I had a GREAT time at the most recent Veterinary Innovation Summit (VIS) in Texas (next year is highly recommended!) One of the topics was, “The Future of Food.” The speaker talked about various vegan alternatives to meat. (My least favorite was insect protein ground into patties.) Today an online article caught my eye attempting to prove that Beef is Better. You can tell it is unbiased because it came from “Beef” magazine. The author described an enlightened question asked by one beef producer: “Are we in the Beef business or the Protein business?“ HERE is the beef article – note the pic, half-cow, half-cowboy.
I remember in vet school thinking that cattle feedlots were a terrible thing – on many levels. However, this article points out that free range cattle can efficiently convert grass on untillable hilly land, into high quality protein.
The Future of Food speaker talked about how these fake-meat products are on the way into our culture. He claimed that Red Robin would soon be introducing a meat substitute burger, whose primary claim to fame is, “It tastes just like beef.” I thought, “Yeah, right. It’s impossible to taste just like a burger. Not in my lifetime.”
Right after I came home from VIS I took Susan out to eat and it just happened we picked Red Robin. On the front door the sign screamed, “Try the Impossible Burger!” The menu shouted, “Try the Impossible Burger!” Sure enough, it was the burger I had denied three times. I felt I had a responsibility to take the plunge. Then I found out the fake meat ADDED $3 to the cost of the burger that I had planned to order. I caved and thoroughly enjoyed my real beef burger.
Rolan