The Impossible Burger tastes like a smoked rice cake and has the mouth feel of fried mashed potatoes.
Fight me.
I’ve been trying to reduce meat consumption for a while now since it’s gotten more scrutiny over its environmental impact. I mean, I’ve always known it was bad but something had to kick me into doing something about it. Trying to offset my personal environmental impact hits some hurdles on practicality. Public transport to work is infeasible. I drive a regular old gas car and can’t buy a different one any time soon. Even recycling isn’t collected at our place so we have to stockpile it and take it somewhere. I’m not vegetarian, but there’s nothing really stopping me from it other than not feeling like it. Even less so if we’re talking about reducing my meat consumption to a third of what is has been. Still, it’s a tad inconvenient to try and eat vegetarian consistently. Buying meals somewhere means your options are slashed drastically. Cooking at home, it’s also a challenge to come up with a variety of meal-like items when you’re not used to vegetarian life. The appeal of meat does get reduced, though, if you can stick with it long enough. What we really need are more options like this that bridge the gap. I dig the Beyond burger and it’s the only reason I’ve gone to a Carl’s Jr. in my life probably. I haven’t tried the Impossible burger but I am eagerly awaiting BK to roll it out nationwide. People generally say they’d believe the Beyond Burger was an exotic meat if they were told so. Even if it’s not a perfect imitation it’s close enough to fill the role of meat like no substitute has before. Also it’s not “health food”. Can you imagine how much frustration there has been from vegetarians over the years when the only thing they can order at restaurants is the healthy option?
I did the "stockpile and take it somewhere" approach to recycling. It's a pain in the ass. But you're in LA and if you're in a poor neighborhood you can leave out the cans and glass and someone will take them. If I'm going to Carls Jr. I'm eating a burger. Really, from an environmental impact standpoint you're better off eating a cold can of tuna fish than you are any flavor of impossible burger.
I tried The Beyond Burgers and I loved them. Plus the satisfaction they gave me knowing that no animal was harmed in the process, it was worth it. They are loaded with 20 grams of protein, are free of soy and gluten, “bleed” pulverized beet juice, and have the look, smell, and taste of meat. I ate a few of those, threw them on the grill and cooked them up just like their meaty brothers. Satisfied.
Ehh, it's close. I enjoy them myself. I enjoy the idea of mass producing protein for a meat-centric audience without involving animals. It's still not QUITE perfect. It might never be. But I think it's good enough to start, and I think many other people feel this way.
Ain't nuthin' wrong with vegetarianism. Ain't nuthin' wrong with veganism. It's when you start eating meat in effigy that shit goes south. Field Roast, Tofurky, Quorn, whatever - it's not meat, will never be meat, and will only ever remind you of how bleak your non-meat existence shall be so long as you still crave meat. Black beans are not burgers. Black beans are legumes. Eat them on rice and they are delicious. At my wife's school they always made brownies out of black beans and they're fucking disgusting. I never understood that, either - it's not like chocolate and wheat need a pass through the slaughterhouse. But so long as you're normalizing your idolization around misappropriated foodstuffs fuck yeah let's turn black beans into dessert. I like gardenburgers. I eat them for breakfast with a slice of velveeta sometimes. Even better, cheese and an egg. When I'm feeling really saucy I'll top them with cheese, egg and bacon. Put 'em between buns, though, and you're never gonna be satisfied with the outcome.