Climate Denial Crock of the Week

Washington Post:

Burger King, whose quarter-pound Whopper pushed its competitors a half-century ago to create their own two-fisted hamburgers, now plans to roll out a vegetarian version of its signature sandwich, relying on plant-based patties developed by San Francisco Bay area start-up Impossible Foods. The Impossible Whopper will be introduced this week at Burger King restaurants in the St. Louis area — in the very state that last year banned the use of the term “meat”for any vegetarian or cell-based substitutes for animal-raised meats.

No, this is not an April Fools’ Day joke. In fact, Burger King’s plan could be the impetus that motivates the highly competitive fast-food burger industry to push for more meat alternatives at a time when beef production has raised countless alarm bells for its contributions to methane production and climate change.

A Burger King spokesman told the New York Times that if the Impossible Whopper succeeds in the Show Me State, the company will expand distribution to all 7,200 restaurants nationwide. Such a move would make the chain the undisputed king of the fake-meat burger. White Castle sells an Impossible Slider at its 370-plus locations. Red Robin has just introduced an Impossible Cheeseburger at its 570 locations, and this year Carl’s Jr. rolled out the Beyond Famous Star, a vegetarian version of its signature burger featuring a plant-based patty from Beyond Meat, at more than 1,000 locations.

But Burger King will have a few difficult tests to pass before deciding to expand the Impossible Whopper to locations across the country. For starters, the veg version will cost nearly a dollar more than the original Whopper, a significant increase in the price-sensitive fast-food market. The Impossible Whopper will also have to deal with consumer skepticism as larger companies move into the meat alternatives market. What’s more, Impossible Foods took heat last year from People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals for the start-up’s seemingly contradictory stance on animals: Impossible Foods wants to save the lives of countless livestock, but the company simultaneously tests the heme molecule — which is responsible for the “beefy” taste of the vegetarian patty — on laboratory rats.

NPR:

GODOY: Well, there’s, like, growing concern about the environmental toll of meat production, specifically red meat production. And so both of these companies have a report suggesting that the greenhouse gas emissions that they put out are about 87 to 90 percent less from the time they’re made to distributed than it would be with a conventional beef patty.

MARTIN: Wow.

GODOY: Yeah.

MARTIN: So that’s a big difference.

GODOY: It is a big difference.

MARTIN: What’s the price point?

GODOY: So these are expensive. They’re $3 a patty, which translates to about $12 a pound.

MARTIN: Whew.

GODOY: Right. So that’s a lot more than you’re going to pay even for grass-fed, organic, you know, beef at the supermarket.

MARTIN: Right. I imagine there are people who are still developing new kinds of meat substitutes. Right?

GODOY: Yeah. Well, the interesting thing is, it’s not just meat substitutes. There’s actually people who are looking at the molecules that make up things like cow’s milk and trying to make yogurt, like, vegan and vegetarian yogurt that is the tastier and has that texture…

MARTIN: Yeah.

GODOY: …By breaking down the biochemical properties of cow’s milk. And, you know, there’s also people who are using plant-based seafood. There’s actually plant-based tuna out there that’s being sold next to regular tuna pouches…

MARTIN: Really?

GODOY: …In grocery stores. And plant-based crab cakes and fish sticks. And then further out, there’s something called lab-grown meat.

MARTIN: Lab-grown meat?

GODOY: Yeah (laughter). Or, you know, they call it cellular agriculture or clean meat. But, basically, the idea is you’re taking animal tissue and putting it in a bioreactor and feeding it a bunch of nutrients to get meat. And it’s not just red meat. I mean, they’re looking at poultry and fish, too. It sounds very sci fi, but it’s real. The technology has been out there for almost six years, and people are just now trying to work to get it to a scale where it’s affordable. When it first debuted in 2013, a burger cost $330,000 to make.

MARTIN: Wait. What?

GODOY: Yeah. And now they’re trying to get that to a scale where you could buy it one day. I mean, we’re still several years off from that, I think.

MARTIN: Finally, the burgers were ready and it was time to dig in.

(SOUNDBITE OF DISHES CLATTERING)

MARTIN: OK. Here we go.

GODOY: You know, it’s interesting. They both have about 20 grams of protein per patty, which is about the same as a, like, 4-ounce patty of beef. The big difference is…

MARTIN: Protein.

GODOY: Yeah. The big difference is they don’t have any cholesterol.

MARTIN: Now this is good ’cause now we can see the inside of it.

GODOY: Look at that. OK. So that’s the Beyond, and it still has that – let’s see how…

MARTIN: Looks pretty meaty.

GODOY: Let’s see if it’s – if we over or under-cooked it. Ready?

MARTIN: OK.

GODOY: Dig in. Bon appetit.

MARTIN: Needs more salt.

GODOY: Yeah. Needs more salt.

MARTIN: Doesn’t it?

GODOY: But it’s – I could get the meat…

MARTIN: It’s fine. It’s not bad.

GODOY: No. It’s not bad. I wonder if we could’ve made it a little bit – maybe cooked it a little longer. But I don’t know. It’s a little pink inside.

MARTIN: It’s…

GODOY: Even though I like my burgers…

MARTIN: Right.

GODOY: …A little pink. Yeah.

MARTIN: I still can’t get over – like, it’s not a burger.

GODOY: (Laughter).

MARTIN: It’s, like – it’s a fake burger.

GODOY: But it’s not bad. It’s not bad. I would eat it.

MARTIN: No. It is. It’s fine. It’s just, like, visually, I’m still getting my head around it. OK.

GODOY: Let’s try the Impossible.

MARTIN: Let’s try the other one.

GODOY: OK.

MARTIN: What do you think?

GODOY: I like the crispy exterior.

MARTIN: I know.

GODOY: (Laughter). It’s good, right?

MARTIN: We thought we burned it, but I sort of like it.

GODOY: No. I do, too. It’s, like – it adds to the texture.

MARTIN: But I have to say, I don’t even taste the burger.

GODOY: Really?

MARTIN: Yeah. I don’t know. It replicates the burger experience, for sure.

GODOY: Yeah. It does. Doesn’t it?

MARTIN: Mmm hmm.

GODOY: It’s funny, I was going to say we covered it in condiments so you can’t taste the burger. But that’s what my daughter does with, like, burgers.

MARTIN: I know. It’s true. And this one is way, way more realistic. This looks like a burger. When you put all the fixings on it, it totally tastes like a burger. I mean, my kid, who is a connoisseur of hamburgers, I feel like, would eat this burger.