1768

So we have a friend who is pescatarian, basically vegetarian but eats fish. I’ve tried the Beyond and Impossible burgers, but as a non vegetarian (but very low, nearly no, red meat) I didn’t have an idea how he would respond.

Turns out he thinks they are pretty good. He prefers Beyond I think, but as someone who has been a decade+ without meat he seemed very open to them. So while I have no doubt there are some who object to the flavor and texture profile, I suspect such resistance is going to be comparatively limited.

1769

I’m not sure why I didn’t know there was a specific word for this, but neat!

What I meant is, I’ve seen some of these pitches on Shark Tank as well as pitches else where, and some of these companies are specifically targeting meat eaters to get them/us to eat less meat as opposed to catering to vegetarians who want some old favorites. So something like making a patty bleed might seem unnecessary or disgusting to a vegetarian the eat less meat crowd might find it comforting.

It’s just intriguing to me to see how the approach differs based on who you are selling to. As a consumer, if it tastes good and is better for me… okay! I think it’s questionable how much better it is though in terms of health, less cows though seems more conclusive due to information like posted above.

1770

I feel like anyone who would look at the climate crisis and say, “But I need my meat to bleed real blood,” is fucking insane.

1771

That’s not the thought process… at all.

It’s how can we replace a thing that is so ingrained in American society, as well as others, the least painful way possible to get the widest acceptance and willingness to shift. It’s a lot faster to get people to chose to move to something they like than to outlaw cows.

1772

I mean the Impossible patties bleed beet juice, not real blood. It’s really really hard to change people’s eating habits, particularly on a large scale. If Impossible can make it appealing to meat eaters, it’s probably a good thing.

Yeah, that’s what I am. (Though as my gf’s daughter pointed out yesterday, there’s not a lot of consistency there. Fish and shrimp are quite different things, but get lumped together into my pescatarian diet–mostly because I love shrimp tacos.)

1773

Must be a San Diego thing. (this is the same friend who is into hiking and long trail races that lives in San Diego)

1774

I can’t tell if either of you (@Nesrie or @Matt_W) think that I was saying that we should stop trying to make fake meat “bleed” in order to win over the masses.

1775

As it turns out, that “blood” in your steak isn’t blood at all.

It’s myoglobin, the protein that delivers oxygen to an animal’s muscles. This protein turns red when meat is cut, or exposed to air. Heating the protein turns it a darker color. Rare meat isn’t “bloody,” it is just cooked to a lower temperature.

1776

I don’t think there’s a thread for Elon Musk’s Neuralink, but it seems to be coming along nicely

1777

Someone else put that in the “what could go wrong” thread. I prefer to think about quadriplegics walking again as “what could go right”.

1778

It’s both. Helping people in need is definitely a great thing, but the potential for abuse there is goddamn terrifying.

1779

That’s true of any innovative tech breakthrough though, so I tend to not focus on the negatives.

1780

I know right! Would a record-breaking Pong score even be legitimate if it were a Monkey using mind controls!?

1781

What about Breakout:)

1782

Didn’t know of a great place to put this, but I figured this is the best place, considering it’s science adjacent. I love everything about this.

1783

Is it weird that I’m kinda in agreement with Steak-Umms here? And I’ve done my share of scientific research at the graduate level. Kudos to whoever has taken over that social media account. Give that former Philosophy major a raise!

1784

I’m with you in being team Steak-Umms on this. The account has been doing this for a bit I guess. Here is Steak-Umms on normative v. positive claims.

1785

What a weird voice for Steak-umm, but hey, if public schools won’t teach the difference maybe kids will learn it from their favorite frozen meat product.

And they’re right about Tyson. I really appreciate the guy, but he is often way too far up his own ass.

1786

Investigating this I went down the rabbit hole and found possibly the best descriptions ever of Steak-Umms by one of their senior execs: meat sheets.

1787

Yeah, strange flex for a meat sheet company.

My prescriptive claim is that the Steak-Umm dude should use upper case letters as normal people do.