Reality Vs Advert: The Impossible Whopper

[HRTKD]

How many of you in this thread have been out where cattle graze, for the most part, freely? I spend a lot of time in the Rocky Mountain region in the back country of CO, WY, MT, UT, ID and AZ. Much of that area is BLM or other public land. Ranchers lease that land for grazing and there are strict rules for how many cattle are allowed in each unit. I have never felt crowded by the cattle in those areas. Sure, the cattle are there but I've never encountered more than 20 at a time. I've also never seen an area over-grazed.

Sometimes the cattle make themselves right at home where I'm camping.

 

[noenegdod]

How many of you in this thread have been out where cattle graze, for the most part, freely?

I live in Calgary Alberta. Spend a lot of time in the BLM areas to the west in the Rockies. We call them PLUZ (public land use zone). Many of the areas have grazing cattle in them.

 

[Isaac-1]

As someone that is involved in a small cattle ranch with a couple of hundred head of cattle, I can tell you the truth is much more nuanced than many of the people promoting the anti-cattle / anti-"cattle-factory" agenda would have you believe. The biggest problem is their purity standards for grass fed, sustainable, etc. cattle. What they don't tell you is there is a considerable portion of the cattle raised in the US, that anyone with an objective view would put into a gray area between "cattle-factory" and pure, sustainable, grass fed, .... Take for example grain finished cattle, which is something many ranchers do, even on the local small scale, as most people in the US prefer the taste of grain fed / grain finished cattle, to pure grass fed, which can taste more gamey. For grain finished cattle, they are moved to a cattle lot, which may be on the same property where they were raised, and trough fed grain for the last few weeks before they are sent off to be slaughtered. Alternatively if the rancher uses commercial bulk fertilizers, they tend to be not counted, or if they use modern medicines, ... The list goes on and on, until you get to the point where they can claim 99% of cattle raised in the US are factory cattle.

In our case, yes we sell most of our yearling cattle at auction to be sent off to distant feed lots, where they will be fattened up on grain before going to slaughter. There really is not much other choice for the small ranchers, the small local slaughter houses have almost all been driven out of business by federal regulations over the last 30 years, the few that remain are booked solid for many months in advance. We have a couple of head of cattle processed at a local small meat processor each year for friends and family, and right now we are having to book time slots to have individual heads of cattle processed 8-10 months out (right after Covid hit, the reservations were running 12-18 months out, so before the calf was born one already needed a reservation to have it processed) , and unless you handle your own distribution, have your own freezers, etc. there is just no way to do that on any scale that makes cattle ranching profitable, not that I consider our few hundred acres and couple of hundred head of cattle a profitable operation, at best we break even, and cover expenses, but there is a never ending cycle of financing replacement equipment, covering cost of fertilizer, as those high beef prices everyone has been seeing at the grocery store, is not reflected in price on the hoof that cattle ranchers see when they sell the unprocessed cattle.

 

[Horsefly]

So I grew up on a cattle / sheep ranch in Colorado, and I am a big fan of a good cheeseburger. I'm a regular at 5 Guys, Smashburger, and when I can find one, In-and-Out. God knows that at 63 years of age, I probably shouldn't like them as much as I do.

I also have two adult daughters, and they both are vegan. Not vigilante vegans, as they don't ever criticize anyone for not being vegan, and they have never tried to "convert" me. (They know that wouldn't go well) But they have answered my questions when I ask, and they have helped me understand things that I didn't before. I have always been the cook in my family, so their transition to vegan has been a real pain for me and my grilling / smoking and all the things I love to make with eggs, butter, and cheese. Geeesh.

With that all said, I've had opportunities to try things that I probably would not have ever tried if it were not for my daughters. One is the Impossible burger. I was not optimistic about it, and figured I would just choke it down and be done. But I have to admit, it was REALLY good. I've had both the Burger King Impossible Whopper, and a mostly up-scale steakhouse Impossible burger, and both were up there. Obviously a burger is significantly impacted by the other stuff in the sandwich, but I think that the "burger" part of these sandwiches was tasty and juicy, and mostly tasted like beef. I can't really put my finger on it, but the steak house Impossible even tasted somehow better than a "real" beef burger. I don't know how or why. It may have been the glass of Cabernet Sauvignon (or two) that made the difference.

The second thing I really liked was beyond sausage (the spicy version) in with my homemade spaghetti sauce. We've made that a regular when the daughters come back to Colorado and we go up to our cabin in the mountains. We hike for several miles and come back to the cabin for a nice spaghetti dinner, and man that sausage tastes good!

I don't like to think about how the transition will happen, but I do believe that we all will eventually be eating less meat. I don't think it will be because the gov't forces us to, but because the economics and health factors will push us all to go that way. I'm hoping to get my fill of cheeseburgers before that happens.

 

[time2roll]

In all fairness all advertised food looks better than reality.

 

[svetz]

You guys rock! Started the thread for a bit of humor, but this is interesting stuff and I'm learning a lot.

 

[WYtreasure]

As someone that is involved in a small cattle ranch with a couple of hundred head of

Yep, what Isaac-1 said.
BUT
Let me toss a wrench on the battery. Anyone consider Buffalo Vs Beef?
IMHO
Personally I don't like what ranchers and the BLM agree upon. Too much "padding of the pockets" stuff, too little consideration for the land.
My experience, which will obviously differ from others, is that one does not see many cattle on BLM land because the land does not support them. Again, in my experience it is acres per head, not heads per acre. Cows process grasslands much less efficiently than native buffalo, and are unhealthy for human consumption by comparison.

Oh yea, what about habitat for the deer, antelope, moose, elk and so on. They all taste better to ME and are better for ME than beef. Naw never-mind. That's a bitch for another time. ?

Funny side note and almost back on topic: We allowed a rancher to graze his 3 handicapped cows on our land for a bit. Super sweet acre it is, overgrown with willows, tall grass and other goodies. There is even a river running through it. Anyhow it was overgrown, the deer and beavers couldn't keep up. We trained the blind steer to come around when we called so we could give it grass from the other side of the fence. The neighbors laughed at us then too.

I'm gonna go cook up a steak now.

 

[svetz]

... Anyone consider Buffalo Vs Beef? ...

Had to google that to see...

According to EPA calculations, American bison generate as much or more methane as do beef cattle on a per-head basis [ref]

It's a big problem, but from post #247 we could eliminate about as much methane just by preventing the fugitive and vented methane from the gas industry. The other big generator is landfills, but folks are working on that too.

 

[WYtreasure]

Had to google that to see...

Yep, Buffalo or Bison may fart just as much or more as a cow but I understand they eat less to accomplish the same rear-END result.
So, more grass on the prairie = less gas in the atmosphere. Hows that go "Grass + Ass = Gas"? I may have that wrong too.

I think Cattle ranchers "donate" much more to the EPA results than Bison ranchers so the results are skewed a bit.
I don't think I'm "just moving air" but who knows. I've believed dummer shit in my life.?

 

[wiseacre]

Methane is more a product of cow burping than assgas.
It's the way their digestive system works, they repeatedly have to regurgitate the contents of their stomachs (hense- chew the cud).
Buffalos like cows also have 4 stomachs - actually one but divided into 4 compartments.
I'd guess Buffalo burps would be very similar to a cow's table manners

I recently saw something where feeding cows seaweed greatly reduces the methane.
That's great news except it's hard to get any ruminate to graze underwater.

 

[svetz]

...I recently saw something where feeding cows seaweed greatly reduces the methane....

There's the equivalent of a beano-pill for their feed too....something like a 30% reduction (ref)

 

[robby]

there is just no way to do that on any scale that makes cattle ranching profitable, not that I consider our few hundred acres and couple of hundred head of cattle a profitable operation, at best we break even, and cover expenses, but there is a never ending cycle of financing replacement equipment, covering cost of fertilizer, as those high beef prices everyone has been seeing at the grocery store, is not reflected in price on the hoof that cattle ranchers see when they sell the unprocessed cattle.

I would be interested to hear your perspective on why the Cattle business seems to be going down the Tubes. It started a decade or more ago in Argentina or Brazil and it seems that all the major cattle producers are just throwing in the towel. Is it that the slaughter houses and packaging plants have become to greedy or is it that the global consumers appetite has changed. I like beef but can only take it in small doses like one steak dinner per week. Other than that it's fish, shrimp or chicken or anything that is not as hard to digest.

 

[svetz]

Impossible is branching out into bowls...



Prices are all over the place, saw the chicken teriyaki from $2.98 to $5.98. I'll have to check the freezer section next time I'm shopping to see if they even carry them here or not. At $3 I'd try one.

Has anyone had them yet? If so, what did you think?

 

[JoeHam]

If we have to get rid of cows due to the burping and flatulence I have to wonder/worry how long it will be before they come after me ?.

 

[JoeHam]

Perhaps we can save the cows (and me) after all :

Convert atmospheric CO2 to aviation fuel ?

Hopefully this works out : https://www.tucsonsentinel.com/local/report/120722_dimensional_energy/new-tucson-factory-may-help-solve-climate-crisis-by-creating-jet-fuel-from-co2/

diysolarforum.com

Fingers crossed