The climate case for mock meats is clear. But who can afford them?
The climate case for mock meats is clear. But who can afford them?
An often insurmountable price barrier is keeping many people from buying plant-based alternatives to beef, pork and chicken.
Okay, so I might be biased but as 8+ year vegan the price barrier is such a cop out. My grocery budget went DOWN after I stopped buying meat. My girlfriend and I eat for a whole month for about $350, breakfast, lunch, dinner. There is more to vegan diets than those lame impossible/bocca/gardiens prepackaged frozen junk, I literally never buy any of it.
Tofu, beans and rice are cheap as hell. Like, of course prepared food is expensive but if you learn the basic easy ways to prepare it yourself you will save a ton. I use this recipe a ton as a base and then change the spices a bit for the specific dish. This site also has a ton of easy basic recipes.
Of course I agree that meat subsidarys are the real problem, but I flat out refuse to accept "veganism is expensive" as a legitimate claim.
Yep, and cooking is easier and safer (I don't need to worry about cross contamination)
Being vegan is way cheaper and that's not even accounting for the massive subsidies the meat and dairy industries get, from our taxes.
I'm a big fan of TVP.
It's really cheap, you can keep it on your shelf for an eternity, and you just cook it for a few minutes, then you can use it where you'd use meat.So, for example, you can get them in meatball-shape, which I just throw into the water when my noodles are almost done cooking.
It's also quite chewy and if you get it in steak-shape and you sear it like a steak, then the Maillard reaction will make it taste quite a lot like a seared steak. As a long-time vegetarian, I had to gag when I first made it like that, because at least my body was convinced that I was biting into meat.
Yesssss! It only goes with everything! I like soaking it in broth and then mixixng it in to a mac'n'cheese recipe.
🫳
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Tofu / rice / beans are the chicken thighs (cheap meats) of vegan meals. Impossible steak-tips and such nake sense as the upper end (they're good af)
Thanks for the foundational recipe. i can certainly see the avenues on where you can take it. i’m not vegan but i have changed my diet a lot recently and i’ve seen that same effect. focused on proper portions and staples like rice and beans and my food bills go down. 350 sounds like a dream, but its gonna take a lot more discipline in my household to get there.
On this topic nobody gives a shit about tofu and beans, they care that an inferior tasting, but ecological superior product, is more expensive to the point where normal people will not or even cannot choose it en masse yet.
they care that an inferior tasting
This is such a self report. Tofu tastes great, you just haven't been around people that know how to cook it. Of course people are allowed to have different preferences but to unilaterally dismiss tofu. When it can taste like literally anything, one of one of the most versatile ingredients known to humanity, just makes you sound sheltered. I have been regularly asked if I made a non-vegan dish for the potluck because they mistook tofu for meat. It's not commonly prepared in America or Europe, but to say "normal people don't like tofu" just makes the content of Asia laugh.
Like truly, I linked recipes for a reason.
It all comes down to:
But the largest hurdle to making plant-based proteins a more viable alternative for everyone is the U.S. government’s deep investment in the status quo. Washington spends up to $38 billion subsidizing the meat and dairy industries each year, a move that keeps prices artificially low.
https://www.agriculturefairnessalliance.org/ is working on it!
Subsidize both. Make beans have negative prices!
Imagine the government paying you to not eat meat… the dream!
All the plant-based options I see in my store are cheaper than actual meat. But then, the biggest brand I see is Morningstar Farms. I don't know how much Impossible Meat is because nobody around here carries it, but I would imagine it's a bit pricey just for the name being so popular.
That’s wild. Are you in the US? I can’t think of a supermarket near me that doesn’t stock Impossible and Beyond
I am indeed in the US. The only places I can find impossible or beyond meat around here are restaurants that have those meatless options. And since Burger King was found to not actually be using the Impossible patties for the Impossible Whopper at one point, I don't trust that I've even really tried the alternative but had just been given a regular Whopper.
I don’t know how much Impossible Meat is because nobody around here carries it, but I would imagine it’s a bit pricey just for the name being so popular.
Having tried a fairly wide variety of vegan meat replacements, I personally found that Impossible meat was the most impressive. Their beef imitation is quite literally indistinguishable from the real thing. If anything, it's beefier than real ground beef. I can sometimes find it on sale at my local store for about $7 or $8 a pound, but usually it's more around $10 or $11. I always stock up on the beef or sausage when it's on sale, as my non-vegan family has fully embraced it, whereas they have been less receptive of other beef imitations (though they'll enjoy any old imitation chicken, which appears to be easier to replicate).
Who cares who can afford them, I never buy them and am somehow still vegan.
Is it? What is the overall net carbon impact in the manufacturing process? I'm all for this innovation but it's gotta be better than what we have now.
Not just transport but all processes in the supply chain after the food leaves the farm — processing, transport, retail, and packaging — mostly account for a small share of emissions.
This data shows this is the case when we look at individual food products. However, studies also show that this holds true for actual diets; for example, researchers Vilma Sandström and colleagues studied the footprint of diets across the EU. Food transport accounted for only 6% of emissions, whilst dairy, meat, and eggs accounted for 83%.