Comments

1

I checked out that Carl's Jr.'s menu nutrition info for their famous star with cheese (meat) and their beyond famous star with cheese (plant).

Somehow the plant based burger has more calories, more fat, and more carbohydrates than the meat based one, even though they've got the same toppings on each. It's not a huge difference, but still, the meat based one is technically better for you nutritionally than the plant based one. The plant based one also has more protein which seems odd.

2

It's never been easier to go vegetarian. In my book there are three reasons to go veggie: (1) personal health, (2) animal welfare and (3) mother earth. While @1's comment about which is healthier may be true, that's only one out of three.

Also, fwiw, the Beyond Burger is far superior to the Impossible Burger.

3

@1,

I'm dubious of the claim that a beef burger is better for you based on it's having less calories, fat and carbs, all three of which are necessary and healthy, albeit in some degree of moderation of course. The beef is also going to have cholesterol, which would seem to me to maybe/possibly(?) a better overall indicator of "healthiness", inasmuch as any such assessment might be made about something with so many variable elements to it. Just my $.02, and I eat beef occasionally, so no real agenda to speak of.

4

@1 You'll probably be interested in this:
https://www.mensjournal.com/food-drink/great-veggie-burgers-are-here-but-are-they-any-healthier-w449490/

To summarize, both somewhat unhealthy and should be treated as a guilty pleasure. The plant-based burger has zero cholesterol and none of the risks specific to eating red meat (colorectal, et al), but has 5 times the sodium and comparable saturated fat (from coconut oil). There's also an ethical argument to make for plant-based foods one could make, of course.

Also, if those aren't actors I'll go fucking vegan.

5

I bet they cost $7 or more. We'll see a divide emerge between those who can afford their fast food vegetarian, and those who can only afford low-quality processed meat.

I had always guessed the reverse would occur; that in another 20 years, when beef becomes a scarce luxury item, I'd be sitting down at the nursing home to flavored insect and grub loaf. But perhaps only the financially secure will be eating "responsibly green", while the rest of us folk get the bleach-washed hormone soaked beef slurry.

Glad I'm a home cook, because it's much cheaper to buy and cook your own vegetables that don't mimic meat.

6

@5 Prices vary in different markets but they said it will cost $1 more than the standard beef Whopper.

Your prediction, albeit in a less dystopian form, could come true one day—it's not impossible to imagine a day when plant-based meats were preferred by consumers and out-scalled factory farming (probably in conjunction with regulations making large-scale dairy farming prohibitively expensive.. a lot of ifs there). Probably not in the foreseeable future but I can imagine beef as a niche luxury item.

7

*out-scale

9

I'd say the overall benefit of going with the plant based burger is that it's ultimately better for the environment and more sustainable, and it has the huge benefit of not killing an animal.

Nutritionally, the meat one is arguably slightly better... arguably... but it's an almost negligible difference. And really... if you're concerned about nutrition, just skip the fast foot altogether.

And @8, I agree, though if McDonald's hasn't been doing R&D on various veggie burgers for the last few years, I'd be pretty shocked.

10

Dave, White Castle has had Impossible Burgers (technically Impossible Sliders) since last year. Yes, I get that there's no White Castle on Capitol Hill (or all of Washington) so they're not on your radar, but it wouldn't hurt to research the topic.

11

So, Dave Segal is the one person on the face of the planet that still believes the "real people, not actors" schtick in commercials, then. Based on the tone of this post... yeah, I can believe that.

12

Can't really rationalize plant based burgers when they are currently more expensive and not any healthier than delicious meat burgers.

As a general note, people need to get out of this 70's-80's fitness mentality that says meat is not that good for you, and fat and cholesterol need to be avoided at all costs.

That nonsense is what made everyone shift over to eating tons of carbohydrates and look at us now.

Meat is good for you, fat is good for you. Sugar and flour make you fat, bloated, and give you heart disease and diabetes. Your overall cholesterol is not as important in regards to cardiac health as how much damage you have done to your circulatory system from the cycle of inflammation and insulin oversaturation that we see with the high sugar/carbohydrate diet that is so popular in America.

Eat more fat, eat less carbs. A burger patty is so much better for you than any pasta/rice/bread thing you can think of.

13

@12, is exactly right. The unhealthiest thing about either the meat or plant burger is the bun.

14

Gimme whichever tastes better.

15

Burger King offered a plant-based burger back in the late ninties. I'm glad they are giving it another go.


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