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> French farmers and meat companies have long complained that customers are unjustly confused by the notion of vegetarian “meat”. I'd be really interested in m

> French farmers and meat companies have long complained that customers are unjustly confused by the notion of vegetarian “meat”. I'd be really interested in meeting someone who was legitimately confused by the notion vegetarian meat. How poor would someone's lateral thinking skills need to be that they can't manage to square "vegetarian meat" on the fly?

Aromasin 3y ago
It's simple Doublespeak. This has nothing to do with protecting consumers. It has everything to do with vegan products eating into the animal-agri industries bottom line, and them using every cheap political trick in the book to slow that. They'll be demanding that they take a separate section in the back of the supermarket next. Then, lobbying to make sure that a certain percentage of plants grown must go to animal agriculture for "tradition and heritage" or some such shite. I'm sure banning plant-based meat alternatives is somewhere on the wish list too.
- nathanaldensr 3y ago
  Do you have evidence they are eating into the bottom line? It's my impression that these two classifications of food sell to very different markets. I myself would never buy any vegan "meat" product.
  - myshpa 3y ago
    https://www.euronews.com/2023/06/28/auf-wiedersehen-schnitzel-meat-consumption-hits-record-low-in-germany https://www.euronews.com/2023/06/28/auf-wiedersehen-schnitze... Auf Wiedersehen Schnitzel: Meat consumption hits record low in Germany More and more Germans are swapping meat products for plant-based proteins, according to Germany's Ministry for Agriculture, but not everyone is ready to give them up. Today 10 per cent of Germans opt for plant-based foods compared to six per cent in 2018. https://www.cell.com/one-earth/fulltext/S2590-3322(23)00347-0 https://www.cell.com/one-earth/fulltext/S2590-3322(23)00347-... Public policies and vested interests preserve the animal farming status quo at the expense of animal product analogs
  - Aromasin 3y ago
    N=1 is not a good dataset to be drawing impressions from. They very much target the same market; the protein type on a person's plate. Best report I can find with data listed is from the Boston Consulting Group: https://web-assets.bcg.com/a0/28/4295860343c6a2a5b9f4e3436114/bcg-food-for-thought-the-protein-transformation-mar-2021.pdf https://web-assets.bcg.com/a0/28/4295860343c6a2a5b9f4e343611...
  - dagw 3y ago
    I don't have any numbers, but most of the advertising I'm seeing for these products aren't targeting vegans, but rather meat eaters. The basic message seems to be "all the yummy flavour of meat, without any of the guilt or ethical quandaries", and "you don't have to go full vegan, you can make an impact with just 2 vegetarian meals a week, with the help of our delicious products". If they're not having an impact on the bottom line, it is not for lack of trying
xdennis 3y ago
I'm the idiot who bought fake meat. > How poor would someone's lateral thinking skills need to be that they can't manage to square "vegetarian meat" on the fly? Of course you have to insult the victims so we don't show up, but I don't care if people think I'm a moron. The botulism outbreak of the 1920 gave rise to the US's food and safety system. People called those who consumed those cans and died idiots too, because contaminated cans swell up, so imagine how "how poor would someone's lateral thinking skills need to be that they can't manage" to figure out that swollen cans are dangerous. But that incident led to better food safety. Society advances with every man that gets called an idiot.
- ghusto 3y ago
  > Of course you have to insult the victims so we don't show up, but I don't care if people think I'm a moron. You can +1 me to your lonely list, and I don't care either.
- lopis 3y ago
  But fake meat is just food, and equally, if not more, safe than the meat you intended to buy. Sometimes I wanted to buy beans and bought mushy peas instead; oops, my mistake. I just made a soup and called it a day. People that have dietary restrictions are rarely in danger becsause we actually pay close attention to the products we buy.

Aromasin 3y ago

It's simple Doublespeak. This has nothing to do with protecting consumers. It has everything to do with vegan products eating into the animal-agri industries bottom line, and them using every cheap political trick in the book to slow that. They'll be demanding that they take a separate section in the back of the supermarket next. Then, lobbying to make sure that a certain percentage of plants grown must go to animal agriculture for "tradition and heritage" or some such shite. I'm sure banning plant-based meat alternatives is somewhere on the wish list too.

nathanaldensr 3y ago
Do you have evidence they are eating into the bottom line? It's my impression that these two classifications of food sell to very different markets. I myself would never buy any vegan "meat" product.
- myshpa 3y ago
  https://www.euronews.com/2023/06/28/auf-wiedersehen-schnitzel-meat-consumption-hits-record-low-in-germany https://www.euronews.com/2023/06/28/auf-wiedersehen-schnitze... Auf Wiedersehen Schnitzel: Meat consumption hits record low in Germany More and more Germans are swapping meat products for plant-based proteins, according to Germany's Ministry for Agriculture, but not everyone is ready to give them up. Today 10 per cent of Germans opt for plant-based foods compared to six per cent in 2018. https://www.cell.com/one-earth/fulltext/S2590-3322(23)00347-0 https://www.cell.com/one-earth/fulltext/S2590-3322(23)00347-... Public policies and vested interests preserve the animal farming status quo at the expense of animal product analogs
- Aromasin 3y ago
  N=1 is not a good dataset to be drawing impressions from. They very much target the same market; the protein type on a person's plate. Best report I can find with data listed is from the Boston Consulting Group: https://web-assets.bcg.com/a0/28/4295860343c6a2a5b9f4e3436114/bcg-food-for-thought-the-protein-transformation-mar-2021.pdf https://web-assets.bcg.com/a0/28/4295860343c6a2a5b9f4e343611...
- dagw 3y ago
  I don't have any numbers, but most of the advertising I'm seeing for these products aren't targeting vegans, but rather meat eaters. The basic message seems to be "all the yummy flavour of meat, without any of the guilt or ethical quandaries", and "you don't have to go full vegan, you can make an impact with just 2 vegetarian meals a week, with the help of our delicious products". If they're not having an impact on the bottom line, it is not for lack of trying

xdennis 3y ago

I'm the idiot who bought fake meat. > How poor would someone's lateral thinking skills need to be that they can't manage to square "vegetarian meat" on the fly? Of course you have to insult the victims so we don't show up, but I don't care if people think I'm a moron. The botulism outbreak of the 1920 gave rise to the US's food and safety system. People called those who consumed those cans and died idiots too, because contaminated cans swell up, so imagine how "how poor would someone's lateral thinking skills need to be that they can't manage" to figure out that swollen cans are dangerous. But that incident led to better food safety. Society advances with every man that gets called an idiot.

ghusto 3y ago
> Of course you have to insult the victims so we don't show up, but I don't care if people think I'm a moron. You can +1 me to your lonely list, and I don't care either.
lopis 3y ago
But fake meat is just food, and equally, if not more, safe than the meat you intended to buy. Sometimes I wanted to buy beans and bought mushy peas instead; oops, my mistake. I just made a soup and called it a day. People that have dietary restrictions are rarely in danger becsause we actually pay close attention to the products we buy.