Last year we lived through the fake news fiasco. Now it appears we’re going to have to go through a period of fake meat. Believe it or not, the folks who are producing meat-alternative products are willingly calling their products “fake meat.” I don’t know if that’s good marketing strategy or not, but what do I know is that USDA just announced that Americans will have more meat available to them than ever before.
However, the fake meat industry is moving full steam ahead. Burgers seem to be the product of choice made from a host of vegetable ingredients. It’s kind of ironic that when you Google the word “burger,” all the top searches come back as beef hamburgers. When you go to the dictionary and look up the word “burger,” the first definition is a meat-based patty. Then secondary definitions go to soy burgers and veggie burgers and such. I’ve often wondered if the term burger should be the rightful domain of the beef hamburger.
The dairy industry has been going to battle over a host of products known as “milk.” Almond milk, rice milk, soy milk—I think they have a strong case since the only place milk comes from is a cow, or a female mammal. Milk can’t possibly come from an almond, but there they are in the dairy case, and meat-like products close to the meat case. Perhaps they deserve their own portion of the grocery store called The Fake Food aisle.
This situation has gone to the level where the dairy industry is looking for regulatory relief from USDA. A group of congressmen led by Rep. Sean Duffy (R-WI) has advanced legislation that would require the Food and Drug Administration to take enforcement action against manufacturers labeling plant-based beverages milk. Duffy said, “You can’t milk an almond. That’s why I urge the FDA to clarify and enforce the definition of milk they already have on the books—milk comes from cows! Wisconsin dairy farmers and consumers across the country deserve this important clarification.”
I understand that there is a certain segment of the population that has food intolerances and I’ve recently learned that many of them are very ethnic in nature. It’s great that they have these food alternatives available to them.
But are some of these new products piggy-backing on the success of well-established food products that have withstood the test of time—very long time—and have earned their gold stars in consumers’ minds? These various plant-based types of imitation milk have absolutely tagged along on the success of the dairy industry, and in my opinion, shouldn’t be called milk. I’ve tried almond milk; it tastes nothing like milk because it isn’t. Just last week the National Milk Producers’ Association kicked out a news release calling for regulators to enforce action against a company producing almond milk-based yogurt.
Food manufacturers have gotten to the point where they get their team of scientists together and give them a commodity byproduct and say make us a usable food product we can sell and get value that we don’t have to develop a new market for. Something that sounds good to consumers but something we can just add to the yogurt case, which is already crowded beyond belief.
The same when it comes to burgers. Burgers are still the domain of the beef industry, but the veggie guys are coming on fast. Their marketing materials always say it tastes almost like you’re eating the real thing. And about the only real difference I can see is that beef has a lot of cholesterol. If that’s your issue, consider that veggie burgers have tons of sodium—400 milligrams—so that’s a heart stopper too. These things aren’t health food by their own admission.
One of the newer veggie burgers on the market is “Impossible Burger” and they say they taste just like the real thing. But their marketing efforts fall into the typical organic frenzy of fear, and their website states: “According to livestock researchers, animal agriculture uses 30 percent of all land, over 25 percent of all fresh water on Earth, and creates as much greenhouse gas emissions as all the world’s cars, trucks, trains, ships, airplanes combined. We make the Impossible Burger entirely from plants without the destructive impact of livestock so that you, your children and your grandchildren’s children will always enjoy a good ol’ fashioned burger.”
Do we have room for fake food? Give us your thoughts. — PETE CROW
