Plant-based Meat
Now this short video is funny. And it made some level of sense until recently. Now we have the Impossible Burger and the Beyond Burger, both which are entirely plant-based and virtually indistinguishable from cow meat.
You may want to check into this. It’s better for you, better for the planet, and much better for the cow.
Human beings, by their nature, like animals. The idea of saying to a cow, “Here, bossie bossie,” then bashing its head in with a sledge hammer runs counter to our basic nature.
Craig,
“Human beings, nature, like animals. The idea of saying to a cow, “Here, bossie bossie,” then then bashing its head in with a sledge hammer runs counter to our basic nature.”
Okaaay, er, hang on WTF ? No, it doesn’t !!
The human species survived and evolved because they are superbly adapted hunters !
The first major evolutionary change in the human diet was the incorporation of meat and marrow from large animals, which occurred by at least 2.6 million years ago. It was the ability to extract the bone marrow from animals that led to larger brains in humans.
Meat and marrow are calorie-dense resources with essential amino acids and micro nutrients and to a more restricted degree, aquatic fauna offer resources rich in nutrients needed for brain growth. Meat contains V B12 and other essential elements unable to be synthesized from plants by the human metabolism.
Humans are true omnivores, which is why we are equipped by evolution with Canine, Gnawing and Grinding teeth.
We also have to feed 4-6 billions carnivorous pets on a daily basis, how do we do that with killing herbivores ?
I wish you well eating artificial, synthetic, “meat” , but perhaps before anyone does they should be aware of the ingredients such as;
1) Monosodium Glutamate (MSG).
2)“yeast extract” (produced primarily from beef)
3) “Succinic Acid” a chemical usually usually confined to the production of perfume esters and linked to;-
a) Mitochondrial matrix and function in the cytoplasm as well as the extracellular space, changing gene expression patterns, modulating epigenetic landscape or demonstrating hormone-like signaling.
b) Damage to cellular metabolism (especially ATP formation0 preventing regulation of cellular function.
c) Dysregulation of succinate synthesis, and therefore ATP synthesis causing genetic mitochondrial diseases such as Leigh’s and Melas disease.
e) Degradation linked to pathological conditions such as malignant transformation, inflammation and tissue injury.
4) Stem cells. Yep, that’s right, Bovine Stem cells extracted from still living (but not for long) calf fetus
5) Maltodextrin. A highly processed sugar linked to increases in diabetes and autoimmune disorders like Crohn’s disease.
6) Dioxin ” Bleached Bamboo” ?
7) Annatto Synthesized Extract, linked to irritable bowel syndrome and anaphylaxis.
8) Vegetable Glycerin, genetically linked to gastric issues such as diarrhea, bloating or nausea, or bowel cancer in 17% of population.
9) Erucic acid. causes myocardial lipidosis, but mostly children and pregnant women
10) Refined Coconut oil, Grilled at temperatures above 450 c degrees becomes highly toxic. For employees this means a work environment with the same carcinogenic exposure as smoking 120 cigarettes per day !
Hmmm,…but here’s the real kicker ! “Impossible Burger” and “Beyond Burger” have only become possible because the Trump administration allowed the US Food and Drug Administration to remove such products from the “industrial use only” category.
That allowed food manufacturers like Impossible Burger and Beyond burger to “self-affirm” ingredients as being safe under the agency’s GRAS (Generally Recognized as Safe) category !
You can bet that’s never mentioned in the Corporate publicity !
Would you like your burger with, or without, and extra serve of hypocrisy ?!
Curiously, it’s only because the hated Trump administration allowed the US Food and Drug Administration to removed such products from the “industrial use only” category and allow food manufacturers like Impossible Burger and Beyond burger can now self-affirm ingredients as being safe under the agency’s GRAS (Generally Recognized as Safe) (so you don’t need to worry !)
Craig,
I empathize with your sensibilities regarding the killing of cattle. Like most city dwellers you associate bovine meat production with the image of a gentle, dewy eyed milk cow, not steers breed for meat.
But, there’s no getting around the fact the animals are killed.
In most Western nation’s the process is conducted as quickly and painlessly as possible, with the animal suffering very little distress.
The process is not pleasant for those unused to dealing with animals.
The cattle are herded in single file to a “knocking box” where they are stunned via a bolt to the brain ensure the animal is unconscious and unable to feel pain.
The cow is then shackled by a hind leg and the large blood vessels are severed to induce bleeding. The throat and all the major vessels so it bleeds very quickly and dies very quickly. The animal does not regain consciousness before dying due to blood loss.
As I say, not a pleasant experience, but one which farmers get used to when disposing of sick, injured or aging animals. Even the most humane farmer has a sad responsibility when forced to shoot any animal, even vermin.
But not unnatural, since the animal kingdom is made up of predators and prey.
However, I know what you mean, for those who never think about the process of food production, it can be very confronting when shown the reality.
Farmers become somewhat immune. As a child I once shot over 160 Rabbits in day. I like rabbits, but in plague proportions they become vermin, and believe me, shooting distressed, starving merino sheep is far more heart breaking.
I’m not a farmer, so I’m just wondering what you mean by “a bolt to the brain”?
Hi Susan,
Thank you for your question. On the relatively rare occasions a farmer kills cattle, it’s usually by shooting the animal in the head with a heavy calibre bullet.
Most cattle are killed in a government certified abattoir, (meat factory) the animal is constrained in a tight pen or “knocking box” and a hydraulic ram with a heavy bolt attached is applied to the animals head in such a position that the animal is rendered unconscious in a fraction of a second.
The pens used are very similar to the sort of pen the animal is accustomed to when being drenched, ear tagged or examined. The animal feels no distress or pain if the procedure is carried out correctly.
Since every part of the animal is utilized for many different products, it’s very important economically the animal is killed as quickly and painlessly as possible.
Not pleasant, but a better method of execution than practiced on humans in 31 US States.
A few weeks ago I had the unpleasant responsibility of being forced to kill an old horse that had fallen down an embankment and was in great pain. There was no hope for the animal to recover from such injuries and veterinary assistance would have taken several hours.
I shot the horse, despite my personal emotional attachment to the animal and ordered the carcass to be used to feed the dogs and cats. My brother expressed his surprise at what he considered a disrespect method of disposing of a much loved companion.
I disagree, I believe evolution provided scavengers as a method of Eco-control and the dogs and cats are entitled to eat a horse just as much as sheep, cattle or rabbit.
Death is just another essential fact of farming, although I realize it can prove confronting for city dwellers.