“Not a Burger” patty, local heirloom tomato, lettuce, onion, mushrooms, fresh baked sesame bun.
Valley engineers who, incidentally, are well aware of the connotation of their name. Products and companies like Impossible Foods (now owned by PepsiCo), Beyond Meats, JUST Eggs, and Right Rice all market themselves as a nearly-miracle food that is an apples-to-apples replacement for animal products, and that because they are vegan (made from plants—no animal ingredients) they are inherently “better” in all regards. From JUST Eggs: “The egg is the world’s most
eaten animal protein, so we reimagined it…. A better egg…” This company has recently launched GOOD Meat—a “cultured” meat (laboratory grown from chicken cells) available exclusively at 1880, a private club/restaurant in Singapore. Upon many hours of research and reading through websites of industrial/laboratory-rooted, plant-based food companies, mission statements, company histories, FAQs, and ingredient lists, a similar motif appears: a great deal of eloquently written material about a desire to make positive changes for the future of food and to solve tomorrow’s food problems today. Data is shown on how much less land and water is used in plant foods vs. livestock and how plants scrub CO2
instead of producing it
as animals do; how these substitutes are nutri- tionally equal or better than their animal-based counterparts; and of course that in making plant- based foods, no animals are harmed. Ultimately, the goal of this very well-crafted content is to market these products as something inherently better that you not only want, but need.
Putting the Nature Back in Health Foods
Admittedly, what these food scientists are doing is remarkable and I support creating accessible, nutritious, globally healthy and sustainable food. However, in light of all the hubris-driven capa- bilities of humankind while taking these steps, do we really believe we can improve upon what nature has done for millennia? Besides asking “can we?” and “how much money will this make?” did anyone stop to ask, “should we?” Plant foods, in their unadulterated natural forms, are already packed with amino acids, proteins, micronutri- ents, antioxidants, and all the nutrients we need. Do we really need to see the flora of this earth so heavily processed in laboratories that we don’t even recognize them as plants in the end? Do we need to have a plant substitute for eggs, dairy, beef, and so on? How much energy is used in the production and transportation of laboratory- based foods? What is their end footprint—is it any better than local, seasonal, slow food-style
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Slow roasted organic local beets are the star for flavor + nutrition.
ESSENTIAL Naples
SPRING 2021
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