Are Plant-Based Burgers too Processed?

I shopped at Costco last week. As I waited in line for my sanitized cart I read the whiteboard sign listing what products are out of stock, which are newly restocked, and, in bold letters, the new store policy that customers must wear masks to enter the store. (On a side note: Apparently some people feel wearing a mask violates their “freedom.” The freedom to do whatever you want, regardless of putting others at risk? Let’s all just wear the masks. Please.)

Walking through the warehouse these days feels a bit like a scene out of Red Dawn, or Handmaid’s Tale. No one speaks. Heads down, stand aside. Get your items and move along. No chitchat, no samples. But they’ve got avocados! Blessed be the fruit. Chunky peanut butter, gallon-size? Praise be. In the frozen foods section I heard a woman squeal to no one in particular, “Wow!! This is a great deal!” and grab a pack of something from the shelf. I waited politely, then sidled my cart up to the window. Eight Beyond Meat plant-based burgers for $15? Sold.

President Trump recently ordered meat processing plants to stay open despite and amidst rising cases of Covid-19 at factories in Colorado, Iowa, Nebraska, Indiana, and Washington state – and these are just the outbreaks that have been reported. Other states refuse to share information or haphazardly allow workers to be tested. Overall meat production is down and prices are rising; some fast food restaurants are even out of burgers altogether. “Where’s the beef?” indeed.

Even before the current crisis the popularity of plant-based burgers has been on the rise. More and more Americans are trying out Impossible Whoppers and Beyond Meat burgers – exciting options for those transitioning away from meat-heavy diets. Further, in the midst of a pandemic that most likely originated in a wet animal market, people are increasingly “veg-curious” and reaching for plant-based alternatives.

You’ll hear criticism, however, from those still squarely on the meat-train: “Plant-based burgers are so processed! Real meat is natural.” Okay. First of all, some stats about modern meat: 70% of grain produced in the U.S. (mostly GMO corn and soy) goes to feed livestock, and about 60% of the world’s agricultural land is used to produce meat for human consumption –yet this factory farmed meat accounts for less than 2% of total calories consumed by people. At least thirty pounds of genetically-modified corn and soy (in addition to growth hormones and antibiotics) go into the making of a regular hamburger – the cost of which is kept ridiculously low by an extremely powerful meat industry. This is in addition to the massive environmental “hoofprint” left behind by modern factory farming in the form of water pollution, unsatisfactory waste treatment facilities, and encroachment into other species’ environments. (The continuing destruction of milkweed, for example, the main food for Monarch butterflies, has caused their populations to decline by 90% in recent years.) So no, unless you consider pesticides, artificial hormones, factory-made antibiotics, and slaughterhouses “natural,” that Big Mac is anything but.

What about grass-fed beef — isn’t this more natural? Yes, but even if we could transition from CAFOs (Concentrated Animal Feedlot Operations) to smaller and more varied, sustainable farms, there is not enough land available to meet current beef consumption in the US with grass-fed beef; cattle simply need too much land for grazing.

By comparison, the new plant-based burgers use less than 8 ounces of (GM) soy per burger — far less farm land than what is required to create a beef patty and minus the hormones, antibiotics, parasites, and bacteria always threatening to launch the next meat-borne illness. Plant-based burgers also have less saturated fat and the same amount of protein as a hamburger. Is it a natural food? Nope. And that is fine with me because even plant-based burgers should be an occasional treat. I would no more buy my kids Impossible Whoppers every day than I would order them chicken nuggets or fish fillet sandwiches because they are not health foods. I believe meat, in whatever form, should not be consumed at every meal, and that its price should reflect the process, labor, and sacrifices required to bring that food to your plate.

The new plant-based burgers are an occasional treat for vegetarians who enjoy the taste of meat and a great alternative for those trying to lessen their meat consumption or who eat fast food on a regular basis. Many fast food places are offering their own takes on either Impossible Burgers or Beyond Meat patties  – check them out and let me know which you like best!

 

We’re in Crisis: Let’s Rethink Our Food Supply

I’ve been thinking this week about transparency. About windows and walls, glass and wood, masks and plastic. What we see, and what is hidden. We are all trying to cope, trying to connect, clutching at meaning and clarity even as the future seems impossibly murky.  I’m no conspiracy theorist, but when people warn me that in the future those in power will try to gaslight us into forgetting the fear and uncertainty of this time by pressing products and familiar patterns of consumption onto us? It makes sense. Believe me, I am also pulled toward amnesia. I miss my old life. I want things to go back to normal.

But here’s the thing: normal is relative, and – when you’re living in a society with glaring, devastating problems – we should not want to mindlessly return to what was before. If we have learned anything from this pandemic, it is that our health is irreplaceable. It is also clear that many of the systems in this nation are at a breaking point; we are failing our most vulnerable. Rather than bury our heads 6 feet apart in the sand (taking wine and Netflix with us, of course) and wait for this to just go away, we must thoughtfully rethink the systems that got us here in the first place and see this as an opportunity to do better.

Our food system is an industrialized, centralized behemoth, a chain so interconnected that when one part breaks down it affects all others – a process we are seeing develop in real time. Food laborers are considered essential workers but placed at higher risk for contracting and dying from Covid-19; migrant workers’ wages are being cut and they are living in cramped, unsafe quarters; meat-packing plants are closing; and millions line up at food banks daily while farmers from Florida to Idaho destroy staggering amounts of fresh foods they can no longer sell (3.7 million gallons of milk a day, 750,000 eggs per week, and entire fields of vegetables — “an especially dystopian turn of events,” New York Times, April 11, 2020).

A large part of the problem is animal agriculture. This is not just about supply lines and higher food prices – the immediate effects we’re feeling during a pandemic – it’s about life and death. Covid-19, swine flu, avian flu – these are zoonotic diseases, meaning they originated in animals and jumped to humans. Aside from the constant threat of new diseases, factory farms produce unbelievable amounts of land and water polluting waste as they process and distribute antibiotic and hormone laced meats. (And I’m not even getting into the suffering of animals!) When is the last time you saw an advertisement for broccoli? Why does an organic apple cost more than a hamburger? Thirty-eight billion v. seventeen million: this is the difference between the amount our government subsidizes the meat and dairy industry annually compared to subsidies for the production of fresh fruits and vegetables. For most of human history meat was a special occasion food and the price of eating it more closely matched the effort and sacrifice required to procure it. Our current system of depending on massive slaughterhouses, or concentrated animal feedlot operations (CAFOs) is, simply, unsustainable and untenable. We’ve got to think of new ways to produce healthy and safe food.

Writers like Raj Patel (Stuffed and Starved) argue that industrial agriculture is not the only way to feed the world. As is hopefully clear by now, the entire system is fragile. We need to think creatively and invest in smaller, regional, more diverse networks of agriculture which are more resilient and healthier in every way. Smaller farm operations around the nation are stepping up right now, and we need to find ways to support them when this crisis ends.

A new bill proposed by Senator Cory Booker, the Farm System Reform Act of 2019, is a good start. The new law would phase out factory farming by 2040 and support regional food hubs, bringing much needed new jobs and revenue to rural communities. (Read more about it and send a message to your legislators, voicing your support: https://www.congress.gov/bill/116th-congress/senate-bill/3221/text)

We are facing serious challenges. Let’s use this time as an opportunity to rework the way we structure our food system, including the treatment of food workers and the animals we have become so accustomed to exploiting.

Food in the Time of Corona: Links Between Meat & Infectious Disease

Every time I read a new update on the spread of COVID-19 I instinctively reach for my forehead (stop touching your face!) and take a deep breath, listening intently for wheezy or raspy sounds coming from my lungs. All clear, for now. But that doesn’t mean I am not already carrying the latest viral scourge to threaten humanity – many have tested positive with absolutely no symptoms.

Yesterday was my son’s 10th birthday. He is obsessed with all things space and requested weeks ago that I make him (“no store bought cake this year, mom!”) a galaxy cake and homemade planetary pizzas. The plan was to have all of his friends over, go to the rock climbing gym, eat a gross amount, play games, and watch a space documentary. Of course – with the exception of eating a gross amount and the creation of a pretty badass galaxy cake (if I do say so myself) – none of those plans transpired. He cried himself to sleep on his birthday eve, but by the morning had rallied, and with promises of a make-up birthday party as soon as things are “back to normal” we had a fun day together. My ever-curious daughter, meanwhile, has been peppering me with questions. “Why does Trump keep calling this the ‘China virus’? Where exactly does it come from? Is it like the pandemic of 1918? Does it have anything to do with what we eat?” (She knows this is a great question to get me talking…)

Experts have been saying for years that the next ‘big one’ – the next pandemic – was just a matter of time. (We were sitting ducks, so to speak.) They also believed that the most likely culprit would be a virus, and more specifically, a zoonotic disease – one that first jumps from animals to humans, and then, after a few transmissions, from human to human. Further, they predicted it would – like more than 75% of all infectious diseases, including SARS, the Black death, Spanish flu, and HIV  – originate within wild animal populations such as bats, birds, or monkeys and then spread to people, a “spillover event.” And here we are, living through the spill. Don’t you feel special??

ZOONOTIC DISEASES

As human populations increased dramatically with the industrial revolution of the late eighteenth and early nineteenth century, our systems of food production transformed. Rapid urbanization and mass-production of various goods in America democratized meat for the first time in human history. No longer was meat a special occasion food; it was now inexpensive and abundant enough for people to consume it daily.

Diseases accompanied human and animal migrations — and decimated indigenous populations from the Americas to Australia. In the twentieth century, with densely populated megacities and global networks connected by easy travel, diseases acquired easier and more international itineraries – and access to hosts with little to no immunity.  Further, in recent decades the U.S. exported the “Western” diet around the world, and developing nations rushed to keep up the production of cheap meats – and this pattern has only increased in recent decades, particularly in Southeast Asia. To keep up with this demand, 150 billion animals are slaughtered globally each year, which places more humans into close contact with livestock – one of the major sources of influenza viruses. H1N1 outbreaks in 1918 and 2009 probably originated in chicken and pig populations, for example. The vast majority of meat consumed today is from these domesticated, factory-farmed animals, pumped full of antibiotics and growth hormones and regularly tested for disease by government inspectors. It is a legitimate fear that our meat supply will lead to widespread antibiotic resistance and adversely affect the treatment of secondary bacterial infections caused by other illnesses.

COVID-19, however, is viral, not bacterial, so antibiotics can’t help us out of this mess. Futher, while coronavirus – like other viruses- also originates from animals, it was born out of the consumption of and proximity to wild animals, not domesticated.

 

Coming into contact with infected wild animals, whether via bushmeat or wet markets,  has led to several modern outbreaks — including our new acquaintance, the novel coronavirus. Here’s how it works: A bat – probably extremely stressed out due to loss of habitat or being hunted – can pass along a “viral load” (it is seriously called this, don’t shoot the messenger) in its droppings, which might land on a piece of fruit. Another wild animal comes along, say a pangolin, and consumes the fruit, then this poor chap is trapped and later sold at the market. Game on. Unfortunately, there is still a huge market for sometimes illegally hunted animals around the world. Pheasants, marmots, large cats, bats, porcupines, hedgehogs, ostriches, civets, dogs — these, along with all kinds of other animals, are slaughtered in front of  customers in wet markets, or rather were until China recently banned all such markets.

WHAT CAN WE DO?

While I would love to see factory farms and slaughter houses – literal breeding grounds for infectious bacteria – closed down as well, it is unfair to blame people who eat fast food, shop at outdoor markets, or, more broadly, all of China for the current pandemic. Remember that food choices are largely dependent on history, migration, geography and cultural practice; what one person finds delightful someone else deems disgusting. In addition, as human populations grow, they encroach into the natural habitats of wild animals – areas that historically keep their viruses to themselves. Who knows? — Maybe this virus will be a gift to animals worldwide – maybe over the next few months their habitats will have a chance to heal a bit, perhaps some factory farms will close? What I do know for certain is that now is the time for us to follow recommended guidelines and collectively hold each other close – from a safe distance of six feet, of course. Be safe, and stay well.