So many of the products in the vegan food market are packaged and highly processed. By 2029, that number is expected to grow to $12.9 billion US.īeyond Meat stock prices soared when they went public, too – though they have been steadily falling since 2020, for a multitude of reasons including the economy. If we’re talking meat substitutes alone, they are valued at about $5 billion US right now. One analysis of vegan meat substitutes, dairy alternatives, desserts and snacks predicted that the vegan food market will grow at 9.1% per year and will reach $24.3 billion US by 2026. The demand for vegan products is growing. Instead, we keep eating these fake meats rather than shifting to cooking with whole foods like fresh vegetables, fruits, gluten-free whole grains, nuts, seeds, beans and legumes. The problem we are facing now is the transition phase never ends: we don’t take off the training wheels. Substitutes like Beyond Meat burgers can act as a transition food to show people that plant-based foods can be tasty, make them feel more comfortable, and help them bridge the gap as they explore new foods. There is a wide chasm between eating a beef burger and fries and enjoying mung bean patties with a kale salad. Reducing consumption of animal products can be daunting, especially for heavy meat eaters or those following a standard American diet. I certainly understand why people like meat substitutes. These products are created to simulate meat or dairy, and in order to do so they undergo a lot of changes and additions. I have never been a fan of most store-bought vegan burgers, cheeses, buttery spreads and other substitutes for animal products as they are mainly processed foods containing ingredients that aren’t health-supportive. Soy was basically the plasticine of the vegan food industry, shaped into tofu burgers, tofu dogs, soy margarine and ‘chickn’ nuggets. At the time, there were a bunch of dairy-free and vegan products and most meat substitutes were made from soy and vital wheat gluten (aka seitan). You can read about everything I did here or listen to this episode of the Today Is The Day Podcast. When I began my health journey to address my diagnosis of Crohn’s disease naturally, I turned to a whole foods diet. Yes, its active component is originally derived from willow bark, but would you call Aspirin a natural remedy? Where a food originates from, and what it actually is when you’re about to bite into it are not the same thing. It’s about the same as calling Aspirin a natural remedy. It is a mash of processed plant-derived ingredients. That being said, Beyond Meat is very far removed from anything even remotely related to a living plant or whole food. I wholeheartedly believe we all need to eat more plants. The curriculum of my school, the Academy of Culinary Nutrition, is primarily focused on plant-rich eating and is inclusive of all whole-food based dietary philosophies. I aim to eat locally and consume foods with minimal packaging involved. And in the last few years, I’ve transitioned to more of a plant-rich, paleo approach while keeping sustainability at the forefront of my decisions. At times it may have fallen under the label of plant-based whole foods, vegetarian, and vegan. I have eaten all manners of ways along my health journey. They’ve got fancy packaging, extremely fancy and sophisticated marketing and are throwing around their claims of the health benefits of going vegan, and the apparent low environmental footprint of their vegan ‘meat’ products. They’ve pulled the vegan burger out from under the crunchy/hippie stereotype that has followed most vegan food around for the last thirty years. I thought it time to share my final word on Beyond Meat and answer the question: Is the Beyond Meat vegan burger healthy?īeyond Meat is positioned as the vegan burger that will save us all. But I get a lot of questions from people asking for my thoughts on Beyond Meat (or other meat substitutes) and whether it’s actually as healthy and good for the planet as the marketing and media make it out to be. I didn’t want to deal with the haters that I got when I shared facts about Arbonne, Soylent, and Nutella. I tried to avoid writing about the Beyond Meat burgers.
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