The Ten Dollar Burger Patty

[Judge]

With research and development costs running around $280,000. This substitute could be on the shelves in a few years. The proposed cost doesn't sound so tasty. Though personally I'd love to taste something like this just to see how close or not it might be to actual ground beef.

Fooling my pocketbook, I'm not so sure. But something that could effectively fool my palate? Hmmmmmmmm.

Not necessarily a close second, but over the years I've adapted to eating my tacos using ground turkey. Though personally I'm apt to think it's the taco seasoning that somewhat masks the flavor. The texture is similar when ground, but not the taste. I know there are other such products soon to be on the market. Should be interesting to see if they take with the public.

The brand name? Beyond Meat.

The $280,000 lab-grown burger could be a more palatable $10 in two years - Reuters

 

[tducey]

Yeah, $10 is still to much to spend on a burger IMO. If the costs got reduced I'd think it a better buy.

 

[Kyou Nukui]

I don't think beef tastes that great anyway.

 

[Rectify]

I will probably give it try when the time comes.

The proposed cost doesn't sound so tasty

Yes, $10 a patty sounds expensive. Still I would think over (more) time, even that would reduce.

I'm apt to think it's the taco seasoning that somewhat masks the flavor.

I think so too. The flavours are strong - and yummy. I use them with non-meat mince and it tastes good.

Beyond Meat.

Is that your suggestion or the manufacturers? Either way I like it.

 

[Judge]

I will probably give it try when the time comes.


Is that your suggestion or the manufacturers? Either way I like it.

It's their actual name. And they're apparently they're going to be in the stock market. IPO next may- BYND.O

Hamburgers are so ugly in calories and fat content. Can't help but wonder that these up and coming veggie substitutes might actually replace the burger if they taste the part. But yeah, that price has realistically got to come down even with a two year release date.

 

[oregano]

If humans were TRULY solely herbivorous like the enviros want us to be, there wouldn't be so much demand for "veggie meat" created in a laboratory. The enviros keep trying to ram a "healthier" all-greens diet down our throats, and it keeps smashing up against the fact that humans (and proto-humans) have been meat eaters for a million years. The latest suggestion is to impose ruinous taxes (up to 100%!) on meat so as to force ranchers out of business and force us all to eat a greens-only diet.

When "raw food veganism" was popular in Germany during the 2000s, scientists who examined inhabitants of raw food vegan communes found the residents to be so malnourished that many of the women had stopped ovulating, something that only happens when a woman is so malnourished that her body is desperately trying to save her life. Vegans love to show off their unnaturally thin bodies as "proof" of their "healthier" greens-only diet, but they don't seem to realize that they're actually malnourished.

Mother Nature always has the last word.

 

[Rectify]

The enviros keep trying to ram a "healthier" all-greens diet down our throats,

What the heck is an all-green diet? I think you might be confusing the most extreme vegan diets with a variety of other eating styles.

If humans were TRULY solely herbivorous like the enviros want us to be, there wouldn't be so much demand for "veggie meat" created in a laboratory.

That doesn't make sense. Even if that was your belief there could still be demand for lab meat given that people like eating it.

Mother Nature always has the last word.

Is that why the earth is almost stuffed and many humans are dying of diseases related to over-consumption among other ills?

 

[Judge]

I wouldn't think substitute veggie-burgers are any serious threat or precursor to real protein in general. Just an alternative to conventional hamburgers. But then the cheaper taco could be considered in the same vein, and presently they are all over the place in terms of meat, fish and poultry. So cattle ranchers must already feel the heat.

But I think they need to work on the cost. I'd hate to see such an operation carry on like Apple, where they feel a higher price is justified. Makes no sense when you consider the overhead of cattle ranching and all the variables that bring the cost of beef up or down. IMO this sort of product should be significantly less than beef out the door!

Personally I'm apt to think there's no substitute for real protein, but that it's best consumed in moderation. Though it's hard to predict how many people might pay more for less calories and fat content if it tastes like the real deal. Unless perhaps they're happy with a moderate, but loyal clientele.

 

[oregano]

@Rectify, the reason why "the earth is almost stuffed" and people are dying of "over-consumption" is precisely BECAUSE of factory farming, not because of the inherent unhealthiness of meat. Meat has become unhealthy because the demands of an exponentially increasing population has forced humans to treat meat animals like machines, crowding them into small spaces (such as chicken barns) which raises their stress levels so they produce less flavorful meat, then dealing with disease outbreaks by stuffing them with antibiotics, which causes bacteria to evolve resistance against the drugs. Then, since the meat is bland and hard to digest, chemicals are used to create flavor artificially.

Going one step back, the world's soils are exhausted and only grow stuff due to petroleum based fertilizer, which means that the animals (including humans) that eat the veggies get very little nutrition, which causes humans especially to store fat because our bodies interpret the lack of nutrition in all food, plant and animal, as a continuous state of famine. A veggie burger created in a laboratory is part of the problem, not the solution.

 

[oregano]

Oh yeah, what I meant by "all greens diet" is a diet composed almost solely of green plants, albeit with some beans and other sources of plant protein mixed in. Such a diet is routinely pushed by the intelligentsia as being easier on the earth and far healthier to human beings than humanity's traditional omnivorous diet, in which meat holds a special honor.

All around the world, human cultures subject meat to special processing and other rituals that do not apply to plants... Anyway, humans are simply not herbivorous, no matter how much the environmental lords want them to be. Growing meat in a laboratory likely consumes more energy than simply raising meat animals.

I do agree with Judge that cows are poor sources of meat due to the fact that they require vast areas of land for grazing and large amounts of energy to transport, in addition to much of the world's people being unable to eat beef. Smaller grazing animals, such as goat and sheep, would largely solve that problem. In Western Asia and the central Mediterranean, goat and sheep have been raised for meat and milk long before the arrival of the cow. In fact, in much of that area cow raising is simply impossible due to climate and terrain and goat and sheep are still eaten.

 

[Ken S.]

I will stick with real beef. In fact I get less bloating and fewer bouts of IBS when I limit my vegetable intake to a minimum.

 

[Peter Morrison]

If you have never eaten meat in your life, I don't think you would miss it. But for those who know meat and love meat, it's hard to keep it out of the diet. I've had very good veggie burgers (all vegetables) and they might suggest the taste of meat, but they have their own personality as a vegetable product. The veggie burgers that scientists are creating are designed to accommodate those who want the meat experience. It's quite silly to me, but if people will pay for a "fake meat" product and enjoy it, let them. It's all about marketing. Just because it exists doesn't mean I have to buy it. Some people will.

We have been eating a lot of processed food, which loses its nutrients due to the processing methods, so the manufacturers have to fortify their products with artificial vitamins, etc. We all know this, but we have become accustomed to the convenience of processed food. It's hard to turn back, but you can avoid processed food simply by not buying it (but it tastes so good). I refuse to buy candy - my choice (but it tastes so good). There are enough holidays in a year to ensure I get my cheap chocolate experience. I don't worry. If fast-food burgers disappear, I won't cry, but I will miss them.

 

[Rectify]

I've had very good veggie burgers (all vegetables) and they might suggest the taste of meat, but they have their own personality as a vegetable product.

I like that - "they have their own personality..". I think that's a very good way to put it.

 

[Mary Terry]

Meat is just another side dish to me and not a driving force in my diet. I like to grill portabella mushrooms and black bean burgers as a meat substitute. They taste "meaty" to me. I don't think I'd ever pay $10 for a fake meat burger. If I want meat, then I eat meat and do not obsess over it. We eat more venison (free, clean, low fat, no chemical additives, etc.) than beef anyway but we live in an area with lots of deer and hubby likes to hunt a couple of times each year. One deer usually provides 60-70 pounds of venison for our freezer. Ground turkey is okay, pretty flavorless on its own, so I've been playing around with making ground turkey tamales wrapped in corn husks and steamed which are pretty good.