Going Beyond the Impossible:

Alternative Meats and What they Mean for the Future of Food

The alternative meat craze used to be nothing more than faux approximations, dominated by the likes of veggie burgers, chick’n, and the dreaded Tofurky. Of the many vegetarian and vegan meat derivatives, most have at-best been able to assume the shape of what they are aiming to replicate, with little in the realm of taste. It’s a wonder that these products exist at all, given their lack of appeal to both  avid meat-eaters and recent but still guilt-ridden converts alike. By those accounts, these products are failing to act as replacements for the general public’s gastronomical craving for meat. More importantly, they are failing to achieve the long-term goal of the alternative meat movement—to do away with factory farming.

Despite its dominion over 99% of all animal products, factory farming is far from the ideal direction for agriculture to be going. Ignoring the countless daily acts of cruel treatment and hellish half-lives suffered and experienced by the animals on these farms, this standard of production poses even greater risks beyond the animal rights concerns. In its continual expansion towards quantity over any semblance of quality, the factory farming industry has had a direct and adverse effect on the environment. The sheer volume of contaminants being released into the air, water, and oil have resulted in widespread pollution, and will only continue to do so as this industry continues to operate. Besides this, the unsanitary conditions of the (deformed and drug-laced) animals have also contributed to the development of new pathogens, a trend that will only worsen as time goes on. To approach these problems on a grand scale is to move towards phasing out this industry entirely.    

These days plant-based meat substitutes are worth talking about more than ever. They present a positive alternative to the endless negatives of factory farms, ideally doing so by addressing market demand. Their growing presence and importance is no longer just a fad. There are now two competing companies at the forefront of the plant-based alternative meat market, whose products have gained enough popularity to enter the mainstream. These are Beyond Meat and Impossible Foods.

Beyond Meat was founded as a start-up by CEO Ethan Brown in 2009. In 2012 the company’s initial line of products became available across the United States. By 2013, PETA named Brown’s company as its company of the year. As of 2020, Beyond Meat products are widely available in most domestic grocery stores in addition to being served at a variety of restaurant chains and venues. 

According to the company website, Beyond’s mission is: “to create The Future of Protein® – delicious plant-based burgers, beef, sausage, crumbles, and more. By shifting from animal to plant-based meat, we can address four growing global issues: human health, climate change, constraints on natural resources, and animal welfare.” The goal is certainly noble, and given the issues which it addresses, worth examining. 

Brown and his company have fair claim to the latter three goals of their mission statement. Regarding its effect on the environment, the Center for Sustainable Systems at University of Michigan ran a life cycle assessment for the Beyond Burger, “a plant-based patty designed to look, cook, and taste like fresh ground beef,” in 2018. The assessment compared the overall environmental impact that the production of a single Beyond Burger  would have to  a ¼ pound U.S. beef burger. The Center found that the then-system generated 90% less greenhouse gas emissions and required 46% less energy, having >99% less impact on water scarcity and 93% less impact on land usage. It is worth considering that the company’s products are still highly-processed, meaning that the production of any Beyond Meat product (namely the production of its dominant ingredients) does invariably contribute to resource usage in some way. That being said, Beyond Meat products, being vegan, are without a doubt animal friendly. 

As for the health concerns, nutritionists and vocal vegans alike have expressed a level of backlash to the company’s perception as creating “health food.” Despite the assumptions that come with being vegan, the average Beyond product is not meant to be an everyday meal. While certainly rich in protein, the highly-processed nature of these meat replacements results in a comparably high level of saturated fats (for burgers in particular) as well as sodium (used for both flavor and as a preservative). Then again, it’s not as if any doctor has recommended eating beef patties regularly either.

Impossible Foods was founded in 2011 by Patrick O. Brown. Following a five-year research and development period, the company launched its signature product, the Impossible Burger. Opposite to Beyond before it, the company’s products can primarily be found in restaurants, with their availability at retail locations limited to a select few stores in the U.S. as of 2020.  

There is a lot of overlap between Impossible and Beyond. Both companies are attempting to normalize vegan, plant-based meat alternatives and both have garnered the most attention for their respective line of burger products. As far as ingredients are concerned, Beyond uses a blend of pea, mung bean, fava bean, and brown rice proteins, whereas Impossible uses soy and potato proteins. Although Beyond uses beet juice extract in its patties to emulate the hue of meat, Impossible has been favored to taste much more closely to actual meat due to the inclusion of heme (an iron ion) in its patties. However, this improvement in taste was ultimately the result of animal testing on rats, something that the company does regretfully admit to performing in order to guarantee the safety of its products for human consumption.   

Impossible burgers also notably contain 2350% daily value of Thiamin (vitamin B1), which while deemed safe in such quantities, could have adverse effects, despite a lack of reports. Impossible Food products are comparably high in sodium, saturated fats, and carbohydrates to Beyond Meat’s, though the former company does use GMOs in their food, unlike the latter. All of the Impossible products are FDA-approved, though the effects of long-term consumption still remain unknown.

The public reception of these products remains varied. Within the food community, questions of health have been at the forefront of criticisms directed at both Beyond Meat and Impossible Foods. To that effect, there is no debate on whether or not these companies’ products provide for a healthy diet when consumed regularly. The companies themselves don’t even tout this message. While the confusion is understandable (Burger King heavily advertising its Impossible Whopper does seem antithetical to the perceived vegan aesthetic), this was never a matter of health food. Both of the companies and the movement surrounding them have always been about replacing the meat industry. 

This is why certain grocery stores include these products in their meat sections. These aren’t products for practicing vegans, who are ideally satisfied with their existing diets. These products are meant to convert meat-eaters. There’s a reason that media buzz focuses solely on each companies' respective burger products. It’s the same reason that the companies themselves advertise how “meat-like” their substitutes are. Because they are, in fact, substitutes. Regardless of their newfound fast food associations or the small crowd of misinterpreting dissenters, it seems by all accounts that each of these companies means well in terms of their shared goal. As with all movements during their baby steps, the backlash is inevitable, the future is uncertain, but with any luck, these companies are heralding a newer, better future for us—and a tasty one no less.