Fake Meat?!
What is with this fake meat movement? I understand that “veggie” burgers have been around for years, but there is an uptick in the movement with significant financial backing (Bill Gates and the Silicon Valley). Why are people searching for a possible way to “create” a burger that helps the environment and improves your health, when we already have “real” beef that provides this? Why has beef gained such a bad rap for the environment and our health? If one really does some research they will see that these biased opinions against beef is really based on “bad science.” Thankfully, there are people and organizations out there fighting for beef and all the good it provides!
The very idea of creating meat in a lab and marketing it as healthy seems absurd! Who would have thought that this could actually be and that producers and those in the nutrition world would actually have to discuss topics such as this? However, with the advancements in technology the reality of this debate is here.
Lets talk about some of the driving forces behind fake meat and what is driving the consumers. It seems the main culprits are sustainability/environmental concerns, animal welfare and nutrition. These are legitimate concerns and understandable. But are the consumers getting the right information? Are they aware of the ways that producers help in all of these ways? Check out Beef Research and you can see first hand what the industry is doing. Of course there are outliers who give a bad name for the rest of the industry. But overall, beef producers are stewards of the land and treat their livestock well. After all, their bottomline depends on it.
Sustainability - Some folks claim that beef production is bad for the environment. Greenhouse gas emissions, water resources and land usage are at the center of the debate. However, cattle are excellent tools in up cycling nutrients, we all depend on the same soil no matter your diet. I previously discussed benefits cattle have on the environment here. But I will provide some information below to debunk the naysayers. You can see where I pulled the information below from this article.
Two previous studies conducted by Worldwatch Institute and the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) erroneously claimed that livestock production was more harmful to the environment than all modes of transportation. These claims have been debunked in a multitude of ways. Frank Mitloehner, a University of California, Davis professor of animal science and air quality Extension specialist has research that clearly points to grave errors made by other researchers who have falsely claimed that cattle are more damaging to the environment than transportation, electricity and other industries. Unfortunately, it is hard to retract this “bad science” with the use of media and special interest.
Mitloehner details a more accurate picture of livestock production and GHG emissions. He writes, “According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the largest sources of U.S. GHG emissions in 2016 were electricity production (28% of total emissions), transportation (28%) and industry (22%).
“All of agriculture accounted for a total of 9%. All of animal agriculture contributes less than half of this amount, representing 3.9% of total U.S. greenhouse gas emissions. That’s very different from claiming livestock represents as much or more than transportation.”
Natural resources is often at the center of the environmental debate as well. If you consider how much water it takes to grow green beans or broccoli and factor in how much nutrition is derived from fruits or vegetables compared to beef, it doesn’t seem all that efficient. Low- quality proteins found within plant biomass and co-products are up-cycled by cattle and converted into beef, a high-quality protein source for humans.
More humane - People often have the perception that cattle are confined in tight spaces and little room to roam. This could not be further from the truth. Cattle will spend a majority of it’s life grazing open spaces and forage. A typical finished carcass will spend approximately 60-90 days in a feedlot. Occasionally, cattle will spend time in buildings in the midwest to protect against the elements of the weather dependent upon operation. Not only do producers raise cattle humanely but about 750 million people in low- and middle-income countries depend on livestock farming, says the International Livestock Research Institute, with the sector accounting for 40% of agricultural GDP globally. Livestock production helps millions of families economically.
Nutrient-dense - I am not going to go into too much detail on this one. Please refer to my previous post on the health benefits of beef part one and part two. Meat is more nutrient-dense per serving than vegetarian options, and ruminant animals largely thrive on feed that is not suitable for humans. In addition, fake meat is full of fillers such as toxic ingredients like genetically-modified organisms (GMOs), monosodium glutamate (MSG), fake/synthetic vitamins and all sorts of other toxins. The “juicy” patties are liquefied, defatted and reconstituted vegetables and coconut oils. For example, Tofurkey’s ground beef contains 14 ingredients, while Morningstar’s Chick’n Nuggets has 58 ingredients. Real beef does not need any additives and is very nutrient dense.
Understanding the protein quality of beef relative to other protein sources in human diets is essential to understanding the impacts of the beef value chain on human food supply. Beef products provide a more complete source of dietary protein (i.e., greater biological value) than plant sources, which contain insufficient levels of indispensable amino acids.
Where are we at today? U.S. sales of plant-based proteins totaled $553 million in 2012, according to Mintel, a market research group. In just five years, plant-based protein sales have jumped to $670 million in the U.S. in 2017. Unfortunately, this movement is not slowing down. Why is that? Are folks so out of touch with nature and the many benefits of eating a natural diet as God intended? For us involved in the agriculture industry it seems silly to want to consume “fake meat” but times change and people are becoming more out of touch with their food sources. In 1900, for example, 40% of the total US population lived on farms and 60% lived in rural areas. Today, only 1% of the US population lives on farms and only 20% live in rural areas.
Agriculture is the foundation of civilization, and the basis for any stable economy, it plays a key role in society and we must preserve the industry for the health of the planet and the health of our people.