So I think everyone should be at least somewhat excited about this. While I'm not a big fan of meat substitutes myself, this one has been getting rave reviews, and supposedly lacks the artificial, chemically taste and texture that they often have. It is only in California Whole Foods stores right now, but it's just a matter of time before it spreads like wildfire.

http://beyondmeat.com/

But it contains soy, I can't have soy.

It looks like they have only one product right now ("chicken" strips). The ingredients on the website are as follows:

"Water, Soy Protein Isolate, Pea Protein Isolate, Amaranth, Chicken Flavor (Maltodextrin, Yeast Extract, Natural Flavoring), Soy Fiber, Carrot Fiber, Expeller-Pressed Canola Oil, Dipotassium Phosphate, Titanium Dioxide, White Vinegar"

I might be off, but stuff like "Natural Flavorings", Dipotassium Phosphate, and Titanium Dioxide sound pretty processed to me, so I'm not sure just what is going to set this product apart from others. You mentioned that the taste and texture is not as "artificial" or "chemical" as other products. Does that mean the product supposedly resembled "real" chicken more than the others?

I'm just a little dubious. I'm also not a big fan of vegetarian processed foods (mainly because they're processed so highly) and my take on it is, if you're looking for a vegetarian product that "tastes exactly like chicken/hamburger/turkey/etc", then you need to be eating the real thing. Vegetarian products will never taste just like meat products and I don't know that people who go vegetarian really are looking for that (I know that I'm not - the taste of meat just doesn't appeal to me, never has). I agree that something like this product might help people in transition a lot, though.

Not criticizing you, stunzorz, just bringing in my opinion of the product .

Tam

No worries, I haven't eaten it myself, so I can't really speak to its tastiness. I think it obviously isn't going to be a product that can have an ingredient label like "soy, magic vegan rainbow protein" seeing as it IS trying to mimic meat in texture and probably flavor as well, which is going to require some voodoo, but the reviews of it have given it some pretty high praise as far as being able to mimic the real thing, especially with the way it apparently flakes and pulls like meat. (I'm mostly excited for the texture, since that is what turns me off of most imitation meat products). Also, the company has said it is working on non soy based products as well. Huzzah

As a non-vegetarian wanting lower-carb protein options besides meat, I would try it, but if it tastes and feels too much like the "real thing," my concern would be that wanna-be-vegetarians would live on the stuff - and that's the real problem with soy.

Moderate soy intake from not-so-processed soy foods (like edamam or a dash of soy sauce) doesn't seem to be a health risk, but daily use of soy - especially of several servings of concentrated soy foods (such as in soymilk and soy proteins) is implicated by research in some significant health problems.

The American way seems to be that "if a little once in a while is good, then boatloads full every day is even better."

I'm mostly vegetarian (I eat vegan 90% of the time, but I'd eat anything as long as it's truly incredible) and I don't think any meat substitutes are worth it. If you like the taste of meat, eat high quality meat every now and then. If you want meat-free protein, then eat vegetables, nuts, and legumes. The best things is always to eat whole, REALLY unprocessed food.

And in response to kaplods: there are many American ways.

I am pretty excited about this product! I am vegan for ethical reasons and hope that a product like this will replace some of the meat that is purchased and consumed, thus reducing the "need" for production of meat products. Can't wait to try it!

I eat 95% plants. Once in a while I'll have fish or meat or dairy.

I'm not so into meat substitutes. I'd rather do a broccoli steak (yum!), beans, rice, etc. One reason is that I cannot afford it. The fake meat is just so expensive, especially when marketed as a health food.

It's like the companies go, "You want to be healthy that bad? Fine, PAY for it."

I prefer things I can make myself on the cheap, like lentil loaf, bean burgers, etc. Every once in a while I buy one of my fav garden burgers, but that's about it. Even then it's not fake meat so much as veggies smooshed together and fried. Healthy? Not so much. Tasty? Oh yeah.

In conclusion: I like trying fake meats. I cannot afford to live on them, nor do I have the inclination.

I am also vegan for ethical reasons and I don't think most people really get the philosophy behind a vegan lifestyle. It's not just about diet. It's done to give every living creature the right to enjoy the earth and their surroundings as much as you do, with as little human interference as possible. Sorry, didn't mean to rant. "Fake" meats seem to be products that help newer vegans make the break from eating meat. Usually, if you are really into this lifestyle, eventually the need for them all but disappears. But, you have to give it time and learn to really enjoy the taste of real, unprocessed foods and you will stop craving all the processed crap that our diets are full of.

I agree that a whole foods lifestyle is definitely more desirable, and overall, more enjoyable. Still, I love variety and treats in my diet, and I know that my vegans friends (I'm not personally a vegan, more of a sympathetic sometimes one who seeks out vegan restaurants for them ) do, too. I think this would be a fun thing to try in a traditionally meat-based recipe, just to see if it could convincingly replace the meat. I'm thinking some BBQ pulled "Beyond chicken" would be epic. Or breaded chicken marinara sammich, mmmmm.

I found a great new blog that has a recent post about Beyond Meat. The blog is called The Political Animals http://thepoliticalanimals.blogspot.com/
I firmly believe that any way that we can reduce the production and consumption of meat is a good thing for both our bodies, our environment and , of course, the animals : )

Great link, love2hike! And they linked to an even better article by Mark Bittman that I found very informative.

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/03/11/op...ting.html?_r=1

The Bitman article is outstanding Suzanne! It will be exciting to see where this goes!