The Impossible Burger is supplemented with a ton of B vitamins (for thiamine, several weeks' supply).
Most vegans eat lots of other B containing foods, including yeast (which is after all how plant-eating animals manufacture B vitamins in the first place, by fermentation during digestion). But for those who want to get it along with their protein source, the plant-based meat-simulacra also contain it.
The only reason most meats have B12 is because the animals are supplemented with it as well, because modern farming has sterilized to the point where even these animals don't get enough naturally.
So either way your B12 is coming from supplements. It's either in a pill already, or the flesh of animal who didn't want to die, and they simply took the pill on your behalf.
This is silly. The solution to a vitamin deficiency is vitamins. Clearly they're deficient while eating meat too, so that doesn't seem like a strong argument against plant based proteins.
No, they are not "clearly deficient while eating meat" as you claim. There's a documented B12 deficiency in vegans and vegetarians that isn't present in meat eaters.
Cherry picking one vitamin deficiency in vegans. Omnivores are deficient in other vitamins. The answer is supplementing, not changing foods you eat.
> Omnivores had the lowest intake of Mg, vitamin C, vitamin E, niacin and folic acid. Vegans reported low intakes of Ca and a marginal consumption of the vitamins D and B12.
That does not seem to be a matter of 'practical' but rather a matter of eating preferences.
Honestly our food habits are just out of whack. If you go to any Asian or African country (outside the touristic areas) you'll find how many classical/common dishes taste great without meat. From Chinese noodle soups to Thai curries to Ethiopian bean dishes or Indian anything, you miss neither nutrients nor flavour without meat.
I would argue the vegetarian movement has made a huge impact in reawakening many 'western' recipes which disappeared when near became cheap. From beetroot to Brussels sprouts to pickles to lentil stews and grilled vegetables - lots of things are back on the plate.
All that long said for a short message: yes it can be very practical if we collectively (or individually) want it to be.
That is not the argument, though. I firmly believe that an overwhelming majority of people who read HN would be able to practically remove meat from their diet. It's not about everyone, it's about individuals, and individuals should strive to do their best given their circumstances.
I don't like the dogmatic absolutism as well. All meat? I can't eat sustainably farmed, smoked mussels? And if we are talking vegan I cannot eat sustainable honey or cheese? It's asinine and arbitrary. The vegan/vegetarian cause would create more pragmatic change if it were more welcoming and respected those who are willing to cut back.
You get slammed for people not liking your response, but yet your point is spot on. The number of vegetarians has been pretty steady over the last decades in the US. Hoping people become all vegetarien isn't practical. If I was a dictator I'd ban meat eating, but I am not and that's good.
As always: it's not allowed to ask for better people! We need to create a system that makes the wrong people do the right thing.
People aren't liking the response because it seems like it is saying "it isn't practical for me to take on this tiny inconvenience for the betterment of the world".
I have to admit as a meat eater that Impossible ground beef substitute is “there” on a taste basis now.
If they can get it to 25% of its current cost, I could see it become viable to replace many uses of ground beef now. If they get it to 12-15% of its current cost, I think it would displace a massive percentage of purchases of meat protein. It really is good, not just “edible” and I can imagine they’re nowhere near the economic minimum cost to produce.
https://www.fastcompany.com/90461008/this-graph-will-show-yo...