What do you think of imitation and lab-grown meats?
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Recently tried an Impossible burger and nuggets and thought that if nobody told me it wasn't meat, I'd have thought the patty was made out of a weird kind of meat, rather than make a connection with the taste and texture of plants. Honestly, I might not complain if that was the only kind of "meat" I could have for the rest of my life.
Well, maybe I'd miss bacon.
I've yet to find the opportunity to try lab-grown meat, but I for sure would like to try it out and don't see much wrong with it as long as it's sustainable, reasonably priced, and doesn't have anything you wouldn't expect in a normal piece of meat.
Also, with imitation and lab-grown options, I'd no longer have to deal with the disgust factor of handling raw meat (esp. the juices) or biting into gristle. I'll happily devour a hot dog, but something about an unexpected bit of cartilage gives me a lingering sense of revulsion.
wrote last edited by [email protected]Other people have already mentioned how it feels like in your mouth, but I’m going to address a different angle: Ethics and environmental impact.
Modern industrial meat production is incredibly cruel. If you wanted to do the same thing in a more ethical way, the final product would end up being much more expensive, even if you had the economies of scale working in your favor. Meat alternatives would solve that issue.
Producing meat results in a lot of CO2 emissions, so a plant based alternative should be more environmentally friendly. Don’t know about lab meat though. Keeping everything sterile is not cheap or easy, so I guess the LCA of the resulting product should be very interesting to read.
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Imitation stuff made from pea protein and coconut oil is surprisingly good. It pan fries just fine. It's chewy and meaty. It doesn't have the exact taste and texture of beef but it makes a burger.
I tried some mycelium based bacon recently. It was interesting. I've since bought it like 3 more times. It scratches the bacon itch without tasting like death. I hear that there are more mycelium based products out there that are gaining traction and I submitted requests to my local grocery store to carry those products.
Quorn is awesome for chicken nuggets. Frankly I prefer them to the real thing.
Beyond as a brand needs to fucking die. Their products suck. Their markup is excessive and makes their products cost far more than the equivalent meat products. Their stock is teetering on the brink of oblivion and I say end it. I recall them pushing for beyond orange chicken at panda express and they wanted to charge a premium for it. Then they wondered "why didnt anyone want this?" Because you charged more for an inferior product you fuckheads. Price your products *below* the meat products you replace and you'll see astronomical sales - especially when herds are culled because of sickness.
wrote last edited by [email protected]I agree about their marketing strategies, but if I couldn't buy Beyond Mince anymore I'd be seriously frustrated. It's by far the best vegan minced meat on the market (at least here in Germany).
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Recently tried an Impossible burger and nuggets and thought that if nobody told me it wasn't meat, I'd have thought the patty was made out of a weird kind of meat, rather than make a connection with the taste and texture of plants. Honestly, I might not complain if that was the only kind of "meat" I could have for the rest of my life.
Well, maybe I'd miss bacon.
I've yet to find the opportunity to try lab-grown meat, but I for sure would like to try it out and don't see much wrong with it as long as it's sustainable, reasonably priced, and doesn't have anything you wouldn't expect in a normal piece of meat.
Also, with imitation and lab-grown options, I'd no longer have to deal with the disgust factor of handling raw meat (esp. the juices) or biting into gristle. I'll happily devour a hot dog, but something about an unexpected bit of cartilage gives me a lingering sense of revulsion.
Impossible meat is close enough to meat that I genuinely wouldn't be able to tell the difference without a side-by-side comparison, and it would be virtually impossible for me to tell if it were mixed in with other flavors (eg in a burrito). I've heard it's got high sodium though, so you'll still have to beware that it's not much healthier (if at all) than normal meat. I don't get Impossible often, though I get regular meat even less. I'd say I like Impossible more than normal meat, I just wish it's a bit cheaper.
Beyond meat simply doesn't taste quite right, like soy trying to imitate meat. It hits an awkward uncanny valley, so I don't like it.
IMO lab grown meat feels a bit like a waste of time. With how incredibly uncanny Impossible is to actual meat, I don't really see the need to grow meat in the lab. And it'll probably be more expensive than Impossible meat too, if my lab experience is any indication
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Recently tried an Impossible burger and nuggets and thought that if nobody told me it wasn't meat, I'd have thought the patty was made out of a weird kind of meat, rather than make a connection with the taste and texture of plants. Honestly, I might not complain if that was the only kind of "meat" I could have for the rest of my life.
Well, maybe I'd miss bacon.
I've yet to find the opportunity to try lab-grown meat, but I for sure would like to try it out and don't see much wrong with it as long as it's sustainable, reasonably priced, and doesn't have anything you wouldn't expect in a normal piece of meat.
Also, with imitation and lab-grown options, I'd no longer have to deal with the disgust factor of handling raw meat (esp. the juices) or biting into gristle. I'll happily devour a hot dog, but something about an unexpected bit of cartilage gives me a lingering sense of revulsion.
There are some very good plant-based bacon alternatives. The problem is that they are priced like luxury products, rather than having common sense cheaper-than-meat pricing. Nearly all of bacon’s flavor comes smoke and seasonings, and the texture and crisp can be easily reproduced. Try Thrilling Bakon if you have the chance.
I would be more than willing to eat lab grown meat, though I’d prefer the creation of healthier plant-based alternatives. Even lab grown meat will have “bad” things like cholesterol, and plant-based alternatives should theoretically be able provide more nutritional value at lower prices than “real” or lab grown meat.
I’m an omnivore, so I will eat anything that tastes good. I just think we should be trying to make delicious, nutritious food affordable for normal people, whatever route that takes. I’m not convinced that lab-grown meat is a path to that goal. If reducing environmental and ethical harm is only for the rich, then fuck that approach, we need another.
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Recently tried an Impossible burger and nuggets and thought that if nobody told me it wasn't meat, I'd have thought the patty was made out of a weird kind of meat, rather than make a connection with the taste and texture of plants. Honestly, I might not complain if that was the only kind of "meat" I could have for the rest of my life.
Well, maybe I'd miss bacon.
I've yet to find the opportunity to try lab-grown meat, but I for sure would like to try it out and don't see much wrong with it as long as it's sustainable, reasonably priced, and doesn't have anything you wouldn't expect in a normal piece of meat.
Also, with imitation and lab-grown options, I'd no longer have to deal with the disgust factor of handling raw meat (esp. the juices) or biting into gristle. I'll happily devour a hot dog, but something about an unexpected bit of cartilage gives me a lingering sense of revulsion.
I think lab-grown meat will be an interesting alternative, looking forward to try that out.
Couldn't care less about the imitation products, they have been a massive letdown every time I tried. Pretty sure we'll have lab-grown meat before these things ever come close.
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Recently tried an Impossible burger and nuggets and thought that if nobody told me it wasn't meat, I'd have thought the patty was made out of a weird kind of meat, rather than make a connection with the taste and texture of plants. Honestly, I might not complain if that was the only kind of "meat" I could have for the rest of my life.
Well, maybe I'd miss bacon.
I've yet to find the opportunity to try lab-grown meat, but I for sure would like to try it out and don't see much wrong with it as long as it's sustainable, reasonably priced, and doesn't have anything you wouldn't expect in a normal piece of meat.
Also, with imitation and lab-grown options, I'd no longer have to deal with the disgust factor of handling raw meat (esp. the juices) or biting into gristle. I'll happily devour a hot dog, but something about an unexpected bit of cartilage gives me a lingering sense of revulsion.
Fantastic idea, I hope it becomes mainstream. I've been meaning to try plant-based meat alternatives for a while, for environmental reasons.
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Recently tried an Impossible burger and nuggets and thought that if nobody told me it wasn't meat, I'd have thought the patty was made out of a weird kind of meat, rather than make a connection with the taste and texture of plants. Honestly, I might not complain if that was the only kind of "meat" I could have for the rest of my life.
Well, maybe I'd miss bacon.
I've yet to find the opportunity to try lab-grown meat, but I for sure would like to try it out and don't see much wrong with it as long as it's sustainable, reasonably priced, and doesn't have anything you wouldn't expect in a normal piece of meat.
Also, with imitation and lab-grown options, I'd no longer have to deal with the disgust factor of handling raw meat (esp. the juices) or biting into gristle. I'll happily devour a hot dog, but something about an unexpected bit of cartilage gives me a lingering sense of revulsion.
Are you interested in the answer?
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I enjoy most of them, will eat them if they're cheap enough. Though I prefer tempeh, seitan, and frozen tofu over stuff that tries to be meat. Quality varies from mediocre to better than the real stuff
Calling tofu and tempeh "better than the real stuff" is the pure copium I come to Lemmy for.
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Recently tried an Impossible burger and nuggets and thought that if nobody told me it wasn't meat, I'd have thought the patty was made out of a weird kind of meat, rather than make a connection with the taste and texture of plants. Honestly, I might not complain if that was the only kind of "meat" I could have for the rest of my life.
Well, maybe I'd miss bacon.
I've yet to find the opportunity to try lab-grown meat, but I for sure would like to try it out and don't see much wrong with it as long as it's sustainable, reasonably priced, and doesn't have anything you wouldn't expect in a normal piece of meat.
Also, with imitation and lab-grown options, I'd no longer have to deal with the disgust factor of handling raw meat (esp. the juices) or biting into gristle. I'll happily devour a hot dog, but something about an unexpected bit of cartilage gives me a lingering sense of revulsion.
More money for a worse product. Nothing against them if they ever stop sucking but for now just worthless.
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I think that apparently capitalists won't be happy until the literal entirety of 1984 is brought into being and every final vestige of joy is driven out of life.
And I say that as someone who mostly likes things like Impossible burgers.
Sir, this is a Wendy's.
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Recently tried an Impossible burger and nuggets and thought that if nobody told me it wasn't meat, I'd have thought the patty was made out of a weird kind of meat, rather than make a connection with the taste and texture of plants. Honestly, I might not complain if that was the only kind of "meat" I could have for the rest of my life.
Well, maybe I'd miss bacon.
I've yet to find the opportunity to try lab-grown meat, but I for sure would like to try it out and don't see much wrong with it as long as it's sustainable, reasonably priced, and doesn't have anything you wouldn't expect in a normal piece of meat.
Also, with imitation and lab-grown options, I'd no longer have to deal with the disgust factor of handling raw meat (esp. the juices) or biting into gristle. I'll happily devour a hot dog, but something about an unexpected bit of cartilage gives me a lingering sense of revulsion.
I believe cultured meat is the future.
I don't mind the plant-based substitutes and eat them occasionally, but:
- I don't like that they've named them meat-related names (I have the same issue with plant "milk"). This marketing strategy causes an expectation of flavour and texture that disappoints people and puts them off. If the product is good enough, give it its own niche, like tofu.
- Part of the reason vegan / vegetarian diets are healthy is because the food is largely unprocessed, whereas many of these products are highly processed. I'd rather just eat actual vegetables.
Cultured meat has real potential to replace farmed meat because it can provide things no plant-based alternative can, while removing many of the disadvantages of animal farming:
- The taste and texture should eventually be identical to farmed meat.
- It's kinder to animals than farming - not vegan, but not cruel, no-one dies, and far fewer animals are needed.
- It's better for the environment in many ways: less emissions than animal farming, less land required than both animal and plant-based farms, can be produced close to urban centres so less transport should be required.
- It can be fed to pets that are obligate carnivores, like cats. I will never put my dog on a vegan diet but I am following the UK company Meatly, that is specialising in cultured meat for pet food, with interest.
Once cultured meat is a similar price to farmed meat, I believe the ethical and environmental advantages will give it the edge. Many people that will never go vegan or vegetarian will hopefully switch.
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Recently tried an Impossible burger and nuggets and thought that if nobody told me it wasn't meat, I'd have thought the patty was made out of a weird kind of meat, rather than make a connection with the taste and texture of plants. Honestly, I might not complain if that was the only kind of "meat" I could have for the rest of my life.
Well, maybe I'd miss bacon.
I've yet to find the opportunity to try lab-grown meat, but I for sure would like to try it out and don't see much wrong with it as long as it's sustainable, reasonably priced, and doesn't have anything you wouldn't expect in a normal piece of meat.
Also, with imitation and lab-grown options, I'd no longer have to deal with the disgust factor of handling raw meat (esp. the juices) or biting into gristle. I'll happily devour a hot dog, but something about an unexpected bit of cartilage gives me a lingering sense of revulsion.
I find it very promising. As much as I love meat, its pretty undeniable that raising livestock is super inefficient. It takes so much food to raise livestock that, iirc, more farmland in the US is dedicated to growing food for our food than to growing food for us. Lab grown meat doesn't completely solve this - there are still lost calories in the process to my knowledge - but its way more efficnient. Plus less land usage, less fossil fuel emissions, overall it would be more sustainable.
I see 2 big problems facing it right now:
The first is scale, which is the more significant. We'd need to figure out how to grow meat on a truly massive scale. Definitely doable though, just needs more research.
The second is "realism" or how close it seems to natural meat. Lab grown meat has the advantage over like plant based stuff because it is actually meat. However, ifnits too perfect or uniform, or maybe doesnr have enough fat or variety, it might be seen as unnatural by many (even just subconsciously) and push them away from it.
But yeah, could be awesome.
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Recently tried an Impossible burger and nuggets and thought that if nobody told me it wasn't meat, I'd have thought the patty was made out of a weird kind of meat, rather than make a connection with the taste and texture of plants. Honestly, I might not complain if that was the only kind of "meat" I could have for the rest of my life.
Well, maybe I'd miss bacon.
I've yet to find the opportunity to try lab-grown meat, but I for sure would like to try it out and don't see much wrong with it as long as it's sustainable, reasonably priced, and doesn't have anything you wouldn't expect in a normal piece of meat.
Also, with imitation and lab-grown options, I'd no longer have to deal with the disgust factor of handling raw meat (esp. the juices) or biting into gristle. I'll happily devour a hot dog, but something about an unexpected bit of cartilage gives me a lingering sense of revulsion.
I think they taste weird and are overpriced. I'd like if others eat them so I can keep eating normal meat
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Recently tried an Impossible burger and nuggets and thought that if nobody told me it wasn't meat, I'd have thought the patty was made out of a weird kind of meat, rather than make a connection with the taste and texture of plants. Honestly, I might not complain if that was the only kind of "meat" I could have for the rest of my life.
Well, maybe I'd miss bacon.
I've yet to find the opportunity to try lab-grown meat, but I for sure would like to try it out and don't see much wrong with it as long as it's sustainable, reasonably priced, and doesn't have anything you wouldn't expect in a normal piece of meat.
Also, with imitation and lab-grown options, I'd no longer have to deal with the disgust factor of handling raw meat (esp. the juices) or biting into gristle. I'll happily devour a hot dog, but something about an unexpected bit of cartilage gives me a lingering sense of revulsion.
I think it's an interesting solution to a growing problem (the industry of meat). But I've never had "fake meat" that tastes like real meat, though I don't actively try a lot of them.
I remember when the Impossible Burger came to Burger King. I got one of each, a regular Whopper and an Impossible Whopper. The regular Whopper was the typical Burger King sad burger, the same taste you expect. The Impossible Burger tasted like what I imagine a well used ashtray tastes like. To simply say "it tasted burnt" doesn't cover it. I took a couple bites and threw it into the trash.
I think vegetarianism and veganism are noble causes, but they aren't for me — I say, eating an omelet with pepper jack cheese and turkey sausage. I'm also a bariatric patient, so I need 80-120g of animal protein a day. Vegans will say "um no actually you don't..." but before any wanna start, I'm gonna take the advice of my medical team over some people on the Internet with an agenda who won't lose a wink of sleep if I get sick. I'm not the one. I can't be the one. But I'll root for you from the sidelines (and offer a bit of an olive branch — ahead of chicken and turkey, I find fish to be the best protein).
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Recently tried an Impossible burger and nuggets and thought that if nobody told me it wasn't meat, I'd have thought the patty was made out of a weird kind of meat, rather than make a connection with the taste and texture of plants. Honestly, I might not complain if that was the only kind of "meat" I could have for the rest of my life.
Well, maybe I'd miss bacon.
I've yet to find the opportunity to try lab-grown meat, but I for sure would like to try it out and don't see much wrong with it as long as it's sustainable, reasonably priced, and doesn't have anything you wouldn't expect in a normal piece of meat.
Also, with imitation and lab-grown options, I'd no longer have to deal with the disgust factor of handling raw meat (esp. the juices) or biting into gristle. I'll happily devour a hot dog, but something about an unexpected bit of cartilage gives me a lingering sense of revulsion.
Never enjoyed meat and i've been vegan for 7 years now. I really couldn't care less about it. I don't see the appeal, you're all just talking like a bunch of junkies.
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I think it's an interesting solution to a growing problem (the industry of meat). But I've never had "fake meat" that tastes like real meat, though I don't actively try a lot of them.
I remember when the Impossible Burger came to Burger King. I got one of each, a regular Whopper and an Impossible Whopper. The regular Whopper was the typical Burger King sad burger, the same taste you expect. The Impossible Burger tasted like what I imagine a well used ashtray tastes like. To simply say "it tasted burnt" doesn't cover it. I took a couple bites and threw it into the trash.
I think vegetarianism and veganism are noble causes, but they aren't for me — I say, eating an omelet with pepper jack cheese and turkey sausage. I'm also a bariatric patient, so I need 80-120g of animal protein a day. Vegans will say "um no actually you don't..." but before any wanna start, I'm gonna take the advice of my medical team over some people on the Internet with an agenda who won't lose a wink of sleep if I get sick. I'm not the one. I can't be the one. But I'll root for you from the sidelines (and offer a bit of an olive branch — ahead of chicken and turkey, I find fish to be the best protein).
I remember when the Impossible Burger came to Burger King...The Impossible Burger tasted like what I imagine a well used ashtray tastes like.
That describes every burger I've had from Burger King, to be honest.
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I believe cultured meat is the future.
I don't mind the plant-based substitutes and eat them occasionally, but:
- I don't like that they've named them meat-related names (I have the same issue with plant "milk"). This marketing strategy causes an expectation of flavour and texture that disappoints people and puts them off. If the product is good enough, give it its own niche, like tofu.
- Part of the reason vegan / vegetarian diets are healthy is because the food is largely unprocessed, whereas many of these products are highly processed. I'd rather just eat actual vegetables.
Cultured meat has real potential to replace farmed meat because it can provide things no plant-based alternative can, while removing many of the disadvantages of animal farming:
- The taste and texture should eventually be identical to farmed meat.
- It's kinder to animals than farming - not vegan, but not cruel, no-one dies, and far fewer animals are needed.
- It's better for the environment in many ways: less emissions than animal farming, less land required than both animal and plant-based farms, can be produced close to urban centres so less transport should be required.
- It can be fed to pets that are obligate carnivores, like cats. I will never put my dog on a vegan diet but I am following the UK company Meatly, that is specialising in cultured meat for pet food, with interest.
Once cultured meat is a similar price to farmed meat, I believe the ethical and environmental advantages will give it the edge. Many people that will never go vegan or vegetarian will hopefully switch.
I do not believe it is possible for cultured meat to ever be cheaper than industrially farmed meat. An animal as an integrated system has too many inherent efficiency advantages over a lab culture, even an industrially-scaled lab culture.
- Animals have immune systems. Lab cultures have to be grown in a sterile environment, which increases costs.
- Animals have digestive systems and can extract only the needed nutrition from common plant materials. Lab cultures have to be fed pre-digested and carefully proportioned nutrients, which increases costs.
- Animals have extensive circulatory systems that efficiently get nutrients to cells and remove their waste. Lab cultures are centrifuged, which doesn't scale as well.
- Animals have integrated waste processing and excretion systems. Lab cultures have to run external kidney loops, which not only increase costs but are less efficient.
Cultured meat will come down in price, maybe from 10x animal meat to 2-3x, but it's always going to be a novelty/luxury and will never compete on price as long as industrial animal farming practices are legal.
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Recently tried an Impossible burger and nuggets and thought that if nobody told me it wasn't meat, I'd have thought the patty was made out of a weird kind of meat, rather than make a connection with the taste and texture of plants. Honestly, I might not complain if that was the only kind of "meat" I could have for the rest of my life.
Well, maybe I'd miss bacon.
I've yet to find the opportunity to try lab-grown meat, but I for sure would like to try it out and don't see much wrong with it as long as it's sustainable, reasonably priced, and doesn't have anything you wouldn't expect in a normal piece of meat.
Also, with imitation and lab-grown options, I'd no longer have to deal with the disgust factor of handling raw meat (esp. the juices) or biting into gristle. I'll happily devour a hot dog, but something about an unexpected bit of cartilage gives me a lingering sense of revulsion.
Uuh I like this question
I have thought about it because I am vegan and tried figuring out whether I'd be interested in it, and I have no issue to admit that I sometimes crave the taste of meat, while being repulsed by it another time.
After you don't eat meat for a whule you become aware of flavours that you didn't notice before, and there is an undertone of rot. No, it was not off, it was a majority of meats when I followed a flexitarian diet years ago.
So would I eat it? Eh... Likely not? I wouldn't consider it vegan since you'd have to get DNA samples from live animals still to grow the meat, which to me is an unnecessary stress to the animal. But I don't want to dismiss the idea either if it means a rapid decline in livestock and carbon emissions and of course, less animal suffering. -
Their products suck. Their markup is excessive and makes their products cost far more than the equivalent meat products.
This seems overly harsh to me. I've bought plenty of Beyond products (and Impossible, and Morning Star, and many other plant-based meat alternative brands) over the years and I've found them to be fine in terms of quality. I haven't bought them in a while, but I don't recall them being particularly more expensive than the other plant-based meats in the grocery store. Though I virtually always wait for those to go on a good sale before I buy them.
Since plant-based alternatives are competing with the meat industry, which is heavily subsidized to keep meat costs artificially low, I wouldn't say it's fair to say Beyond's products being more expensive than regular meat is why their business is failing. Other plant-based meats I've tried have generally always been more expensive than regular meat.
I'd rather eat a plain block of uncooked tofu than those beyond italian sausages
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Recently tried an Impossible burger and nuggets and thought that if nobody told me it wasn't meat, I'd have thought the patty was made out of a weird kind of meat, rather than make a connection with the taste and texture of plants. Honestly, I might not complain if that was the only kind of "meat" I could have for the rest of my life.
Well, maybe I'd miss bacon.
I've yet to find the opportunity to try lab-grown meat, but I for sure would like to try it out and don't see much wrong with it as long as it's sustainable, reasonably priced, and doesn't have anything you wouldn't expect in a normal piece of meat.
Also, with imitation and lab-grown options, I'd no longer have to deal with the disgust factor of handling raw meat (esp. the juices) or biting into gristle. I'll happily devour a hot dog, but something about an unexpected bit of cartilage gives me a lingering sense of revulsion.
Unnecessary waste of resources.
