Environmental meat

[CAG12]

This isnt really a AIBU, im just really interested in getting opinions and different sides of the arguement.

What do people think of the new plant based meats? Im not talking about quorn, more about the 'burgers' that use animal cells (but not the actual animal) to create 'burgers'. So its not a vegetarian alternative, more about the environment. In the UK I dont think they're sold yet, but in the US they have Impossible Burgers.

Would people eat it? What do people think?

To start off, on the face of it id be all for it but I dont think I know enough of either side of the arguement, hence this thread.

Thanks all for reading 🙂

lottiegarbanzo
"Also, if it's cheap and made globally available in the right way, it could be a good way of getting adequate protein to people who lack this in their diets."

We could already do that with chickpeas, lentils and beans. I have Nigerian friends who make fantastic bean dishes. South Americans do as well.

We were pushed into eating processed carbs and meat/dairy, to get the economy back on track.

But really we need to go back to seasonal eating with open mindness thrown in.

I only eat chicken and fish, but I could live without both. We've been discussing this on a Vegetarian and Vegan site I'm on. I used to be Vegan. Our consensus was that we accept people won't give up meat, so this is the way to go. It will take less developed countries at least 50 to a hundred years to catch up, though.

There's still the ritual killing of animals and people going on. Which will be difficult to end.

@MockersthefeMANist, but the amount of food they need is destroying the planet and causing world hunger and dehydration.

It's an inefficient way to get protein. We might as well grow protein foods and not animal feed, then eat the animal. Especially with the rise in population.

Women used to get their iron from drinking nettle tea and nutrition from other teas. Women started to lack iron when we moved onto animal sources and our vegetables contained so little nutrients because we've messed up our soil quality, by pesticides and modern farming methods.

Interesting idea.

I don’t like the idea. Lifelong vegetarian and I don’t like fake meats made to look and taste like meat - if I wanted to eat meat, I’d eat meat. I’d rather have decent vegetarian options built around vegetables and pulses etc.

But it’s not all about me and if it helps meat eaters eat less meat then great. I just don’t want it to be the only “vegetarian” option because it appeals to meat eaters.

Id definitely eat this

I don't think lab meat is the way forward, we should focus on reducing our meat consumption rather than dreaming up sci-fi alternatives. Are miles and miles of factories producing lab grown burgers and nuggets really what we want?

@MockersthefeMANist, but the amount of food they need is destroying the planet and causing world hunger and dehydration.

Not if they are grass-fed. Most agricultural land in the UK is good only for pasture. If we went back to cattle and sheep eating grass and chickens and pigs eating waste and scraps, we would do just fine.

Yes, I would eat it if it tasted nice. I wanted to like the new vegan plant based "meats" but I'm afraid they have tasted terrible to me so far.

The concept is absolutely disgusting. But so is actual meat. I guess as a vegetarian, I’m not the intended audience for this thread.

🤢🤢🤢 I hate "artificial" food!
Id stay well clear of it. But than I am all for clean eating. I always wonder about the carbon footprint of such foods.

Disclaimer: not veggie or vegan I try to buy local and seasonal where possible.

I’m vegetarian and wouldn’t eat this.

It’s an interesting idea for meat eaters but as mentioned it would be highly processed.

I quite like the idea, both from the point of view of there being a move away from cheap animal meat with the associated animal welfare issues, and because it normalises alternatives.

However, they are heavily processed products which makes them not as healthy as some of the promotion around them would suggest and I read an article yesterday that stated that the person behind Impossible Burgers wanted to eliminate the meat industry which I don’t agree with. There is a huge difference between beef farmed from, say, heavily corn fed intensively reared cattle pumped full of antibiotics and kept on deforested rainforest land, and humanely and organically raised cattle on pasture land that can’t really be used for anything else. There’s also a huge amount of research being done on natural feed additives that naturally reduce the amount of methane cows produce (thus reducing the environmental impact).

I’m more than happy to support the latter so I don’t want to see the end of the meat industry and therefore wouldn’t eat Impossible Burgers, although I do often eat other meat alternatives (except Quorn chicken which seems to give me an upset stomach).

As context - Im a meat eater thats trying to cut down - im having 2 veggie days a week as it stands that will probably be increased.

I wouldnt have thought this would be a vegetarian option at all tbh, because of its 'cell based' origins

As a vegetarian I wouldn't touch it, regardless of its origins, purely because of the yuk factor. I don't like eating things that resemble meat. Environmentally and for animal welfare, I think it's a wonderful innovation.

Is this what plant based meat is? I didn't think it was taken from animal cells, I thought it was literal plants? Either way, the M&S plant kitchen range is delicious

No thanks, I'll stick with real meat.

I wouldn't eat it. It's just another modified thing to give us cancer.

I'm all about natural and whole foods.

I saw a huge fridge full of it yesterday in a supermarket, for the first time
(I'm in Germany)
Fake burgers
Mass market, so I doubt it's expensive

.... I didn't check though, because I have no wish to buy fake meat !
I eat lots of fish, very little meat, but I avoid heavily processed food

I'm neutral. Shouldn't we all be eating grubs instead though?

And yes, your title is misleading. This is not what 'plant-based meat' is, because it isn't plant-based. The very point of what you're describing is that it is animal-derived. 'Lab-grown meat' perhaps.

I think I'll be waiting a few decades to see how other people get on before taking the plunge myself on lab grown meat.

To be honest I don't really get the whole meat substitute thing. Vegetables make perfectly good food in their own right if you don't want to eat meat.

doesn't it fall under genetically modified food

Ponoka7 yes, the real issues determining global protein and food availability are political, not technological.

One thing I like about lab-grown meat is that it should still be high in heme-iron, like real meat.

To be honest I don't really get the whole meat substitute thing. Vegetables make perfectly good food in their own right if you don't want to eat meat.

The obvious answer is you’d eat meat substitutes if you liked the taste of meat but didn’t want to eat an animal product.