So everyone “believes in climate change”, but they apparently don’t want to buy the fake-meat that is going to save us from storms, floods and droughts. It’s another mystery of post-modern life that’s solved by assuming that people say “Yes” to meaningless poll questions but “No thanks” to propaganda.
No one really believes their burger will stop cyclones in ninety years time.
McDonald’s Ends Testing McPlant Burger, Adding Pressure on Beyond Meat Stock
By Naveen Athrappully, Epoch Times
McDonald’s announced that it has concluded the U.S. trial of its McPlant burger, which is made with the plant-based protein manufactured by Beyond Meat (BYND).
In November 2021, McDonald’s began testing the meat-free burger in eight restaurants across America. In February this year, the company introduced the McPlant burger at around 600 locations. According to third-party reports, the experiment ended as a failure. In a recent note, according to CNBC, JP Morgan analyst Ken Goldman cited employees from McDonald’s revealing that the burger did not sell well enough.
This is a complicated way of saying “nobody wants to buy our product”:
During the first-quarter earnings call in May, Beyond Meat founder and CEO Ethan Brown explained that the company is finding it difficult to pass on rising costs to customers. “You see all these new entrants coming in, and many of them are using price as a way to try to capture early market share,” Brown said, according to the earnings call transcript published at The Motley Fool.
“And so while the animal protein industry has been able to substantially increase pricing to essentially offset significant reductions in volume, in our sector, we have not had the opportunity to do that.”
Meat costs were rising too, but customers were willing to pay.
I have nothing against fake meat (apart from shortages in iron, zinc and B12), but it’s become a culture war thing. The same people who want to profit from forcing it on us are often the ones telling us to panic about climate change, or selling us carbon credits, or coercing governments to restrict fertilizer. It’s the conflict of interest that stinks.
Bill Gates invested in Beyond Meat. Other investors include the usual suspects: Blackrock, Vanguard, Morgan Stanley, Goldman Sachs etc. It’s bad news for them, the share price has fallen from $125 to $34 in the last twelve months. Ominously (for BYND shareholders) fully 34% of the shares are currently held by short sellers. So one third of the shares in existence are on loan to people who think the price will fall further, and who will sell them with glee if it does.
What were the marketing gurus thinking? The vegans who want to save the planet are not shopping at MacDonalds. The health zealots that want to avoid meat for health reasons won’t want to eat the bun, the mayo or the spray-on-margarine. For them it needs to be a McBurger-free-burger. Nothing about this makes sense.
Presumably the McBug Burger is coming soon. Cricket-burgers cool the climate?
h/t John Connor II
So we won’t be able to call the burger a beef burger or a hamburger. Will we still be allowed to call it a burger? Maybe a soylent green burger when they run out of insects and still need to reduce the World’s population.
331
They were obviously trying to offset the extra 12 million extra cars equivalent the original EU biofuel mandate caused through unintended consequences.
161
How many emissions are required in order to produce this highly-processed fake meat?
441
It’s interesting that we try to make veggies taste like meat but not the other way round.
481
Yeah, like when the transitioned man becomes the top performer on the men’s team rather than the other way round.
Or when the first country transitions to ETanks.
261
E-tanks. Great acceleration, poor mileage and, man, what a target during re-charges.
[Careful Daffy, no violence is the norm here. ]ED
121
“[Careful Daffy, no violence is the norm here. ]ED”
As a matter of interest, where on this site can I go to read the T&Cs for posting comments.
[Try “Guide for commenting” on the right side of the blog.]AD
00
Try “About”, then “Rules and Legal”.
00
Just wait until Canada’s Philosopher King, Prime Minstrel Justin Trudeau expands his program for us Old Stock Canadians, called Medical Assistance in Dying (MAid https://www.canada.ca/en/health-canada/services/medical-assistance-dying.html ) to produce Soylent Green to make up for all the food that will be lost to his new nitrogen fertilizer restriction policies!
30
PRETENDING to eat meat – it just sounds destined to fail.
221
Now what is the anti-meat lobby going to promote?
Ad I keep warning, insects are definitely on the agenda.
And the war against meat and modern agricultural methods continues. E.g. the lie that livestock production is supposedly killing the planet and what the Left ignorantly call “nitrogen” when they presumably mean various oxides of nitrogen – just like they call CO2 “carbon”).
Note that McDonald’s in Australia was is is also selling the McPlant burger. Australia waa probablt a great test market because people in The Stupid Country are among the greatest believers in the anthropogenic global warming fraud.
441
The real test is what people buy for the weekend BBQ. I spoke with a once-was-vegan recently. She had been meat free for several years until she caught the aromas from a back yard BBQ. The smell of frying bacon did her in. There are some things humans are attracted by and meat is one of them. Very few, if any, vegans reach 100 apparently which means most of the woke billionaires will be gone soon unless they have been lying about their diets.
321
What do you think they eat on their private jets on the way to climate conferences, at climate conferences and in private in general?
I’d be willing to bet fava beans and lentils are not on the menu….
331
I’ve eaten nutmeat – a soy substitute I believe. Not bad, but similar in flavour to tinned dog food . A friend ate it all the time and transitioned to dog food proper. He was tragically killed by a truck some years later, apparently sitting in a gutter licking his – whatever dog’s lick, and was hit.
441
My mother used to occasionally cook nutloaf from a can when I was a child on the misapprehension that it was healthy. I could barely get it down. It was truly horrible stuff but I was not allowed to leave the table until the plate was empty.
Brussel sprouts were nowhere near as unpleasant.
90
Your last sentence is so true David. I’m amazed at the amount of people I come across who “believe” in climate change but cannot explain why. They have no idea, apart from what the idiot politicians and complicit media have force fed them. Suggesting they read a book penned by Prof Ian Plimer is greeted with a blank stare.They are simply dumb and appear to have no desire to do any research.
371
Don’t you know? All that black stuff coming out out of chimney stacks is that evil CO2. Save yourselves from the stupidity of the masses.
161
And the things they show as chimney stacks are actually unacknowledged cooling towers. And the implied “pollution” is actually backlit condensed steam.
Clever propaganda. By nasty b…..ds.
Cheers
Dave B
251
Most if not all those stack photos are photoshopped. I remember calling out a local reporter who posted a photoshopped pic, his response was “ we are required to use it”.
61
“Most if not all those stack photos are photoshopped. I remember calling out a local reporter who posted a photoshopped pic, his response was “ we are required to use it”.”
Ahh yes, the old ‘Nuremberg’ defence.
71
On TV last night, a story about the Liberals’ endorsement of nuclear showed two cooling stacks with thick black smoke pouring from them. Definitely a fake animation, and why add this stupid image to a story about nuclear?
60
hang on David, what would our 20 million useless household pets eat if the Aussies stopped sending us all them tins of kangeroo meat?
10
hang on David, what would our 20 million useless household pets eat if the Aussies stopped sending us all them tins of kangeroo meat?
00
I expect the same rejection of this pretend protein is occurring at Woolies and Coles. Not long now before ‘organic’ stuff takes a similar hit too. When people realise the extra costs all these fads will fade into obscurity just like carbon neutrality and global warming.
242
Sorry but protein is protein. It is not pretend.
221
Animal protein is a complete protein with the full complement of essential amino acids.
Most plant proteins except quinoa and soy lack some essential amino acids and are are called incomplete proteins.
241
I don’t see your point. You are agreeing with me that they are all proteins and none are fake? Thanks for backing me up.
Amino Acid deficiencies can occur but on the whole they are not an issue
While animal products are rich in protein, the adequacy of dietary protein intake from vegetarian/vegan diets has long been controversial. In this review, we examine the protein and amino acid intakes from vegetarian diets followed by adults in western countries and gather information in terms of adequacy for protein and amino acids requirements, using indirect and direct data to estimate nutritional status. We point out that protein-rich foods, such as traditional legumes, nuts and seeds, are sufficient to achieve full protein adequacy in adults consuming vegetarian/vegan diets, while the question of any amino acid deficiency has been substantially overstated. Our review addresses the adequacy in changes to protein patterns in people newly transitioning to vegetarian diets. We also specifically address this in older adults, where the issues linked to the protein adequacy of vegetarian diets are more complex. This contrasts with the situation in children where there are no specific concerns regarding protein adequacy because of their very high energy requirements compared to those of protein. Given the growing shifts in recommendations from nutrition health professionals for people to transition to more plant-based, whole-food diets, additional scientific evidence-based communications confirming the protein adequacy of vegetarian and vegan diets is warranted.
covers it a bit better than your assertion.
316
‘additional scientific evidence-based communications confirming the protein adequacy of vegetarian and vegan diets is warranted.’ Nothing is written in stone yet.
40
You said “protein is protein”.
Clearly animal protein is not the same as plant protein due to the different compliment of amino acids, for which plant protein is normally regarded as “incomplete”.
100
You are 100% right. In order to use protein for anabolic purposes – ie, building, repair and maintenance of tissues – it has to have a balanced amino acid profile. Incomplete protein can be used for energy but not building. To get a complete protein from a vegetarian meal, it must be approximately 3:1 grain:legume by dry weight; when cooked it looks about 50:50 due to the expansion of the bean component. By definition, this is a high carbohydrate diet. It is probably part of the reason that India and China both have serious problems with Type II diabetes without obesity.
30
“Most plant proteins except quinoa and soy lack some essential amino acids and are are called incomplete proteins.”
Soy is not complete just like other legumes Weight 28g
Methionine 150mg 21%
this is much lower than other essential amino acids so you need to eat more overall and do not forget the estrogen like substances in soy
Data Source
Dry-Roasted Soybeans
USDA Food Data Central
Standard Release (Common)
81
The claim that “Protein is Protein”, does not stand up.
Firstly, there are many different proteins containing many different amino-acids, thousands of different aminos in just one steak.
Secondly, plant proteins are not complete proteins of the type that we need to manufacture the building-blocks of our body….. and they are far less digestible.
Finally, the measure of “protein” in plant materials is not based on actual protein, but on the measure of simple nitrogenous compounds that are assumed to be indicators of protein content, but not proven so.
Claiming that “protein is protein” is like saying that “fuel is fuel”, while putting diesel in your petrol-engined car and expecting it to run normally. There is more than one reason that over 80% of those who try veganism give it up.
151
PW. I was addressing the stupid comment that some proteins are “fake”. A protein has a definition and none of the proteins you list fall outside that definition at all. It is up to you how you define protein but I like the scientific defition which doesn’t limit it to actin and myosin.
As for digestible, that is wrong. Our digestive system is blind to the origin of the protein. The availability of the protein can be affected by components of the food ingested at the same time. If that is what you mean say it. Don’t say scientific nonsense.
415
*apologies. Not “fake”, “pretend”. My response is the same.
17
Correct on the fake protein part but proteins are absolutely not all the same.
Bioavailability and essential amino acid types and levels vary widely.
Other effects such as the estrogenic nature of Soy based protein are not well known.
To the average person none of that matters but to athletes, bodybuilders etc it’s of prime importance.
Bear in mind too that marketing, both current and historically, shapes the average person’s perception too.
The multi-decade lie of “fat is bad” and dietary fat equates to body fat started back in the 60’s by the sugar industry to demonise fat and boost sugar sales.
Scroll forward to today and the reality is the exact opposite.
A short treatise on protein/bioavailability below if interested.
https://www.cksociety.org/protein-bioavailability/
It’s not the digestive system that’s blind…
100
Straying off topic a bit there but I have no quibble with what you say.
15
Sorry, mostly consists of carbs, colouring, artifical flavours , salt, flavour enhancers and fillers. LOL
71
Same as range eggs. I used to like them because they were free, but now realise I got the grammar wrong. So, I don’t care where chickens live. I want cheap eggs.
[Funny. New comment and welcome Daffy! Please don’t let me down.]ED
211
Love that comment, I also thought the range eggs were free, until I got arrested for shop stealing (lifting?)…
111
I grew up on a chicken farm, and to me, a chicken needs three main things, food, shelter and security, voila, a cage delivers all three, they also love scratching in the soil, same as I love a week at the beach, but work comes first. LOL
91
Video about debunking the lie that meat production is dangerous for the environment.
https://youtu.be/sGG-A80Tl5g
It is another lie told by the anti-energy, anti-high-standard-of living lobby.
And meat is not only delicious, it’s fun to eat. And we all know how the Left hate fun in all its forms for non-Elites.
As JP morgan said plants are my food’s food.
And also, if we weren’t meant to eat animals, why are tgey made of meat? LoL.
262
Th e original proposal for an Emissions Trading Scheme, which, but for the arrival of Barnaby Joyce would have been introduced by the Howard government, refused point blank to allow credits for the sequestration side of Agriculture’s carbon cycle.
It intended to tax AGriculture’s recycled “emissions” on the same basis as fossil emissions. This was grossly inequitable. But the proponents held their line.
Sufficient ruckus was raised to get “Agriculture”, not just the inequity, shunted into the too hard basket. But the inequity was never acknowledged.
Our new ALP government is not likely to be restrained by the senate. So we can expect to now see that grossly inequitable ETS resurrected and passed into law.
20
In the US, what do the anti-meat lobby think was previously on the farmlands where most cattle are now grazed?
You just replaced one member of the bovine family (bison) with another (domestic cattle). What, fundamentally is the difference?
You just replaced a non-domestic species of bovine with an easier-to-manage domestic species.
250
I would say there were probably far fewer bison than there are cattle. But the anti-meat lobby are concerned with broader impacts from the animal ag industry, for example huge swathes of land growing feed for animals, pollution from intensive indoor systems, and poor animal welfare.
415
Graeme, you might want to look at the video I posted above about debunking the lie that meat production is dangerous for the environment and especially commrnts about land use growing feed for animals.
https://youtu.be/sGG-A80Tl5g
As for animal welfare, I don’t think there are any significant genuine issues in the West.
But there are major issues in China. If the anti-meat lobby was concerned with animal welfare, why would they remain silent about China. Totally silent! Obviously, animal welfare is not a real concern for them.
210
These fake ‘friends of the animals’ only seem to operate in civilised countries where they are safe from being jailed and or shot for their radical beliefs.
100
David, I’ll have a look at the video though I think I’ve sen that one before. From what I have read, animal feed constitutes about 30% of all crops grown (according to the FAO anyway). That is a lot of land under crops. But it’s also true that eliminating animal foods would mean land would need to be cropped to produce a replacement, I think we’d end up with maybe a little less land under crops if we went completely plant-based. I think we have a lot of problems in the West with animal welfare because the vast majority of animls are farmed intensively (ie the “factory farming” thing). As I look at it, if animals cannot enjoy room to move and explore natural behaviours, it’s poor welfare. And it’s the intensive systems that contribute to a lot of the pollution issues. But even beef and dairy have their problems when considered from the global perspective. As for GHGs, well, if you don’t think human GHG emissions are a problem then I guess it’s not an issue, nonetheless methane emissions from ruminants are one of the bigger sources of human GHG emissions.
I don’t know about total ruminant populations in the US now versus the past. I am pretty sure there were not 100 million bison at any given point in the past, what I’ve managed to find out is perhaps 25-50 million at best.
212
Graeme..
As a livestock farmer with over 40 years experience, some of the claims tgat you make do not stand up.
Firstly, the vast majority (90%) of crop-products fed to animals are NOT human-quality feed. I am currently trucking out wheat that is graded as “feed”. I would dearly love to receive the extra $50-80 per tonne that it would make as human-quality, but it was downgraded due to unseasonal weather at harvest.
Secondly, most of the high-protein meals fed to livestock are BY-PRODUCTS. The soy, canola and cotton-seed meal used in livestock rations is what is LEFT OVER after the more valuable fractions – the oils and fibre – has been extracted for human use.
Thirdly, the majority of ruminant livestock spend the majority of their lives in paddocks, eating grass. 100% of my livestock are on pasture as I type this. 97% of the cattle and sheep in this country are on pasture at any one time.
Fourthly, it has been well known for decades (if not centuries) that healthy, unstressed, well-fed animals grow faster, produce more and are better eating. In other wordsM they are more profitable The idea that farmers deliberately reduce their profits for no good reason is just another aspect of vegan propaganda which sensible people will regard with due scepticism.
Over 2/3 of the agricultural land in the world is not suitable for cropping. No sensible person argues that refusing to use that much land for grazing, plus wasting all non-human-quality plant produce, will somehow produce more food for humans.
Animals eating grass is not going to destroy the plant.
270
Well said Peter, the green losers simply don’t have a handle on anything they spruik, I just regard almost everything they spout as just Bovine Excrement, good for the roses and not much else.
110
Yes, very well said. Note also that minimizing stress hormone release at the time of slaughter is important for good quality meat.
Interestingly, bleeding out reduces brain and peripheral release of adrenalin and noradrenalin, and causes massive dopamine release in the brain. I hemorrhaged during a pregnancy loss once. As my blood pressure fell, all the worry, grief, pain and fear dissipated. The bastard in the ER stuck in and 18 gage needle and pumping in fluid: it all came back.
In later years, when getting the brain of a rat with the dopamine still in the cells, we had to euthanize animals with blunt trauma to the head, similar to the captive bolt used in cattle.
10
PeterW, yes, I agree with that. But a lot of crop is grown specifically for feed, consider corn in the US. Soy is classified by the FAO as a feed crop. Sure, it’s crushed for oil and its residue used for feed, but the relative proportion of soy in the global crop is due to demand for soy meal as a feed. If we didn’t grow soy for feed, we’d probably grow less soy and more palm (which has a higher yield). As for wheat, I dunno. My understanding is that feed demand has driven an increase in the domestic share of wheat destined for feed. I’m not sure how that actually plays out in terms of planning by grain farmers. Ruminants in Australia are usually on paddocks, but not so much on the US. Whatever, my point re welfare is that animals in intensive systems are not enjoying what I think is good welfare, so I am opposed to those systems. About 90-95% of all farmed animals in Australia are in those systems.
02
Thanks, David.
The video isn’t comprehensive and I spotted some logical errors, but it’s a good rebuttal of some of the wackier anti-meat figures being bandied about.
90
https://wattsupwiththat.com/2022/05/28/climate-science-101-david-siegel/
and cattle eat that grass that will soon become a fire risk especially in Australia
50
Graeme….
Your speculation does not fit the research.
The study cited below estimates that just three types of large ruminants in the US (Bison, Elk and Deer) in pre-European numbers, accounted for 86% of the equivalent emissions of current domestic ruminants on the continent.
The study does not account for the same emissions from other significant populations – cariboo, antelope, moose, wild sheep and wild goats – so the difference is even less.
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/22178852/
Other lines of research (which can be found on the OurWorld in Data website have estimated that pre-human activity had already reduced the large-herbivore biomass by 50% from that existing 10,000 years previously.
The world is not what you want to believe.
90
What is wrong with huge swathes of land growing food for cattle ? There is only so much bread a human can eat. And the latest fad is grains are bad for you, ask any health junkie. Much of this land is not suitable for growing table vegetables, but it crops well, so I don’t see what the problem is. It is though, based on a misconception that it’s better for us to eat the soybean before its fed to the cow because of the conversion factor. But that’s a lineal formula, not how it actually is.
20
Didn’t the very early settlers say that bison would cover the plains to the horizon, a seething mass of animals full of bovine excrement.
40
Yes.
10
A hilarious skit about veganism by JP Morgan.
https://youtu.be/z0O_VYcsIk8
81
Baxter Black’s go
“The Vegetarian’s Nightmare
(a dissertation on plants’ rights)
Ladies and diners I make you
A shameful, degrading confession.
A deed of disgrace in the name of good taste
Though I did it 1 meant no aggression.
1 had planted a garden last April
And lovingly sang it a ballad.
But later in June beneath a full moon
Forgive me, 1 wanted a salad!
So 1 slipped out and fondled a carrot
Caressing its feathery top.
With the force of a brute 1 tore out the root!
It whimpered and came with a pop!
Then laying my hand on a radish
1 jerked and it left a small crater.
Then with the blade of my True Value spade
1 exhumed a slumbering tater!
Celery 1 plucked, 1 twisted a squash!
Tomatoes were wincing in fear.
1 choked the Romaine. It screamed out in pain,
Their anguish was filling my ears!
I finally came to the lettuce
As it cringed at the top of the row
With one wicked slice 1 beheaded it twice
As it writhed, I dealt a death blow.
1 butchered the onions and parsley.
My hoe was all covered with gore.
1 chopped and 1 whacked without looking back
Then 1 stealthily slipped in the door.
My bounty lay naked and dying
So 1 drowned them to snuff out their life.
1 sliced and 1 peeled as they thrashed and they reeled
On the cutting board under my knife.
1 violated tomatoes
So their innards could never survive.
1 grated and ground ’til they made not a sound
Then 1 boiled the tater alive!
Then 1 took the small broken pieces
1 had tortured and killed with my hands
And tossed them together, heedless of whether
They suffered or made their demands.
1 ate them. Forgive me, I’m sorry
But hear me, though I’m a beginner
Those plants feel pain, though it’s hard to explain
To someone who eats them for dinner!
1 intend to begin a crusade
For PLANT’S RIGHTS, including chick peas.
The A.C.L.U. will be helping me, too.
In the meantime, please pass the bleu cheese.”
Baxter Black
Coyote Cowboy Poetry 1986
190
I don’t think this is a thing to celebrate. Perhaps fake meats like the Beyond Meat version aren’t the best thing we can do but there is no doubt that the modern animal food industry is a very bad thing for animals (including us) and the environment. The global impact of the animal ag industry is enormous and finding ways to do less of it would surely help. It’s a shame too that people aren’t more open to veganism which is a very good idea poorly sold.
030
Graeme…
This is not Disneyland.
The normal modes of death amongst wild animals are starvation, disease, predation, exposure and parasitism. Not one of these is devoid of suffering if you understood population biology, you would know that across a wide range of species, 70-90% of individual animals do not make it to their first birthday, let alone living to a peaceful old-age.
Suffering is endemic
As a livestock farmer, much of my time and resources are spent ensuring that my livestock never have to suffer hunger, thirst or predation, while disease, parasites and exposure are kept to reasonable minimums. Healthy, low-stressed, well-fed animals are more profitable. It is in my interest to ensure that they don’t suffer. It is in my best interest to ensure that my animals only have one bad day in their lives, and that they don’t see that coming.
Don’t be gullible. There are laws relating to animal welfare. If I treated by livestock with the disregard and neglect with which nature treats wild animals, I would not only be broke, but prosecuted.
280
The whole attack on Western democracies is their Judeo Christian basis. While a lot of people may have decided they are atheist, but they retain the ethos of Christianity. And one of the driving forces of this is guilt. So people are made to feel guilty about carbon, about aborigines, about slavery and now about meat. This is unbelievable to the Chinese who will eat everything, or as Christoper Morley wrote, everything on four legs except a table and everything on two legs except a waiter.
And we see it in a black power salute from a new Green senator who calls the Queen a colonizer, as if everyone is not better off in the new country Australia. As in America, if some sections of society fail, they have found blaming everyone else has traction if it is allied to guilt. BLM has made the US promoters into millionaires. Guilt money.
And as David Flint wrote recently in the Spectator, when people become athiests, it’s not that they no longer believe in anything, they will believe everything. And this applies to hamburgers. Slavery guilt, even though Australia did not have slavery. Carbon guilt. Meat morality.
281
People think that in places such as USA and Australia life in pre-European settlement times was idyllic.
In fact, all the native tribes were basically constantly at war with each other and starvation, disease, short life spans and misery were the norm and no one would voluntarily choose such a lifestyle.
And the natives still craved meat.
240
In fact, all the native tribes were basically constantly at war with each other and starvation, disease, short life spans and misery were the norm and no one would voluntarily choose such a lifestyle.
and also
Native Tribes of the Northern Territory of Australia
by Baldwin Spencer
Macmillan And Co., London
[1914]
100
Love the first of your refs – gripping reading
00
But Christian guilt has now hit a tipping point where nobody cares if you cheat, lie or steal. Even virtue signalling is so easy to spot these days. Everyone does it now.
We have surely reached “peak-guilt”.
91
That is not “Christian” guilt…
It’s the manufactured guilt of those who have abandoned traditional values, but need to prove their own virtue by condemning the “sins” of others while parading their own penitence.
80
“Slavery guilt, even though Australia did not have slavery.’
I can recommend the episode of ” Who do you think you are” featuring Mal Meninga, he was dirty on the belief that his father or grandfather were ‘kidnapped’ from one of the Vanuatu Islands and made to work on sugar plantations in North Queensland.
Further investigation revealed they wanted to travel to the mainland by whatever means they could as he wanted to beg borrow or steal a rifle as with one of these even without ammo, you would be THE BIG MAN of the tribe.
He began working voluntarily so as to earn money to live and buy stuff, he enjoyed the lifestyle so much that when the govt ended ‘blackbirding’ and tried to round up the ‘slaves’ and return them to Vanuatu, he and others hid so as to not to have to leave.
120
I never understood that quote:
If atheists wind up believing in everything, then they should believe in a god or gods. I’m an atheist and I most certainly do not believe in everything, in fact quite the opposite, as atheism makes me question everything, not believe in everything/anything.
22
Liberator..
As I understand it, the basis of Flint’s argument is that without an exogenous source of morals and axioms, everything that you “believe” ultimately comes down to your own feelings and perceptions of utility. As a proper sceptic, you know how little those two things can be trusted.
Ironically, if you genuinely did “question everything”, you would also question that proposition that no “God” – in some form – exists. Having a reasonable doubt of the non-existence of God would make you an agnostic, not an atheist.
Cheers….
40
You are at least consistent. A skeptic in all things. Good. That is the essence of science.
I feel the need to believe in something is built into many people. And those who abandon the religion of their parents have a problem. Not having a religion leaves them prey to the craziest religions, the Moonies, the Scientologists with their e-meters, the Rapture, and endless list. Even Climate Scientology.
Otherwise you might end up thinking people are all equally worthless, there is no morality and no hope for a better day.
This a belief in an inner spirit which transcends simple existence and gives real meaning to each and every life was developed in Europe and was the foundation of the US constitution. It is the antithesis of the caste system of India and is changing India and China. The untouchables are starting to believe.
In the US constitution “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.”
You may not agree with why, but you may agree with the conclusions.
As former Pope Ratzinger said, even if you don’t believe, pretend. It gives you a time proven set of rules and a thing called morality, which gives comfort to many and a reason for existence.
Do not underestimate how this fundamental belief has underpinned so much which we now hold true and created a new vision of life. It is why Christianity swept through the world and why it is now the enemy of the CCP and all totalitarians. Even Stalin had to restore Christianity in Russia in WW2. Otherwise, why fight for anything?
Guilt is the flip side. Meat is murder. And the funniest. Milk is prostitution.
20
Just for giggles, check out a few sources regarding the interesting “chemistry” involved in manufacturing “textured vegetable protein’.
It will curdle your soy “milk”.
100
Or for that matter, how non-pressed vegetable oils are made. Very bad for you.
Olive oils and other pressed vegetable oils are OK. As is coconut oil.
71
Hmm.
“And so while the animal protein industry has been able to substantially increase pricing to essentially offset significant reductions in volume…”
Somebody has a problem distinguishing between cause and effect.
150
The war against meat greatly benefits Big Pharma because since the revised dietary recommendations from the US in 1980, adopted in most of the West, people have been much sicker due to the over-emphasis on carbs and massive reduction in recommended meat and animal fat consumption.
People who follow keto or carnivore diets will know what I’m talking about.
https://health.gov/our-work/nutrition-physical-activity/dietary-guidelines/previous-dietary-guidelines/1980
110
See link for rest.
71
So when we stop eating meat, will our eyes slowly evolve to the sides of our heads?
151
Only if we also move very slowly.
00
Nitpick… the short sellers have already “sold” at the present price, and will be *buying* them with glee at the lower price later on.
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Soy milk has problems too, doesn’t really suit human digestion. Soy beans do have lots of protein but also have some anti-nutritious elements that are broken down by traditional processes (involved in making tofu, tempeh, natto, etc) but not the modern ways (50 years?) which are mainly focused on palatability. Maybe a cup of soy latte wouldn’t matter much but not a total switch from normal milk if having a litre or so a day.
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Kaayla Daniel ” The Whole Soy Story: The Dark Side of America’s Favorite Health Food “. 2005.
Summation: soy is very unhealthy stuff.
Soy is also a multibillion dollar industry.
51
Paul Joseph Watson talks about the dangers of soy products. Social observations.
https://youtu.be/Dlpqcc_hNdM
70
Just imagine the “emissions” from those 30 tonne dinosaurs roaming much of the planet 90 million years ago! And these fanatics are worried about cows?
160
And early humans were there. Scurrying around on all fours like dogs. But we were alive and prospering and survived the meteor impact, real Armageddon. And the cold of endless ice ages. You have to think that it was a time of incredibly luxuriant life on the planet even with very high CO2 and we humans are still enjoying all the plants as gas, coal and oil. Sorry about the dinosaurs, but they did run the place for 150 Million years. We have not yet made 0.5 million years. And worrying about CO2 when we should know better. Talk about short memories!
50
What is Gates’ objective in becoming the largest farmland owner in the USA?
Is be trying to control the food supply?
141
IIRC the Bunker Hunt brothers tried to corner the world market in silver in the late 1970s.
They weren’t too successful owing to government intervention and filed for bankruptcy in 1988.
Would the government allow Gates to follow suite.
10
This is another form of warped “sustainability” the elites are trying to push. How do they have the capacity to make enough of this fake meat? And can I find exactly what’s in it? Or will they hide the ingredients like they have done with many other things?
Isn’t it much easier to get meat from animals that grow naturally – cows, pigs, etc? And they reproduce too. That is sustainable!
The real path to “sustainability” is to remove the elites from power. They’re the real problem.
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Total land use for Agricultural production (crops, pasture and forestry) in Australia is 372 .7 million ha using ABS 2018 figures. Using a very conservative sequester rate of 2t CO2 per ha (range 1.5-43.3) all those trees, crops and pasture annually consume over 700 million t of atmospheric CO2. Australia’s total annual man made CO2 emissions were about 560 million t, but I did read recently that this figure is now under 500 million t. I can break that down into a normal real meat, bread bun burger. For your bun, wheat area is around 12 million ha which at a sequester rate of 5.6 t/ha = 67.2 million t CO2. We have about 340 m ha of pasture in Australia which equals 450 m t CO2 (1.3 t/ha sequester rate). There’s your meat for your burger – take you pick, beef or lamb. These are all annual figures. I haven’t even included the lettuce, tomato, cheese yet. Hence, you can see the best way for Australia to reduce CO2 emissions is to actually MORE real meat, bun burgers because this just encourages better pasture for starters. As pointed out by many correspondents Australia is a huge CO2 sink.
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The world is not ready for the Bug Mac.
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They sell them already in New Zealand.
75
Bug Mec.
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Yes they do. NZ is always frontrunning the globalist agenda. 😀
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What about all the vegetarians and vegans, from all the noise they make, you’d be excused for thinking there’s millions of them, or don’t they lower themselves to eat Maccas.
30
Some do eat Filet o Fishes or McNuggets. There is also a McEgg thing.
20
How are they vegetarian? Egg is I suppose.
Hungry Jacks, the Australian name for Burger King, has the rebel whopper, which is a “beyond meat” type of thing, and a vegan thing.
23
Noisy minorities. There’s those surveys they do, mostly in the US. People are asked what they believe is the percentage (%) of certain minority groups or people who are gay or vegetarian etc. Invariably, most peoples estimates are way over the real figure. I have head reliable figures about 4 % of the population are vegetarian/ vegan. But the vegan one is hard to pin down, because most people give up very quickly. When surveyed I think the general population thought about 30% of the population was vegetarian. Depends where you are – obviously in India that vegetarian figure is much bigger for instance.
10
Oh no Bill Gates!
Interested in this aside:
As a vegetarian I’ve had my share of processed non meat protein products, which means I also keep an eye on how they perform nutritionally. Interestingly there have not been good studies of bioavailability of various micro and macro nutrients in these and this is compounded by the fact that there are (possibly literally) thousands of manufactured variants made in many countries. Guidelines don’t exist I think, or if they do there is no compulsion across countries to adhere to them, to ensure that these products meet nutritional standards. How does a particular process allow availability of nutrients like iron, zinc and B12? Are there antagonists to them that mean that just supplementing has no affect? Compare it with Chicken say. Chickens can vary somewhat and can contain environmental nasties in a particular region etc, but the uptake of nutrients from the meat is well known.
btw- this critique is not about protein availability. Our digestive system pretty much means that 30% of plant, meat, myco or synthetic protein in a product equals about the same amount of protein/ amino acids crossing into the body (being careful to not have deficiencies in certain AAs).
38
That claim falls flat when one talks to the increasing number of vegans – including doctors and dieticians – who have found that no degree of careful supplementation or attention to macros permitted them to maintain robust good health over the long term while avoiding animal foods.
Good health which returned when meat/eggs/dairy were reintroduced to their diet.
130
…and vitamin B12 injections.
80
Citation needed but what you say is feasible. On the other hand, because there are increasing numbers of that category (vegans), by default, there will be increasing numbers of anything these people experience – burps, children, heart attacks, opera attended.
Be specific please.
22
Only upside in this is that Gates might lose a bit of $$…
80
Here is info on the Macca’s Australia website about the McPlant which is still sold here, probably because Australians are particularly strong believers in the anthropogenic global warming fraud and most are not curious enough to ask questions.
https://mcdonalds.com.au/help-centre/article/kA02s000000Go7LCAS
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The McWoke burger is fried in transfats.
41
Genetically engineered meat, genetically engineered humans. Another evil WEF plan for our lives. Yuval Noah Harari a leading advisor (prophet) for Klaus Schwab is quoted as saying “Humans are now hackable animals. The idea that humans have this soul or spirit, they have free will and nobody knows what’s happening inside me – so whatever I choose whether in the election or in the supermarket, that’s my free will? That’s over.” (https://www.survivethenews.com/yuval-noah-harari-humans-are-now-hackable-animals-thanks-to-vaccines/)
These evil megalomaniacs speak like they have acquired the power of God the Creator. That kind of hubris will come to a bad end. The Bible says in 2 Thessalonians 2:4 (ESV) “who opposes and exalts himself against every so-called god or object of worship, so that he takes his seat in the temple of God, proclaiming himself to be God”.
41
I didn’t eat a single one because I don’t visit Mc Donalds in the first place and ignored them at Wendys when I was there a month ago.
There is a saying that people need to flush twice as Mc Donalds headquarters are complaining of slow deliveries all over America
31
“If every person in the US replaced just one beef burger per week …”
The assumption behind this statement is that every one of the 335,035,797 people in the USA eats a beef-burger every day. This is clearly false. About 8 Million are less than age 4, then there are the non-beef eaters (very roughly), about 23 Million.
Further, very few people eat a beef burger every day. I suppose someone does.
So, we have a false and crazy headline.
I didn’t see a cost comparison. I haven’t eaten a beef burger from McDonald’s in at least 6 years. I have no idea about the pricing but grocery store price of Beyond Meat (I checked once) was sufficiently greater that I did not even think to buy it just to try.
Then, I wonder if the Company subsidized these non-meat burgers or if they used the same selling price to cost equation.
51
Ignorance about science (which is the norm now) and a fanatical commitment to veganism has consequences.
Tragically, I know of a family who lost a baby because they were extreme vegans and fed their baby only rice milk, not human or animal milk.
The baby died of course and there was a coronial inquiry. The parents didn’t go to jail but were severely reprimanded.
81
I meant to say rice “milk” not rice milk. Obviously a ground up suspension of rice powder in water is not milk even though it is misleadingly called that.
40
“Blackrock, Vanguard, Morgan Stanley, Goldman Sachs etc.
Such companies will have stocks that are included in Index funds so that if, say Vanguard, sells a mutual fund with the index as its guide, then they own the shares even if the managers, and buyers such as me, would rather not own those shares.
The point is that owning shares is not necessarily an endorsement.
21
I believe that I am right in saying that the courts have rejected an application for trademark protection of “milk” and “cream” (eg. as in suncream, etc) on the grounds that the terms were already in widespread use. But it does appear that the terms are protected in the EU (where everything is controlled by the bureaucracy – anything not expressly permitted is forbidden).
41
That was meant to be a reply to David Maddison #32.1
30
Gotta love that Bill Gates, Blackrock, Vanguard, Morgan Stanley, Goldman Sachs et al have done their dough virtue signalling fake meat. 🤣
30
I know technically its cow burps (eructation) which emit all that naughty methane (all ppb’s of them!!), but I would just like to say cow farts, cow farts, cow farts- because its just sounds so silly. Apologies to the moderator. 🙂
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IMO burp is a sillier sounding word than fart.
14
Cow fart. Nope, definitely sillier.
30
I never understand the need for vegans to have replacement “meats” and “milks” that are made in the form of burgers, steaks and have names like Oink, Moo or Cluck as well as that wonderful word “milk.” The food standards code: Australia New Zealand Food Standards Code – Standard 2.5.1 – Milk, defines milk as:
2.5.1—2 Definitions
Note In this Code (see section 1.1.2—3): milk means:
(a) the
, obtained from one or more milkings for consumption as liquid milk or for further processing, but excluding colostrums; or
(b) such a product with phytosterols, phytostanols and their esters added.
So just how do our non-milk products (almond, soy, oat, et.al) get away with being called “milk” where they clearly do not meet the above food standards code definition? They can’t even be called juice as they don’t meet the food standards code either!
I thought the whole point of being vegan was/is to get away from products made/derived/extracted from animals including any reference to it. Why do vegans insist on calling their “meat” substitutes names that reflect the actual meat products they are wanting to avoid?
Halal doesn’t let you use the word alcohol on product name, you can’t use anything that relates to or refers to porcine products, product packing cannot reference anything relating to porcine including a picture of a slice of bacon, ham. They can’t eat vegan bacon even its called Oink.
Muslims wouldn’t venture into a bottle shop to buy non alcoholic wine. Then why would a vegan enter a store that cooks real meat burgers (beef/chicken/fish) to buy a vegan burger? A burger that is cooked in the same place that cooks their murdered dead animals? A burger made to replicate the taste and appearance of exactly what they don’t want to eat. Isn’t that completely against their values, if not it should be?
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I notice they didn’t specify female animals.
How woke of them.
21
All plants contain detrimental antinutrients, poisons if you like, to discourage animals from eating them. Traditional cultures mostly fermented these foodstuffs to neutralize much of the badness. Think tempe, kimchi, sauerkraut, sourdough bread, African style millet porridge, even beer.
Ignoring this is a good way to finance your doctor’s next investment property.
61
Sickly looking vegetarian vs Nigella Lawson meme, LoL.
https://pin.it/4GR2elu
10
Forgot to mention the $17 USD jumbo cricket hot dogs…😝
https://www.rebelnews.com/bug_dogs_crickets_and_worms_make_the_menu_at_calgarys_stampede
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Why fake meat is a problem, not a solution
https://www.amymyersmd.com/article/fake-meat-is-a-problem/
I linked to a fake meat lies exposed video previously but the farming crops/CO2 aspect is interesting:
Tillage releases CO2 Emissions
Tilling is the act of grinding up the soil with machinery. It is the most common form of soil preparation in crop agriculture.
Did those plant-based vs. meat stats calculate the amount of carbon released to the atmosphere by tilling the soil to grow the crops for Beyond Meat burgers?
Tilling or ploughing the soil releases 114% more CO2 emissions than no-till farm systems like pasture-based livestock.
Unsurprisingly, 99% of corn, canola, soy and legume (peas, beans, etc.) production in the United States uses tillage.
Perhaps that’s why the Midwest has lost over 1/3 of its topsoil — over 100 million acres in the past century!
That level of erosion has removed nearly 1.5 petagrams of carbon from hillslopes.
That’s 1.5 billion metric tons of carbon loss (CO2 into the atmosphere) due to tillage… to produce your plant-based burgers and the myriad of other corn, soy, or commodity crop-based products.
https://loganhailey.medium.com/fake-meat-is-worse-for-the-environment-than-real-meat-3da6f14c4f0
Greta hissyfit on standby…
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A while ago I made one of my rare visits to a Hungry Jacks cafe and on the product list noted a vegetable meat substitute, more expensive that beef.
50
By the way, I heard that vegan is an ancient tribal word that means incompetent hunter.
90
Minerals such as iron, zinc, calcium etc and proteins are contained in the plants eaten by the animals which provide us with meat. A vegan can get the full complement of amino acids in protein by consuming both a grain and a legume. Zinc is present in beans and in various grains. Vitamin C which is from plants assists in the absorption of iron in our bodies.
B12 is the main issue for a strict vegan – can be obtained from some fortified “milks”.
21
Phytates in beans and whole grains inhibit zinc absorbtion.
https://www.livestrong.com/article/547660-how-to-absorb-zinc-better/
Maybe why populations eating no or very small quantities of meat are smaller. On the other hand, it does not affect longevity.
20
Just popped up on the radar.
Insect burgers now in German shops.
https://mobile.twitter.com/LeylaRostami/status/1554561803283226627
20
Summer time in Outback Australia eating a burger outside can result in insect bush fly infestation.
20
“And when you eat the babbler’s brownie
Then you’d better close your eyes
For it’s hard to tell the difference
‘Tween the currants and the flies”
From the spoof of “Clancy of the Overflow”
10
This business of reducing meat production in a starving world is almost as ridiculus as the “Global Warming” scam itself – perhaps even worse!
It is not difficult to show that the level of atmospheric methane from catle, sheep and other ruminants does NOT CHANGE unless the total number of animals in a herd changes because methane decays into carbon dioxide and water – both if which have been sequestered from the atmosphere one or two years before they return as methane, with a hjalf life of about seven years. Thus for a given number of animals, the methane produced in any one year after a period of about 40 years, simply replaces the total methane which has decayed in that year – so there is NO INCREASE. There aere several presentations on the internet which clearly demonstrate this fact which totally contradicts the accepted rubbish that for instance, cattle in Australia contribute 14% towards our annual greenhiuse gas emissions. Total nonsense. The number of ruminants in the world has not chnged significantly for thousands of years and in most advanced countries the nuber has been reduced because of improved efficiences in farming. Thus ruminantal contributions to greenhouse gases is diminishing, NOT growing
50
Well the consumer is price conscience after all. When you buy vege patties in the supermarket they are about $19 a kilogram and beef patties $12a kilogram. Give me the real deal at a lower price is a no brainer as the nutrient value in the beef patties is higher than the vege patties. Most vege patties have soya meal protein and the cost of mixing and forming them is probably a greater cost.
10