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Should Plant-Based Meat Replace Beef Completely? (pbs.org)

Posted by EditorDavid on from the carving-the-roast-beast dept.

Long-time Slashdot reader tcd004 writes: Is beef still "what's for dinner?" Plant-based meat substitute startups say they could provide enough protein to feed the world using only 2% of the land on Earth, dramatically reducing the resources required to create beef products. And adopting plant-based burgers could help reduce heart disease, protect water resources, and stop deforestation. But Beef producers say no laboratory can beat a steer's ability to turn plant-based nutrition into tasty protein, and animals are the best source for natural fertilizer to grow crops. There's a coming war for your dinner plate. Who will prevail?

7 of 669 comments (clear)

  1. If it is good enough... by LetterRip · · Score: 1, Informative

    Absolutely if it is equal in taste and nutrition.

    Impossible Burger and Beyond Burger are growing rapidly, and might well end up capturing huge amounts of the US beef market.

    https://www.fooddive.com/news/impossible-burger-making-its-way-to-foodservice-venues/507812/

    Eggs will likely be replaced by plant based artificial eggs in most of the food industry.

    http://www.collective-evolution.com/2015/11/06/the-worlds-first-plant-based-egg-is-putting-the-egg-industry-in-a-panic/

    Hopefully most stuff made of meat will be made from plant sources in the near future. The energy savings and positive environmental impact could be extraordinary.

  2. Re:Educational thing by KiloByte · · Score: 5, Informative

    Nope, only some populations are genetically equipped for a vegetarian diet. For the rest, lack of meat causes brain shrinkage and mental disorders. And populations that originated from Europe tend to lack such genes -- and some, like the Inuit, are even more extreme.

    That's vegetarian -- vegan diet is far more harmful. Especially for children, to the point of proposed bills that outlaw feeding children vegan.

    --
    The creatures outside looked from Alt-Right to Antifa; but already it was impossible to say which was which.
  3. Try this, it's good... by Proudrooster · · Score: 5, Informative

    So for health reasons, I have had to change my diet. If you haven't tried this meat substitute, it is amazing....

    Seven Grain Chicken Tenders

    and you can get them at Target.

    Even fast food is becoming plant based. As meat prices go UP UP UP and fast food prices stay at $1.99, they need to use filler in the meat. That filler is SOY bean, which incidentally, had the largest crop ever last year. Also, don't fear the SOY, you won't grow breasts or start singing alto.

    Eat less meat, more plants. You will feel better, look better, and cut your cancer risk.

  4. Re:My Punch List on the Subject by whoever57 · · Score: 4, Informative

    * It is likely your last cucumber sandwich killed as many animals as your last hamburger.

    Naked bullshit.

    * Zinc, B12, and about a dozen other micro-nutrients that are NOT optional are hard to get for a vegetarian and impossible for a vegan. Popping a bunch of dietary supplements is a poor substitute and no way to live.

    * There has never been a sustained human population that was fully vegetarian.

    It's not like there are millions of Indians who are vegetarian, is it? Oh wait, there are.

    * Cattle and other food animals can be easily raised on land that is not farmable. Too rocky too steep or soil where only grasses grow. The animal secretions help the ecosystem build more fertile topsoil. Other species live with cow pastures whereas plant agriculture tends toward monoculture where everything but the desired crop is poisoned and killed.

    Bullshit. Cattle live on land that is suitable for arable farming and take massive amounts of water. Sheep, or goats, maybe, but how many people in the USA eats sheep or goat?

    --
    The real "Libtards" are the Libertarians!
  5. Re:If it's a good substitute, it should replace be by arth1 · · Score: 5, Informative

    How can vegetarianism persist in India?

    You do know that vitamin deficiency is a big problem in India, right?

    https://timesofindia.indiatime...

  6. Re:Educational thing by religionofpeas · · Score: 3, Informative

    It's not just the amino acids. There's a whole bunch of stuff in animal products that are lacking in plants. Vitamin B12 is the major example, but also vitamin D and EHA/DHA oils.

  7. Re:Article is manipulative by Humbubba · · Score: 4, Informative
    A gift that keeps on. The Roman Empire used human manure to fertilize crops, spreading parasites throughout their populations. http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/d-brief/2016/01/07/despite-latrines-and-aqueducts-ancient-romans-were-full-of-worms/

    Wonder if anyone has researched the parasites left in the latrines to see where people came from when they went?