No-one wants meat-free meat it seems

[king arthur]

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-65879973

Can't say I'm upset by it. The less processed muck there is on the shelves the better AFAIC.

[Sheets Tabuer]

I think people can't afford it more like.

[Lefty]

My wife is vegan so I naturally eat a lot of vegan and vegetarian food. I eat quite a bit of seafood but very little red meat. Can’t live without cheese though

These vegan “meats” are fuggin awful. Processed ste. Some of the burgers are ok I suppose but I’d rather just go without.

We were at Alexis Gaulthier in Soho and one of the courses was a 3d printed “beef” dish, texture was quite like real beef and it did taste quite beefy…but it wasn’t 100% there. I don’t really see the point in trying.

[Randy Winkman]

king arthur said:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-65879973

Can't say I'm upset by it. The less processed muck there is on the shelves the better AFAIC.

I don't think you had to eat it if you didn't want to.

[fat80b]

Doesn’t surprise me.

I’ve tried a few of the burgers and they are ok. Some can be a bit gimmicky but some are very convincing and quite tasty.

But I can’t help but think that the amount of processing required to make some of these things will end up being “bad for you” when they finally look into it. Just because it’s meat free doesn’t mean that it’s going to be healthy.

Give me a piece of real meat or a real vegetable any day.

[mac96]

Randy Winkman said:

king arthur said:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-65879973

Can't say I'm upset by it. The less processed muck there is on the shelves the better AFAIC.

I don't think you had to eat it if you didn't want to.

True, but you ideally don't want anyone else eating it either especially if it is marketed as healthy, while its processing is actually making it bad for people's health. Which, if true, costs us all in the long run..

[devnull]

Future burger was the closest I tried to actual beef - very similar texture but didn’t have the meaty taste.

The problem with a lot of these plant based foods are the number of ingredients that are added to achieve a similar food to meat. Lots of emulsifiers, binding agents etc. oh but it’s all pea protein so it’s OK.

[aeropilot]

fat80b said:

But I can’t help but think that the amount of processing required to make some of these things will end up being “bad for you” when they finally look into it. Just because it’s meat free doesn’t mean that it’s going to be healthy.

They already have looked into it, and I was reading an article online just the other week, about the fact that most of these fake meats are classified as ultra-processed foods, and are indeed very bad for you.

[Terminator X]

Lefty said:

My wife is vegan so I naturally eat a lot of vegan and vegetarian food. I eat quite a bit of seafood but very little red meat. Can’t live without cheese though

These vegan “meats” are fuggin awful. Processed ste. Some of the burgers are ok I suppose but I’d rather just go without.

We were at Alexis Gaulthier in Soho and one of the courses was a 3d printed “beef” dish, texture was quite like real beef and it did taste quite beefy…but it wasn’t 100% there. I don’t really see the point in trying.

This. Surely you can be a vegan and eat "natural" food?

TX.

[miniman]

Lefty said:

We were at Alexis Gaulthier in Soho and one of the courses was a 3d printed “beef” dish, texture was quite like real beef and it did taste quite beefy…but it wasn’t 100% there. I don’t really see the point in trying.

3D printed beef substitute?

fking hell.

[snuffy]

miniman said:

Lefty said:

We were at Alexis Gaulthier in Soho and one of the courses was a 3d printed “beef” dish, texture was quite like real beef and it did taste quite beefy…but it wasn’t 100% there. I don’t really see the point in trying.

3D printed beef substitute?

fking hell.

Could be worse (or better, depending on your point of view); they could have printed a 3d pork sword, lamb cannon or mutton musket !

[ChocolateFrog]

king arthur said:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-65879973

Can't say I'm upset by it. The less processed muck there is on the shelves the better AFAIC.

How do they justify prices that are higher than the prices for food coming from an actual animal?

Staggering and not at all surprising that a handful of very vocal Vegans isn't enough to sustain a numerous medium sized enterprises.

[bigpriest]

Same old problem isn't it - trying to re-create something that they never can. As said on another thread, there are some amazing vegetarian and vegan cuisines all over the world, the dishes stand up on their own merit. They don't need to pretend to be meat.

[thebraketester]

ChocolateFrog said:

king arthur said:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-65879973

Can't say I'm upset by it. The less processed muck there is on the shelves the better AFAIC.

How do they justify prices that are higher than the prices for food coming from an actual animal?

Staggering and not at all surprising that a handful of very vocal Vegans isn't enough to sustain a numerous medium sized enterprises.

Economy of scale.

[king arthur]

mac96 said:

Randy Winkman said:

I don't think you had to eat it if you didn't want to.

True, but you ideally don't want anyone else eating it either especially if it is marketed as healthy, while its processing is actually making it bad for people's health. Which, if true, costs us all in the long run..

Well exactly. The health of the nation worries me, I'm old enough to remember when maybe 10% or less of people would be classed as overweight. Now it's 2 in 3. The government pays lip service to doing anything to tackle the problem, when we need to be getting and enabling people to eat more natural food for a start and not fake meat made in a factory.

[mac96]

king arthur said:

mac96 said:

Randy Winkman said:

I don't think you had to eat it if you didn't want to.

True, but you ideally don't want anyone else eating it either especially if it is marketed as healthy, while its processing is actually making it bad for people's health. Which, if true, costs us all in the long run..

Well exactly. The health of the nation worries me, I'm old enough to remember when maybe 10% or less of people would be classed as overweight. Now it's 2 in 3. The government pays lip service to doing anything to tackle the problem, when we need to be getting and enabling people to eat more natural food for a start and not fake meat made in a factory.

Exactly as well! At my secondary school there was a fat boy. Just one. Out of 450. Actually his parents brought him in a Land Rover, the then nearest thing to an SUV, whilst other boys walked and/or used buses or trains, so they were obviously pioneers of the 21st Century lifestyle.

[neilr]

I've been vegetarian for the last nearly 30 years (jesus i feel old) and vegan for the last 11. I've eaten 'vege/vegan meat substitutes a lot. Mostly mince and sausages but I never really missed having meat. I ate them because I liked them, (esp some of the sausages) rather than needing to pretend i was eating meat. It wasn't/isn't some ,moral crusade, I just dont miss it.

However, there's a lot of fat in a lot of those products, esp the vegan ones like the 'cheese' as well as a lot of salt too. I knocked it on the head with all the substitute foods a while a go now, maybe 18mnths at least. Mainly due to the crap that was in them. Saved quite a bit of cash as a nice by-product. Proper fresh food is so much better anyway.

As far as 3d printed meat / lab grown beef etc, even as someone who doesnt eat animal products I think its ridiculous the way it seems to be pushed so much. Comes with the whiff of an agenda that isnt in our best interests or the good of anyone employed in the farming industry.

[poo at Paul's]

fat80b said:

Doesn’t surprise me.

I’ve tried a few of the burgers and they are ok. Some can be a bit gimmicky but some are very convincing and quite tasty.

But I can’t help but think that the amount of processing required to make some of these things will end up being “bad for you” when they finally look into it. Just because it’s meat free doesn’t mean that it’s going to be healthy.

Give me a piece of real meat or a real vegetable any day.

Yup, a massive cheese stuffed mushroom ( garlic and pesto on it) grilled, left to cool a bit so as not to remove lining of the mouth, (!) stuffed on a burger bun with a few onions, fries on the side etc, is flipping fabulous.

[YankeePorker]

Same in the USA. Apart from the sworn vegans who have no choice, the “fake meat” products are competing in a protein market where the cheaper protein wins. Cheap chicken is slaying them.

[donkmeister]

king arthur said:

mac96 said:

Randy Winkman said:

I don't think you had to eat it if you didn't want to.

True, but you ideally don't want anyone else eating it either especially if it is marketed as healthy, while its processing is actually making it bad for people's health. Which, if true, costs us all in the long run..

Well exactly. The health of the nation worries me, I'm old enough to remember when maybe 10% or less of people would be classed as overweight. Now it's 2 in 3. The government pays lip service to doing anything to tackle the problem, when we need to be getting and enabling people to eat more natural food for a start and not fake meat made in a factory.

The problem with obesity is twofold: 1) people eating/drinking stuff that is much more calorific, 2) people being much more sedentary than they should be.
On point 1, I love a 20 Oz mocha as a rare treat, but at what point in time did we agree that a pint is a sensible serving of coffee? Especially one with so much sugar!
But, the fact is that meat alternatives are not the issue; I'm not saying that meat alternatives are all healthy stuff, but fatties were waddling into Greggs and KFC long before they served Quorn and such.
Then there's the exercise. People these days regard themselves as active even whilst doing less exercise than their grandmother used to get from housekeeping duties alone.
So if you want the government to set policy to stop people eating stuff that "might" be unhealthy in the long run, shouldn't we really stop people eating stuff we already know is unhealthy? Prohibit alcohol, shut down all the chippies and takeaways, ban gravy and roast potatoes... And, much as it pains me to say, red meat too. No steak, no sausages.

Just don't take away my coffee!