In the longer term though, it also gives said company an easier way to pivot besides doubling down on meat production. I’d rather meat production companies try to pivot away early than fight to the bitter end. It’d make the fight a lot easier if they don’t see animal rights as an existential threat to their company and instead more of a “guess we gotta change our lineups”
(This is assuming that they are genuinely doing this as a pivot)
The point is to stop the demand for animal products and plant-based meats and such very much help towards that goal. Many people do like things like this, including many who end up going vegan, in part, because of them. Arguing against them is counter productive
There are also vegan pre-made meals you can buy which don’t use plant-based meats (mostly in the form of frozen or canned meals). Those are also helpful. We can and should encourage both
Do you still get to have onions and spices and all that when you make PVP tacos? Or do you lose those from other players taking them from you?
Almost all global meat production happens in factory farms. Especially in developed countries with the highest meat consumption. I will look at the US for an example:
Currently, ‘grass-finished’ beef accounts for less than 1% of the current US supply
https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/1748-9326/aad401
We estimate that 99% of US farmed animals are living in factory farms at present. By species, we estimate that 70.4% of cows, 98.3% of pigs, 99.8% of turkeys, 98.2% of chickens raised for eggs, and over 99.9% of chickens raised for meat are living in factory farms. Based on the confinement and living conditions of farmed fish, we estimate that virtually all US fish farms are suitably described as factory farms, though there is limited data on fish farm conditions and no standardized definition.[1] Land animal figures use data from the USDA Census of Agriculture[2] and EPA definitions of Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations.[3]
https://www.sentienceinstitute.org/us-factory-farming-estimates
Even if those other methods could magically do much better, which I significantly doubt given the history of those kinds of methods over promising and under delivering, it does relatively little good to look at any other method because they do not come close to scaling to the level of consumption we’re seeing here. A pasture only system could at most come to a small fraction of production. Using 100% of the land, which would create huge deforestation pressures
We model a nationwide transition [in the US] from grain- to grass-finishing systems using demographics of present-day beef cattle. In order to produce the same quantity of beef as the present-day system, we find that a nationwide shift to exclusively grass-fed beef would require increasing the national cattle herd from 77 to 100 million cattle, an increase of 30%. We also find that the current pastureland grass resource can support only 27% of the current beef supply (27 million cattle), an amount 30% smaller than prior estimates
[…]
If beef consumption is not reduced and is instead satisfied by greater imports of grass-fed beef, a switch to purely grass-fed systems would likely result in higher environmental costs, including higher overall methane emissions. Thus, only reductions in beef consumption can guarantee reductions in the environmental impact of US food systems.
https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/1748-9326/aad401
EDIT: It’s also worth noting that a lot of people that start on things like beyond and impossible end up eventually switching to much more whole plant-based foods in the end anyways. It allow a lot more easy room to bridge to whole foods than starting with just 100% whole food is for a lot of people
The process around meat is no less industrial either. Whole food plant-based diets come out ahead health wise of course, but the research comparing animal meats to beyond show beyond coming out ahead for health
In terms of environmental effects, processing is not a major factor at all. It’s hardly a minor one either
For most foods — and particularly the largest emitters — most GHG emissions result from land use change (shown in green) and from processes at the farm stage (brown). Farm-stage emissions include processes such as the application of fertilizers — both organic (“manure management”) and synthetic; and enteric fermentation (the production of methane in the stomachs of cattle). Combined, land use and farm-stage emissions account for more than 80% of the footprint for most foods.
[…]
Not just transport, but all processes in the supply chain after the food left the farm – processing, transport, retail and packaging – mostly account for a small share of emissions.
TVP is rather cheap type of soy* because it’s what leftover from soybean oil extraction. It’s pretty protein dense because of that so recipes like this add moisture to it to help make it a little softer. It’s very yummy when seasoned well!
* TVP itself technically stands for textured vegetable protein, but it’s 99.9% of the time always soy unless specified otherwise (it technically can be made from other plants)
Not sure what you mean by BM (I assume Beyond Meat?), but every single plant-based food comes out insanely far ahead from animal based foods
Plant-based foods have a significantly smaller footprint on the environment than animal-based foods. Even the least sustainable vegetables and cereals cause less environmental harm than the lowest impact meat and dairy products [9].
https://www.mdpi.com/2072-6643/14/8/1614/html
If I source my beef or lamb from low-impact producers, could they have a lower footprint than plant-based alternatives? The evidence suggests, no: plant-based foods emit fewer greenhouse gases than meat and dairy, regardless of how they are produced.
[…]
Plant-based protein sources – tofu, beans, peas and nuts – have the lowest carbon footprint. This is certainly true when you compare average emissions. But it’s still true when you compare the extremes: there’s not much overlap in emissions between the worst producers of plant proteins, and the best producers of meat and dairy. https://ourworldindata.org/less-meat-or-sustainable-meat
Not who you’re replying to, but there’s one recipe with TVP that I like which cooks kind of close to that where you cook the TVP with only a little bit of vegetable broth and all the spices + onions. https://itdoesnttastelikechicken.com/easy-tvp-tacos/
If you think those are slop, I fear you are looking at bad recipes
Had to reread that like 5 times to realize you were not saying that you thought those were bad recipes
It’s more of a British English term than an American English one
There’s some good vegan recipe communities here on lemmy if you want some inspiration
Perhaps also Mycoprotein like what they use for Quorn products (though other ingredients around it might pose issues)? One study put it at a similar nickle content to egg whites (<6 μg/100 g) see table 4
I’ve read that Seitan might be better for low nickle because of the refinement compared to regular wheat products. I couldn’t verify that for sure
Maybe non-animal whey and non-animal egg white products would be worth trying? They use precision fermentation to make them. I should not these are biologically identical so allergies to the animal based versions of those proteins will still likely apply here. There are more of those coming down the pipeline as well
EDIT: also quinoa too might be lower in nickle from what I’m reading?
There’s still a lot of other whole plant-based foods to have instead! There are plenty of people on plant-based diets without any tofu
There’s multiple types of tofu with different textures. Silken and soft tofu are different than firm which are different than extra firm
What are you seasoning it with and are you pressing it / how long are you pressing for?
The article subheader might give some hints
Environmental groups are suing one of the largest seafood companies in the country over alleged aquaculture pollution to the Columbia River.
This is mostly greenwashing and false hype by the beef industry with misleading numbers
What’s more, feeding cattle algae is really only practical where it’s least needed: on feedlots. This is where most cattle are crowded in the final months of their 1.5- to 2-year lives to rapidly put on weight before slaughter. There, algae feed additives can be churned into the cows’ grain and soy feed. But on feedlots, cattle already belch less methane—only 11 percent of their lifetime output
[…]
Unfortunately, adding the algae to diets on the pasture, where it’s most needed, isn’t a feasible option either. Out on grazing lands, it’s difficult to get cows to eat additives because they don’t like the taste of red algae unless it’s diluted into feed. And even if we did find ways to sneak algae in somehow, there’s a good chance their gut microbes would adapt and adjust, bringing their belches’ methane right back to high levels.
[…]
All told, if we accept the most promising claims of the algae boosters, we’re talking about an 80 percent reduction of methane among only 11 percent of all burps—roughly an 8.8 percent reduction total
We don’t have to make things up. The article says they are currently 40% plant-based
Possibly, but this all reads to me more as a pivot. If it’s controlled opposition they’re after, they’re taking a very long term look at it since they started expanding plant-based meat things they do in 2017. They also more prominently tout in on their website than a side mention. From their website:
This is also coinciding at a time that they spun off their pork production into a separate company and shuffling things around. They’re also talking (publicly at least) to investors like they very much believe in plant-based meats as the future instead of just a hedge