In the last 2 years, fake meat companies such as Beyond Meat stood center stage in the media. They were the answer to feed the world and save the environment. All nonsense. 

It’s going to make us worse off.

I’m sure I don’t have to convince you about eating fake meat. For goodness sake you eat liver.

But it’s good to understand why fake meat shouldn’t be on anyone’s radar. And why meat, especially from regenerative/sustainable farming methods is the healthier option. 

It it boils down to 2 main factors: Mono-Crops and Nutrition Retention (aka bioavailability).

Below is a short list to show why:

1. Fake meat ingredients do more damage to our ecosystem. The main ingredients, Pea Protein and Canola Oil are mono-crops.

2. Mono-cropping ruins the soil’s nutrient diversity and ecosystem through tilling, pesticides and fertilizers.

3. Mono-cropping destroys the environment beyond its borders  with water pollution from run offs and air pollution by transporting crops in larger volumes compared to meat.

4. Mono-cropping uses more drinking water than cattle. Cattle overall uses more water, but most of it comes from plants they eat from areas on the farm that are not ideal to grow crops. It’s drinking water usage that important, not overall water usage.

5. Overall it take more energy to maintain mono-crops versus meat.

Are you getting any nutrition? 

Have you ever read a fake meat label? 

Take a look below:

Is there anything in there that says, “Wow, I’m getting healthy!”

A 2022 New Zealand study compared red meat and beyond meat to determine which increased amino acids in 30 (20 - 34 year old) healthy males.

The body uses amino acids to make proteins.

I will admit this is a small study to generalize the results. But it gives insights and a starting point to assess if fake meat is a public good or nuisance.

The experiment showed red meat exhibited higher amino acids compared to beyond meat. On average, about 50% higher.

So what’s so great about fake meat?

You’re all on the right journey to incorporate meat and organ meat into your diet. You’re getting more nutrition while causing less environmental harm than fake meat.