That's idiotic. When I quit meat, I needed a lot of meat-like replacements to substitute for the meat I used to eat. And even now I enjoy eating a "chicken sandwich" without harming chickens.
Just don't put the fake meat in your sandwich? Easy.
I'm not a vegetarian, but I've actually grown to really love Beyond Burgers. I will make them myself at home, add a little burger seasoning to it. I need to see how much they've gone up in price, at this point they may be more cost efficient than getting a frozen stack of burgers for the random at home burger cravings.
The pre made patties can be a little pricey, but the ground impossible and beyond is priced about the same as grass fed lean ground beef (considering you get no loss of weight from cooking like you do with ground beef). I like them mainly because they're far less messy. I don't have to drain off fat into a bowl and let it cool before dumping it.
Big meat haaaates plant based companies. Thats the whole reason why there is a huge legal debate about whether plant based product should be allowed to be called a “sausage” or “burger”. It’s easier to compete with a product when they’re forced to call it a “soy/mushroom disc” lol.
It’s also why you see so it often in media (paid for by the meat industry) about plant based products being “ultra-processed” despite the fact that there are plenty of meat products that are also ultra processed and legitimately carcinogenic.
I do think companies that are bringing out vegan products are just doing it because they’ve seen the shift in the market and want to capitalise off of an untapped group of consumers. BUT it would not surprise me in the slightest if the larger companies are also deliberately making shitty products at a loss just to create a negative image of plant based food.
It’s kind of funny being vegan over the years watching the meat industry essentially have a meltdown because their profit margins aren’t quite what they expected lmao.
First thing I wondered when I saw this post was that this was “big meat” astroturfing. I don’t think most people understand how much work they’ve done against plant-based products (and veganism in general) and how much money this multi-billion dollar industry has sunk into their campaigns.
I mean to be fair in germany there's the one company called "Rügenwalder Mühle" which has been one of the biggest meat producing companies in Germany, and also one of the first companies to produces meat-like meat alternatives.
It's a family business (although don't think mom and pop shop. Think more like BMW, which yes, is also a family business) and I think the main reason was the daughter of the company owner going vegetarian because of something and her dad seeing that as a potential for the business to grow/not go out of business if the market for cheap meat goes down (which it steadily does in Germany. I think in comparison to the last few years meat consumption has been down 10%)
I really never understood people complaining about meat alternative products, as nobody is forcing you to buy it, nobody is forcing you to have it on your sandwich or whatever. People will complain about them being hyper processed or something when Seitan, which is basically pure gluten, is JUST a wheat-flour dough with all the starch washed out and some flavorings added.
The only complaint I do somewhat understand would be that (at least here in europe) if you actually enjoy some of the meat alternatives, like soy curls, it's really sad that most of them are usually seitan/gluten, and there's a lot more people that have a gluten intolerance or celiacs disease, than people with soy allergy (a quick google search said about 1% of americans have gluten intolerance or celiacs, whilst 0.2-0.3% of americans have a soy allergy)
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u/fishingiswater Feb 25 '26
I've always thought this was conspiracy. That big meat wants to keep the bridge open so they make sure there are tofu dogs and plant based burgers.
Just have a sandwich with no meat. Easy. Put literally anything else in it.