they were allowed to go visit the factory chicken farms and see the sick, diseased chickens that end up on their dinner plates, I think they would be unable to eat it. Do people not realize that the recent laws aimed at preventing information gathering from factory farms is designed to prevent them from learning what they are really eating?
  - gwbas1c 7y ago
    If that kind of thing worries you, then stick with plant-based whole foods and wild fish. Plenty of humans have had low, or no, animal products in their diet "forever." You don't need a fancy new food from Silicon Valley to avoid meat.
    - pvaldes 7y ago
      Remove plant-based foods from the list. There is a "120%" guarantee of previous contact with animal poo and animal urine in your vegetables.
    - blunte 7y ago
      I never suggested that a manufactured meat replacement was a solution :). Personally I think the fake meats are a needless crutch. Yes, creating an interesting vegetarian dish requires more effort than just throwing a fatty steak on a grill (the magic of heat, fat, and animal protein), but with just a bit of effort a vegetarian dish can be very satisfying and healthy at the same time.
      - gwbas1c 7y ago
        > Personally I think the fake meats are a needless crutch. More then that, they're a hype-driven fad where a good concept gets ruined by people letting their imaginations run away, like cryptocurrency and driverless cars. Honestly, I think test tube meat is where the real revolution will come from. (Animal flesh grown without the animal.) "I can't believe it's not meat" will join the ranks of Jello salads and other foods that we no longer eat. (That, and I think that vegetarian dishes will slowly become more and more popular as people realize that they taste good and eating meat everyday is boring.)
  - mc32 7y ago
    Pathogens reduction yes. Animal biological matter, no. Harvesting entails inclusion of many small animals and insects which get processed. That said, it may not be a bad thing to be exposed to those byproducts of farming. Too sterile an environment (and food) can result in other problems. Obviously we don’t want to overwhelm our immune systems with pathogens but they need to be exposed to them to be ready and also to not attack our own system.
    - blunte 7y ago
      I don't think we are at any risk of living in too sterile an environment. If anything, the knowledge that at least 1/3 of people don't wash their hands after they poop... is just one of the lovely ways we get exposed to a lot of interesting "biological matter". Practically everything we touch in public has someone else's complex human fecal matter on it, plus stuff from other sources.
- redisman 7y ago
  And humankind. The amount of antibiotics countries like US use for farm-animal optimized growth certainly has a much much higher long term risk than "processed food". Once an antibiotic resistant superbug jumps from pig to people we'll pay a much higher price.
bananocurrency 7y ago
>I'll stick with real meat I mean, go for it. But unless you're inventing the universe to make it from scratch, you're going to run into the same problem.
jszymborski 7y ago
So, I think it's important to consider here why ultra-processed foods have been a problem. If you ask me, it's because they've simply been a way to refine sugars and fats into purer forms. This allows us to consume more of them more efficiently, which is an issue especially as our populations are becoming more, not less, sedentary. I see no evidence that the processing required for "impossible" foods is similar in that respect (but I'm no food scientist).
greggeter 7y ago
+100 -- keep in mind, modern meat production (industrial feedlots, chicken houses, etc.), are modifying those foods in a way they don't exist naturally. Beef/pork fat is not as healthy when it's fed grain [1]. And, massive plant farming erodes soil nutrients in a way that reduces plant's historically high mineral/vitamin content [2][3] (these are old articles, by the way). Tilling more soil for pea protein doesn't help the situation. The most environmentally friendly (for soil and animal welfare) food are free-range ruminants on grassland killed humanely in old age [4][5], and plants in their natural forms and seasons. Like humans have thrived on forever. [1]: https://fireinabottle.net/polyunsaturated-fat-pufa-in-pork-and-chicken/ https://fireinabottle.net/polyunsaturated-fat-pufa-in-pork-a... [2]: https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2005/may/15/foodanddrink.shopping3 https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2005/may/15/foodand... [3]: https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/soil-depletion-aND-NUTRITION-LOSS/ https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/soil-depletion-aN... [4]: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DqXjsBwOjOI https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DqXjsBwOjOI [5]: https://youtu.be/7ZVUoQd-P6o?t=567 https://youtu.be/7ZVUoQd-P6o?t=567

bbmario 7y ago

Certainly safer for the animals.

blunte 7y ago
And probably less likely to include pathogens that come from animals. I think all people need an occasional look at where their food comes from. The amount of animal shit (rodents and the slaughtered animals themselves) in commercially sourced meat has increased in the last decade. If you stood a person in front of a meat grinder and said, "Here, now we throw in the appropriate legally-allowed amount of poop into the mix", fewer people would be in line to buy the end product. Or if they were allowed to go visit the factory chicken farms and see the sick, diseased chickens that end up on their dinner plates, I think they would be unable to eat it. Do people not realize that the recent laws aimed at preventing information gathering from factory farms is designed to prevent them from learning what they are really eating?
- gwbas1c 7y ago
  If that kind of thing worries you, then stick with plant-based whole foods and wild fish. Plenty of humans have had low, or no, animal products in their diet "forever." You don't need a fancy new food from Silicon Valley to avoid meat.
  - pvaldes 7y ago
    Remove plant-based foods from the list. There is a "120%" guarantee of previous contact with animal poo and animal urine in your vegetables.
  - blunte 7y ago
    I never suggested that a manufactured meat replacement was a solution :). Personally I think the fake meats are a needless crutch. Yes, creating an interesting vegetarian dish requires more effort than just throwing a fatty steak on a grill (the magic of heat, fat, and animal protein), but with just a bit of effort a vegetarian dish can be very satisfying and healthy at the same time.
    - gwbas1c 7y ago
      > Personally I think the fake meats are a needless crutch. More then that, they're a hype-driven fad where a good concept gets ruined by people letting their imaginations run away, like cryptocurrency and driverless cars. Honestly, I think test tube meat is where the real revolution will come from. (Animal flesh grown without the animal.) "I can't believe it's not meat" will join the ranks of Jello salads and other foods that we no longer eat. (That, and I think that vegetarian dishes will slowly become more and more popular as people realize that they taste good and eating meat everyday is boring.)
- mc32 7y ago
  Pathogens reduction yes. Animal biological matter, no. Harvesting entails inclusion of many small animals and insects which get processed. That said, it may not be a bad thing to be exposed to those byproducts of farming. Too sterile an environment (and food) can result in other problems. Obviously we don’t want to overwhelm our immune systems with pathogens but they need to be exposed to them to be ready and also to not attack our own system.
  - blunte 7y ago
    I don't think we are at any risk of living in too sterile an environment. If anything, the knowledge that at least 1/3 of people don't wash their hands after they poop... is just one of the lovely ways we get exposed to a lot of interesting "biological matter". Practically everything we touch in public has someone else's complex human fecal matter on it, plus stuff from other sources.
redisman 7y ago
And humankind. The amount of antibiotics countries like US use for farm-animal optimized growth certainly has a much much higher long term risk than "processed food". Once an antibiotic resistant superbug jumps from pig to people we'll pay a much higher price.

bananocurrency 7y ago

>I'll stick with real meat I mean, go for it. But unless you're inventing the universe to make it from scratch, you're going to run into the same problem.

jszymborski 7y ago

So, I think it's important to consider here why ultra-processed foods have been a problem. If you ask me, it's because they've simply been a way to refine sugars and fats into purer forms. This allows us to consume more of them more efficiently, which is an issue especially as our populations are becoming more, not less, sedentary. I see no evidence that the processing required for "impossible" foods is similar in that respect (but I'm no food scientist).

greggeter 7y ago

+100 -- keep in mind, modern meat production (industrial feedlots, chicken houses, etc.), are modifying those foods in a way they don't exist naturally. Beef/pork fat is not as healthy when it's fed grain [1]. And, massive plant farming erodes soil nutrients in a way that reduces plant's historically high mineral/vitamin content [2][3] (these are old articles, by the way). Tilling more soil for pea protein doesn't help the situation. The most environmentally friendly (for soil and animal welfare) food are free-range ruminants on grassland killed humanely in old age [4][5], and plants in their natural forms and seasons. Like humans have thrived on forever. [1]: https://fireinabottle.net/polyunsaturated-fat-pufa-in-pork-and-chicken/ https://fireinabottle.net/polyunsaturated-fat-pufa-in-pork-a... [2]: https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2005/may/15/foodanddrink.shopping3 https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2005/may/15/foodand... [3]: https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/soil-depletion-aND-NUTRITION-LOSS/ https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/soil-depletion-aN... [4]: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DqXjsBwOjOI https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DqXjsBwOjOI [5]: https://youtu.be/7ZVUoQd-P6o?t=567 https://youtu.be/7ZVUoQd-P6o?t=567