What’s holding us back?
I was listening to an episode of “How I Built This” the other day and it sparked a realization in me. “How I Built This” is an NPR podcast series hosted by Guy Raz that dives into the stories behind some of the world’s most well-known and innovative companies. The episode I was listening to was an interview with Impossible Foods founder, Pat Brown.
The realization I came to was that most companies making plant-based substitutes are marketing their products as “just like the real thing” when in reality, most aren’t. If you’re going to go out on a limb and claim that your product tastes just like the meat option, it better live up to the claim. I see this as one of the major roadblocks to the mass adoption of plant-based alternatives.
The people that are adamant about never giving up meat either 1) don’t understand the environmental impact of mass agriculture, 2) are against the plant alternatives available (or against trying), or 3) don’t care about the environmental impact.
It should be clear that the “blame” should not be put solely on the consumer. These quick, mass-produced options are provided to us at nearly every turn. The U.S. government heavily subsidizes the meat and dairy industry, so the businesses that provide the bulk of meat products make huge profits and are dependent on their supply. They choose to continue to sell and the government continues to aid the process even though they both understand the implications.
On the whole, agriculture makes up 9% of all U.S. greenhouse gas emissions. Of that, roughly two-fifths is due to livestock. This is because of the massive land and water requirement to raise the animals as well as the methane produced by their belches (mainly by cattle). An astounding 45% of the land surface of Earth is used for raising and feeding livestock.
The bottom line is: we need to eat less meat.
Now, I’m a huge fan of the meat alternatives available today. Although the texture is sometimes hit or miss, they taste great, and the range of options is really impressive. But I’m not going to try to convince myself that I am eating “meat.” The options currently available simply do not emulate the taste or texture of a burger. But there is one exception…the Impossible Burger.
Almost into his 60s, Pat Brown left his stable job as a biochemistry professor at the Stanford University School of Medicine to pursue an ambitious mission: to create delicious meat from plants. Brown was on sabbatical, deciding to reflect on how he could use his skills and experience to make the largest positive impact on the world. He realized that it was not only possible to make delicious “meat” from plants, but it was probable, and he was the one to figure it out.
Thus, Impossible Foods was born. Brown and a team of scientists, embarked on a journey to discover how to not only replicate the taste of a burger but copy the aroma it gives off while cooking it. What they found was one superstar molecule — heme.
What’s heme you ask? It’s an iron-containing molecule largely essential for life on Earth and is highly abundant in animal muscle tissue. Heme exists in our blood as well and works to grab the oxygen from our lungs and carry it throughout our bodies. In addition to doing this amazing work, it is primarily responsible for generating the unmistakable flavor and aroma of cooked meat.
Through this finding, Pat Brown realized the craving for meat is really a craving for heme.
The team at Impossible Foods got back to work figuring out the best way to scale the production of this superstar molecule. The answer they found lies in fermentation. They found that when fermented, the yeast they used produced its own heme molecules.
Impossible Foods has shown that plants can replicate meat products. They are significantly better for the environment, healthier to consume, and have the greatest chance at slowly lessening the reliance on meat in our lives.
Impossible Burgers use 96% less land, 87% less water, and emit 89% less GHG than a traditional beef burger.
One really important distinction Brown makes to critics of the health profile of Impossible products is that his team is not making kale salads. What a hilarious yet honest response. I think a lot of people expect that all plant foods are inherently “healthy.” I put this in quotes because not every food we put in our body needs to be a kale salad! We can splurge and have the occasional Impossible Burger.
The goal of the company was and is to make plant products that tasted almost indistinguishable from meat (not to make kale salads). And in Brown’s defense, and a rebuttal to his critics, Impossible’s meat alternatives are healthier than their meat counterparts.
The usual argument we hear is, “Why should I have to give up something I love?…I don’t care what anyone says, a plant can’t be a burger.” Not everyone needs to be a vegan for our planet to heal. What we do need is to rely less on meat in our lives. We need innovation in meat alternatives that actually replicate the taste, smell, and composition of meat. Impossible Foods is working to change that.
If you’ve never tried an Impossible Burger, I encourage you to give it a try. Being open to trying new things can be a tough process, especially when you’ve been misled on false claims in the past.
Impossible Foods has shown me that we really can reduce our intake of meat. And I hope it has inspired more scientists to embark on the same, uncertain journey Pat Brown took 10 years ago.
See you next time.
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