Reality Vs Advert: The Impossible Whopper

[svetz]

So sure, it's $2 Whopper Wednesday all month and you can get the Impossible Burger rather than whole-grain beef.
So, which image is the ad and which was my lunch?

So, which should you pick?

Beyond’s own study found that a Beyond Burger generates 90 percent less greenhouse gas emissions than a regular one, and Impossible’s found an 89 percent reduction. ref

[Impossible burger isn't good for you] Those products are not good for ... humans. Blood type O is not supposed to eat gluten.
... Coconut oil is not good for O tho, There are also other ingredients not good for O in there, like potato

What's wrong with a beef burger anyway?

...dietary cholesterol and saturated fat, high in sodium, contains hormones, may contain Salmonella, E. coli, Yersinia, mad-cow

What was in that impossible whopper? ref1, ref2

Deliciousness (YMMV, “This tastes so good, I think there’s been a mistake,” ref)​

Protein of potato (not sure if that counts as "poe-tae-toe" or "poe-tat-toe")​

Kissed by the flame grill​

Gluten​

Coconut Oil​

Hormones​

Mad Cow​

Vitamin B12 & Zinc​

Mess on shirt​

​

​

​

 

[Diysolar123]

well, modern humans have been living off "meat" and preserving things with salt for about 200,000 years; so its probably not that big of a deal ;-)

my recent ancestors (3 generators back at least) lived off salt as a preservative, eggs and bacon every day, pork fat and alchohol into their late 80's/90's...
So clearly the only problem today is that we are now eating too much sugar instead of turning it into booze!

it is a roll of the genetic dice, much like the slim trim beautiful people that get the good life "just because"

 

[grizzzman]

I tried one. Wont happen again.

 

[Brett V]

I'll take the beef.

 

[svetz]

 

[Taikage]

I'm a fan of impossible. I can't stand the taste of beyond beef though.

 

[svetz]

I'm a fan of impossible. I can't stand the taste of beyond beef though.

Haven't tried Beyond Beef yet. TBH, I can't swear they didn't make a mistake and actually give me beef in the impossible whopper (sounds vaguely reminiscent as to whether the moon landing was faked ; -). This is just light years ahead of the old days.

I did snag a $2 Beyond Beef coupon... perhaps I'll try their chicken nuggets or one of the "pork" products (have to see what's actually in the store)..

 

[HRTKD]

I would rather have the chicken sandwich at Chik-Fil-A.

 

[time2roll]

I would rather have the chicken sandwich at Chik-Fil-A.

Make mine grilled.

 

[Taikage]

Haven't tried Beyond Beef yet. TBH, I can't swear they didn't make a mistake and actually give me beef in the impossible whopper (sounds vaguely reminiscent as to whether the moon landing was faked ; -). This is just light years ahead of the old days.

I did snag a $2 Beyond Beef coupon... perhaps I'll try their chicken nuggets or one of the "pork" products (have to see what's actually in the store)..

I thought that the first time I had an impossible burger as well. I've been buying the 1lb impossible packs at the grocery for a little over a year now. It's cheaper than high quality free range beef if you get it on sale.

The impossible breakfast sausage is also really good.

 

[Dzl]

Not a fan of the Impossible Whopper, but equally not a fan of the normal beef Whopper.
Lets be honest, both types of fast food burger are at best mediocre. Tried Beyond Meat chickenless nuggets a few weeks ago, I think they were as tasty/mediocre as regular chicken nuggets.

One of the best burgers I've had was an Impossible burger from a local bar & grill in Portland. Big fat juicy patty, cooked perfect, crispy fried onions, spicy bbq sauce from scratch. It was epic. I am not the type of person to normally like meat substitutes, veggie burgers, etc, Impossible and maybe Beyond Meat are game changers for me. I wont use it in place of beef for everything, but for burgers, and tacos, and a few other things, I will happily use it in place of beef most of the time.

 

[Isaac-1]

There was a time with the Whopper tasted better, or maybe I was just younger and did not know better.

 

[Brett V]

If I'm getting burgers at a fast food joint, it will likely be 5 Guys

 

[Lt.Dan]

Ive never been a fan of Burger King and quite frankly, will probably never eat there. I never see cars parked in the parking lot, nor in the drive thru, but yet somehow, we have 4 in a town of 130k people? I dont get it.

Never tried any beyond meat, but maybe one day! Can never beat an In-N-Out burger. Extra Toasted bun, with Well-Done fries please!

 

[The_Kobayashi_Vroom]

(please don't attack me) I am a vegan - and I'm happy I have the impossible whopper option when my family needs to stop for fast food on a road trip or something like that. I think it tastes much better than a Beyond burger. Not a huge fan of the fries though - much prefer the ones at Wendy's!

 

[Dzl]

There was a time with the Whopper tasted better, or maybe I was just younger and did not know better.

I had this realization/question too (applies to most fast food). Went a bunch years without eating it, tried it a few times, and was like "wow, this used to taste and look way better when I was a kid, quality has gone down hill" and then realized the quality was probably always this poor, I was just a kid and coudln't tell the difference/didnt care. One thing that does live up to my memories as a kid are the French Fries.

I think it tastes much better than a Beyond burger.

Yeah, I'm not a huge fan of the Beyond Meat burgers, something about the taste is just a little off and its a bit too salty (tasting) for me.


If you haven't tried an impossible burger from somewhere other than BK yet, do it, they can be downright gourmet from a real burger place or a good vg/veg joint that can cook a burger.

 

[noenegdod]

Just stop eating fast food.

Beef is only an environmental "concern" when it is produced in the factory method. Support businesses that buy grass fed, regenerative farmed beef and it will reduce green house emitions.

"Regenerative agriculture, i.e. the capture of atmospheric carbon dioxide by growing plants that move that carbon dioxide into the soil, is pretty nearly the only currently-functioning technology available for drawing down greenhouse gases that are already in the atmosphere, mostly through the cultivation and nurturing of forests and permanent perennial pastures and grasslands."

 

[Dzl]

Just stop eating fast food.

Good advice on many levels, but not that simple.
Fast food is far from the only industry that uses beef from cows raised in factory farms. The vast majority of meat raised in the United States comes from factory farms (~99% of US raised meat, 70% of meat worldwide, are the numbers I found with a quick google search). Of the Grass Fed beef that we do have, ~70-80% comes from overseas.

Raising cattle on the scale that we do, takes a lot of land, a lot of water, is a contributor to human caused climate change, and (at scale) is morally indefensible from an animal welfare/basic decency point of view.

Buying from small ranchs/ranchers, that choose more humane and healthy methods of raising livestock, and in ways that are less exploitative/detrimental to the land, environment and/or climate, is a step in the right direction. And the added cost of this meat naturally leads to a reduction in consumption for most people which is good. But I'm skeptical of the claims that cattle raised in any way at scale could be a net positive. But I've no particular expertise in the area, and I'd love if it were true (it just sounds too good to be realistic).

There are lots of devils in lots of details. Consuming less meat, specifically less beef and red meat, choosing meat that is raised in more sustainable, less intensive, and more humane ways when you do it meat, and choosing products that are local to your region (and make sense to produce in your region) when possible, are simple things that can transcend lots of those devil's in the details.

 

[noenegdod]

Good advice on many levels, but not that simple.

From the perspective of health, it is that simple. That was what was in my head when I made that statement. Not clear, I know.

Fast food is far from the only industry that uses beef from cows raised in factory farms. The vast majority of meat raised in the United States comes from factory farms (~99% of US raised meat, 70% of meat worldwide, are the numbers I found with a quick google search). Of the Grass Fed beef that we do have, ~70-80% comes from overseas.

For sure, but that is a culture thing. We have a "system" in place and the people involved in the system do not want to see it go. They are familiar and comfortable with it and most importantly, they make money at it so change for them is unacceptable.

Raising cattle on the scale that we do, takes a lot of land, a lot of water, is a contributor to human caused climate change, and (at scale) is morally indefensible from an animal welfare/basic decency point of view.

Agree 100% and emphatically with the bolded portion.

I have no evidence I am going to quote, This is personal belief and "gut feeling":

When I look at a monocrop farm growing corn, soy and what ever else is being subsidized to feed to cattle in feed lots and consider the fuel and fertilizer and effort that is poured into that effort to produce and transport that feed to the feedlot. Contrast that with that same land that is managed and cattle herded to simulate the natural migration on the land. No fuel or fertilizer required.

Buying from small ranchs/ranchers, that choose more humane and healthy methods of raising livestock, and in ways that are less exploitative/detrimental to the land, environment and/or climate, is a step in the right direction. And the added cost of this meat naturally leads to a reduction in consumption for most people which is good. But I'm skeptical of the claims that cattle raised in any way at scale could be a net positive. But I've no particular expertise in the area, and I'd love if it were true (it just sounds too good to be realistic).

There are lots of devils in lots of details. Consuming less meat, specifically less beef and red meat, choosing meat that is raised in more sustainable, less intensive, and more humane ways when you do it meat, and choosing products that are local to your region (and make sense to produce in your region) when possible, are simple things that can transcend lots of those devil's in the details.

Personally I do not think we should be eating less meat. Red meat included. Herbivores that are allowed live as they would in nature are a tremendous source of nutrients, far better than any of the garbage vegetable we have available today was grown using fertilizers and pesticides.

Personal opinion: I would rather live in a world where the diet was made up of high quality foods and population was not allowed to exceed supply than live in a world where gross food production was the requirement, regardless of quality, to support a population that is multiplying unnaturally. In other terms. I would rather have a few healthy people than masses of sick, fat and nearly deads.

I listened to this guy for the first time while I was typing and the basic concept is there. I have no idea if it can feed the world population. Dont really care if it can or not. It is the right thing to do and the population should adjust:

 

[noenegdod]

The argument against the suggestion in the video is usually something like this:

But as the guy in the video describes in the first video, the devil is in the details. You have to manage the land correctly. You cant just turn the cattle loose on one plot of land, observe what went wrong and declare it is a failure. Proponents for and opponents against are guilt of setting up experiments and making arguments that support their biases almost always fail to do the right thing in the face of an outcome that is counter to their desired outcome.