Originally published at: Would you try this vegan, plant-based "salmon"? | Boing Boing
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Enough already trying to fake people out by marketing this stuff as something it isn’t. It’s not salmon. It’s not meat. It’s not foie gras. It’s a plant paddy.
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Maybe. I’ve certainly had faux burgers that were fine. Though some faux sausage seems to work better. It’s still very processed food. I’d have to see if it looked healthy- but it’s hard to imagine that it could be healthier than real salmon.
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I would try it! I quite like the new generation of plant-based burgers that have become so popular.
The only thing I always wonder about is, are they actually healthy? Processed food generally isn’t, and it’s hard to imagine a more processed, science-experiment, chemistry-project food than all these new “plant-based” things.
It’s misleading, I think, because people assume they are “just vegetables”. These are not vegetables. These are not meat. They are… something else. Something made in a lab who’s long term health effects we have no data about. I don’t think they’re dangerous, but I think they’re unlikely to be healthier than meat, either. It’s unclear how their carbon footprint compares to meat also. I assume it’s better since meat’s is so poor, but that’s just a guess. I’m happy to eat them for moral reasons and because they taste good, but I’m also a bit wary and not putting too much stock in them.
Also be careful about claims of nutrition like “has all the fatty acids of real fish!” We know from studies on multi-vitamins and vitamin supplementation in food that uptake in our systems from these artificial sources isn’t very good. It’s not the same as eating the real thing.
ETA: Coke for @KathyPartdeux !
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I loved those ads!
Every plant based patty I’ve tried has had way too much salt in it. Not healthy at all.
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As somebody that is (mostly) vegetarian for the environment and animal welfare:
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Salmon made out of plants? What will they think of next?!? I’ve got to call my mom and tell her about this!
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This is the issue that concerns me. If you want to eat these meat substitutes because they’re better for the environment or because you have concerns about animal welfare, they seem to be an improvement. If you’re eating them because you think they’re healthier, then you’re mistaken (at least with regard to the meat substitutes). According to several studies (here’s one), from a saturated fat/sodium perspective, they’re just as bad as the meat they’re replacing. And because they’re so highly processed, it’s difficult for us to know whether there are other long-term effects to be concerned about. It would be nice if there were a meat substitute that ticked all the boxes: better for the environment, healthier, no long term health concerns.
ETA: grammar
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Right back at ya!
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But salt is good for me!
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I am greatly looking forward to affordable lab-grown meat. I have nothing against the plant-based alternatives… but as someone with a soy sensitivity verging on full soy allergy, it sure seems like most of them are out of reach.
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If I’m actually being honest… No.
I’d eat it to be polite or to make people leave me alone.
I can’t even find a list of allergens for it.
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Tired: Plant Based Food
Wired: Cell-Cultured Food
If big R&D budgets, rigorous taste-testing, and mega-celebrity partnerships (Beyond Meat just appointed Kim Kardashian as its “chief taste consultant”) aren’t enough to dethrone animal meat from the center of the plate, cell-cultured meat — created by taking a small sample of animal cells and growing them in bioreactors — might win over consumers, at least on taste.
During a recent trip to San Francisco, I tried cell-cultured salmon, chicken, bacon, sausage, burgers, and meatballs. While some were 100 percent cell-cultured — meaning they were biologically almost identical to meat from animals — most included both cell-cultured and plant-based ingredients. But one thing was for certain: All of the products were noticeably meatier — juicier, firmer, and tastier — than their purely plant-based counterparts.
At least this way the food could be marketed as what it was derived from. Chicken is chicken, salmon is salmon. Foie gras is foie gras.
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It’s not even that. It’s a chemical mixture.
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I prefer things that aren’t pretending to be other things. I’m not vegetarian, but if I was I think I’d choose eating plants as plants over science experiments pretending to be meat.
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Im a chef who does banquets and weddings. Last year we catered a vegan, gluten-free wedding. For the rehearsal dinner they did “fast food,” so we had fried “chicken” patties for Chick-fil-A, vegan burgers for McDonalds, and soy crumble tacos for Taco Bell. One of the guests had an allergy to peas, and since pea protein is one of the primary ingredients in meat substitutes there was almost nothing she could eat. The actual wedding meal was a more traditional vegan/vegetarian meal.
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Thanks for the posted study about high saturated fat levels & salt in the Impossible Burger. I’ve been an ethical vegan for decades, think I’m in pretty good health for my age, & still prefer beans [tofu / tempeh] as protein source.
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That strikes me as the more significant point here. I eat other, plant-based proteins, not dodgy meat substitutes.
That said, I’m glad these very convincing imitations are out there, as a way to help some transition off meat and chicken and fish, or even as a way of just eating less of those vile things.
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I’ve been veg for 20+ years. Never was a huge fan of fish, but I’ll give it a go when/if it shows up around here.
Gotta be better than fake canned tuna (was that morningstar? it’s been a while)
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