As 2019 comes to a close, it’s clear that the latest food trend isn’t avocado toast but meatless meat. Fast-food chains are collectively grasping the trend of these alternative meats. According to The Spoon, The Cheesecake Factory was the first major chain restaurant to introduce fake meat in the U.S. Ever since that point over a year ago, fake meat has exploded in popularity across the nation.
Two companies have been reaping all the benefits of these partnerships: Beyond Meat and Impossible Foods have partnered with seemingly every fast food joint and their branding is all over it. From Burger King’s “Impossible Whopper” to Carl’s Jr.’s “Beyond Star Burger,” these two companies have taken the trend to go green into the hard green. In May 2019, Beyond Meat went public on the stock market, starting at $25, which soared to over $100 per share. That made the company worth over $10 billion in the remaining shares.
As climate change continues to dominate the forefront of many discussions, people are seeking more environmental ways to get what tastes amazing. And meat alternatives are a great way to combat it. The American factory farming system, which raises and slaughters more than 9 billion animals per year, is a key contributing factor to climate change.
The thing to remember is that meat alternatives have been around for quite a long time but the current trend is starkly different in one key way. The plants that Impossible Foods and Beyond Meat use are meant to taste like meat are marketed to meat-lovers. Veggie burgers, which are frankly the same thing, are marketed to vegans and vegetarians.
And even though the popularity has been there for quite some years, what makes 2018 and 2019 different from before is that companies are finally taking action. As more Americans become concerned with their health, the market demand has increased to the point it almost seems foolish not to add it to the menu. But with that said, it’s not exactly clear if these meatless meats are exactly healthy. While they are made from plants, they are processed foods and like all processed foods, they are likely less healthy than unprocessed veggies.
What’s interesting is that even meat companies, such as Tyson Foods, are introducing meat-less products. But frankly, this will likely go nowhere, at least in the U.S.. According to Frontiers in Sustainable Food Systems, 25% of Americans claim they will never try fake meat and 50% say they are unlikely to try it. That means 75% of Americans are probably not going to try fake meat. And at that point, the market share is far too small for it to make a sizable impact on climate change.
But that’s not even the most concerning part. Notice the companies entering the fake meat market. Burger King, Del Taco, Tyson Foods — these are companies that have been selling meat since before most of us were born. It’s even possible that they are made in the exact same factories in which they are killing the animals. So, fake meat probably isn’t healthy or vegan and all for a higher price than it’s worth. So, in reality, it’s just a perfect marketing ploy.
Don’t get me wrong — I’m not advocating for eating meat. It’s a key driver of climate change, water pollution and land degradation, not to mention the health risks of the processing factor.
But fake meat isn’t the ray of sunshine it claims to be, and many people already realize this; that’s why, despite the social media explosion, it still has a low market share. This can also be explained by the psychological theory of cognitive dissonance, the discomfort people feel when their actions and beliefs don’t line up.
A prime example of our cognitive dissonance around meat is the belief that meat is bad for our health but our actions saying that we like meat. We are more likely to change our beliefs than we are to change our actions, according to Leon Festinger, the theory’s originator, which explains why we continue to eat meat. So, why don’t we eat fake meat? Because it’s ‘unnatural,’ meaning that humans are not used to eating just veggies; therefore, we don’t.
Meanwhile, fake meat, in theory, is an amazing alternative to meat. But therein lies the problem — it’s just a theory. There’s no proof that fake meat is healthier, in addition to the fact that it’s an unnatural thing for humans and could cause massive health complications in the event of a mass change over. The low market share makes it unlikely that it’s going to make a dent in the animal processing industry. And at the end of the day, what is fake meat made of, really? It’s an overpriced patty that somehow tastes like meat, made and sold by the very companies whose specialty is meat. If we are being honest, this sounds more than a little off.
