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Why Twitter’s Co-Founders Are Betting Big On A Vegan Meat Startup
- jessedhillon 14y agoHas anyone tried this? How does it compare to, say, Gardein? (the stuff they serve at Lyfe Kitchen)
- fleitz 14y agoPeople who don't eat meat say it's indistinguishable from meat. I've never understood the fake meat thing, I eat alot of meat but don't go around looking for fake vegetables. Even when I go to a vegetarian/vegan restaurant rarely do I find the imitation dishes to be anywhere near as good as the originals, however, there are a lot of great vegan/vegetarian dishes that are much better than any of the faux dishes.
- 27182818284 14y agoWhat about artificial grape flavor, etc? Maybe not faux veggies, but faux fruit is definitely prevalent.
- jlgreco 14y agoYeah, I am right there with you. I love things like tofu as they are, no need to dress them up as something they aren't. The best vegan dishes I have ever had came from places that treated those dishes as first class citizens, not imitations of other menu items. It just makes more sense that if you prepare the ingredient as well as possible it will turn out better than if you place a restriction on yourself first (like, "make it taste like meat").
- hahla 14y agoAre you serious? People don't eat real meat generally because they don't like the fact that they're killing a live animal do so. I quit eating meat 5-6 years ago for this reason, yet when I visit restaurants and my friends order meat I wish I could taste what they're eating. Meat substitutes currently are terrible, the textures and flavors are completely off. BeyondMeat supposedly creates a chicken strip that takes like the real thing, and has the same cooking properties which is extremely exciting.
- mangodrunk 14y agoWell I think part of it might be because these people grew up eating meat and like the taste and texture of it but don't want the negative aspects associated with meat. As others have said, it's not something that we would want at every meal or every day. But, maybe you will be the one who will be eating this fake meat instead. It's just as much for you as it is for a vegetarian.
- smacktoward 14y agoFarhad Manjoo at Slate reviewed it and liked it, specifically saying he preferred it to Gardein: http://www.slate.com/articles/technology/technology/2012/07/beyond_meat_fake_chicken_that_tastes_so_real_it_will_freak_you_out_.single.html http://www.slate.com/articles/technology/technology/2012/07/...
- murrain 14y agoSource in San Francisco serves this. If I didn't know it was faux meat I wouldn't have been able to distinguish this from real chicken.
- papaver 14y agoi don't understand vegan meat. if you are vegan why would you want to eat stuff that resembles meat? there are plenty of amazing vegan dishes that look and taste amazing. it feels like a cop out to be vegan yet eat stuff that looks like meat. if you want to eat meat, just eat meat! there are plenty of places to buy meat that are raised by farmers that take care of their animals. it just costs significantly more than cheap meat.
- sp332 14y agoit feels like a cop out to be vegan yet eat stuff that looks like meat. Vegan isn't just about meat, it also proscribes eggs and milk. There are a lot of foods that are better if you have some decent egg and milk analogs. But mainly, people eat vegan for ethical or health reasons. So maybe they still really like meat-like textures and flavors, but have strong reasons for not eating actual meat.
- zacharycohn 14y agoIf you want to be vegan for ethical reasons, go for it. Vegans who are vegans for health reasons - dumb dumb dumb. A cursory biological examination of the human body demonstrates that we are omnivores. That means the human body has adapted over tens of millions of years to eat both plants and animals. Additionally, many vegans will go heavy on soy and wheat based foods. There are many health issues surrounding soy (citations my other comment in this thread), and wheat products are not particularly healthy. The arguments for veganism for health reasons is largely unsupported by any sort of actual science.
- mangodrunk 14y ago>Vegans who are vegans for health reasons - dumb dumb dumb. A cursory biological examination of the human body demonstrates that we are omnivores. That means the human body has adapted over tens of millions of years to eat both plants and animals. I don't think humans have been around that long and that our ancestors were probably not meat eaters, since most other apes don't eat meat. The consensus is that red meat is unhealthy and there are healthier alternatives to get similar nutrients. Instead of eating other meat as well, soy provides a similar amount of protein without the saturated fat or cholesterol. There's also the impact the meat industry has on the environment and I think the reason for someone being vegan isn't just necessarily one thing but can be several reasons for their decision.
- randallu 14y agoI am vegan, have been for five years, I don't eat faux meat and never would. However, good for them. Meat is environmentally unsustainable and is unhealthy (for both givers and receivers).
- zacharycohn 14y ago"Meat is environmentally unsustainable and is unhealthy." Citation needed. Soy/Tofu, on the other hand, IS unhealthy - particularly for men.[1][2] [1] - http://www.menshealth.com/nutrition/soys-negative-effects http://www.menshealth.com/nutrition/soys-negative-effects [2] - http://www.healthiertalk.com/why-tofu-wrecks-your-brain-0246 http://www.healthiertalk.com/why-tofu-wrecks-your-brain-0246
- wahnfrieden 14y agoMen's Health is not a suitable citation.
- VMG 14y agoFrom the article: > Dr. Lewi's case report on James Price's condition was published in the May/June 2008 edition of Endocrine Practice, a journal read by many of the nation's in-the-trenches endocrinologists. Thanks to this, doctors now have a newly documented agent to consider when evaluating gynecomastia.
- jessedhillon 14y agoWTF, Men's Health magazine and some health forum article (whose author believes water fluoridation is an industrial conspiracy) are considered reliable sources now? By these standards, the case for the unsustainable and unhealthy nature of meat is airtight. But if you want a more reliable source, seek out the UNEP report on sustainable resource management.
- protomyth 14y agoA better reference for tofu would be http://www.jacn.org/content/19/2/242.full http://www.jacn.org/content/19/2/242.full
- mcfunley 14y agoMultiple people are asking why vegetarians would even want this, so let me list a few reasons: * There are ethical vegetarians (like me) who like the taste of meat well enough, but dislike the baggage that comes with it. If "fake meat" actually tasted like meat then I would eat it occasionally. Generally speaking other fake meats do not taste like meat. * People who converted to vegetarianism can have cravings for what they grew up with. For me, the main thing I miss is buffalo wings. All of that said, I think part of the point of this startup is to convert some meat eaters into accepting fake meat as an occasional substitute.
- GuiA 14y ago>but dislike the baggage that comes with it. Is it the way some animals are treated, or the killing altogether? If the former, why not buy your meat from more "humane" sources like free range farmers etc. ?
- yesimahuman 14y agoThere are many other reasons, including environmental impact, not to mention network effects from consuming meat or dairy if you're a vegan (the leather industry, for example)
- notatoad 14y agothe most convincing ethical argument i've heard for vegetarianism has nothing to do with the treatment/killing of animals, it is that eating vegetables is a much more efficient use of resources than eating meat. The amount of energy it takes to grow 500 Calories worth of broccoli is an order of magnitude less than the energy it takes to raise 500 Calories worth of beef. If all the resources currently used to raise animals for meat were used to grow vegetables instead, there would be plenty of food to spare for the whole planet. I'm curious as to the energy consumption it takes to grow synthetic meat. (edit: to be clear, this argument has failed to sway me, i still love eating meat. It's just something interesting that i've heard before and thought was worth sharing. There may or may not be actual statistics to back this argument up.)
- bryanlarsen 14y ago"have a better nutrition profile (no cholesterol, no saturated fat, but lots of protein)" That's probably a worse nutritional profile. Naturally raised meats are rich in the healthy saturated fats, such as stearic acid. And I thought the cholesterol boogy-man had been thoroughly debunked by now. Please link a properly conducted study that shows that naturally grown meat is unhealthy, or that the saturated fat from naturally grown meat is unhealthy. Most fat studies don't differentiate plant based saturated fats with meat based ones or with trans-fats. Most meat studies don't differentiate between red meat and processed meat. It's not the meat in the hot dog that makes the hot dog unhealthy.
- mangodrunk 14y ago>That's probably a worse nutritional profile. That doesn't seem to be the consensus. There are many studies that meat is unhealthy (I'm not sure what you mean by naturally grown, perhaps hormones?). Red meat in particular is considered to be very unhealthy. Also you can get stearic acid from other sources that don't have that much saturated fat and cholesterol.
- bryanlarsen 14y agoNaturally grown for cows means grass-fed. It has other meanings for different animals, but it generally means a diet & lifestyle comparable to what their wild cousins have. Red meat studies generally consider hot dogs to be red meat. The very few studies that separate unprocessed red meat from processed red meat find that unprocessed red meat is just as healthy or even healthier than poultry meat.
- mangodrunk 14y agoI see. Well there is this study that concludes that meat from grass-fed cows is healthier than their grain-fed counterparts [1] but I'm not sure if you can still consider either healthy and I think you can find other foods that are much healthier. >Red meat studies generally consider hot dogs to be red meat. I don't think that is generally the case. There is this study that differentiated between the two [2] and the conclusion was that there was an increase in health risks for unprocessed, but the processed variety was worse. I understand that it's not good to use one study as proof (or for that matter any number of studies) but there seem to be more than just this one. [1] http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/03/11/switching-to-grass-fed-beef/ http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/03/11/switching-to-grass-... [2] http://archinte.jamanetwork.com/article.aspx?articleid=1134845 http://archinte.jamanetwork.com/article.aspx?articleid=11348...
- Shenglong 14y agoPart of the excitement of eating a steak is exploring the different flavors that come with each individual piece. Yes, meat might be "bad" for you. Meat might be an ineffective use of resources. Killing animals may be wrong. But, for meat eaters, part of the enjoyment is the hedonistic pursuit. Lots of vegetarians and vegans have expressed their opinions, so let me weigh in as someone who hasn't eaten a single vegetable for over 12 years: I love meat, and to many people like myself, these alternative meats are about as much a replacement as aspartame is for sugar.
- pbreit 14y agoYou haven't eaten a single vegetable in 12 years? That's weird.
- Shenglong 14y agoWhether psychological or physiological, the majority of vegetables make me throw up almost instantly. I'm perfectly healthy though. 20/20 vision, competitive for several sports, can code/sleep/socialize, and I don't really get sick anymore either. I'll take a vitamin supplement when I remember, which usually ends up being 2-3 times a month.
- rkudeshi 14y agoVery curious: if you haven't eaten a vegetable in 12 years, what do your meals usually look like?
- Shenglong 14y agoChicken, steak, rice and pork... something along those lines. I eat potatoes and beans as well. It's really not as limiting as you'd think.
- crafter 14y agoAny food that, when people see the making of it they cry, is cruel and I personally won't eat it.
- justjimmy 14y agoI was one of those meat lovers that stayed away from meat after watching one of those videos that shows you how we get our meat (slaughter houses, systematic butchering of animals etc)…for a week. I'll gladly gobble up any meat/vegan replacement that offers the same texture and 'chew-ability' as chicken (I've weaned off beef and pork best as I can, and try to limit myself to just fish and chicken for my inner carnivore). Not just for environment's sake but also I can sleep just a bit better at night. We all have our vices – meat's one of mine. I look forward to the day when I no longer crave meat!
- nickler 14y agoThe main thrust of the argument has little to do with dietary choice, and far more to do with the negative footprint of factory farming. Factory farming is a significant contributor to many negatives in the environment. Methane, fertilizers and hormones/chemicals that seep into groundwater, fresh water usage, and transportation are massive contributors to environmental damage. Disclaimer: I'm a chef, I love meat, and I'm descended from farmers. I still believe this is the future, once someone nails the texture/flavour issue. I've been looking into in-vitro meat, but it still looks a ways off http://new-harvest.org/substitutes.htm http://new-harvest.org/substitutes.htm Being able to manipulate the fat content and marbling, re-introduce heirloom breeds, and all produced with a fraction of the footprint makes this a delicious opportunity. The real question is the length of the roadmap, it's been decades that people have been working on this.
- bryanlarsen 14y agoYou can eat healthy as a vegetarian, you can eat healthy as an omnivore, but I highly doubt that this faux meat is going to be healthier than eating plain foods. Humans evolved to eat certain types of food, and this faux meat is far from natural. It's made in a factory, and the nutritional proportions are going to be all out of whack. It breaks Michael Pollan's first two rules: "Don't eat anything your great grandmother wouldn't recognize as food." and "Don't eat anything with more than 5 ingredients or ingredients you cannot pronounce."
- s_m 14y agoI frequently eat chicken and I've tried Beyond Meat. It's very difficult to distinguish from real chicken (unless you char it). It feels juicy, it pulls apart just like real chicken, and the flavour is very similar too. I was really impressed, it definitely lives up to the hype. I can't imagine a better analogue for chicken.
- lsc 14y agoInteresting. Cheaper meat, I think, is a pretty great thing. I mean, you can be quite healthy as a vegitarian, but it's a lot of work; I was a vegitarian growing up, and switched to meat shortly after I moved out of my parents house, mostly because I wasn't willing to put the culinary effort into eating a balanced vegitarian diet. You feel better eating nothing but fast food hamburgers than eating a vegitarian diet that doesn't have enough complete protien. I mean, the ethics of eating animals aside (obviously, I don't feel very strongly about that, I mean, if i was willing to eat meat to save another hour a night of effort) plant-based protien has the potential to be vastly more efficent... read: cheaper, read: could feed vastly more humans, or the same number of humans with fewer resources input. Seems to me like a great thing with a whole lot of potential to change the world in a very real and positive way just from a food efficency standpoint. A real meat substitute could have the effect of another 'green revolution'