What heartens me is that the shift towards plant-base protein can be gradual while still having a large impact. Ingredients like ground beef make up the majority(?) [1] of beef sold and there are already good plant based simulacra on the market [2] with more coming soon.
I have my doubts we'll see anything marketable and cost competitive that could compete with larger cuts of meat in the next decade, but I could see a near-term future where Taco Bell is using a 50/50 beef/plant "meat" in their food with that ratio shifting away from animal products with time.
You are missing the point of OPs post. The premise would be that we as a society would be accepting of meat alternatives and a company like Taco bell may market this way.
Honestly, if all you do is just stop eating beef, you'll cut your footprint from meat by more than half. A serving of chicken takes about 20% of the resources of the same serving of beef.
Lighter cuts of meat combined with the right spices are a gateway to lots of interesting dishes with less or even no meat.
You'll get roughly the same amount of meat from 1 cow as you will from 200 chickens. Worth considering if pounds of flesh per life is a factor in your decision.
Grandparent is likely talking about environmental effect per amount of meat produced. Cows are much worse than chicken in that regard because of all the methane that they're farting out.
No one's contesting that, but you can't only consider environmental impact when the differences in animal welfare are unfathomably worse for chicken meat production - easily orders of magnitude worse per pound of meat.
Anyone thinking of trading beef consumption for chicken for one ethical reason (environment) should really be aware of and consider all ethical implications first. I strongly believe people underestimate the harm chickens go through (beef cows are treated pretty well, unlike chickens), let alone understand the number of chickens they eat per year.
I'd have to disagree on that. I've had most fake meats on the market. The closest that comes to real meat is Quorn, and that's only for poultry and such. There's just something off about most meat substitutes.
I agree that there's nothing out there that can simulate a grilled steak, but I don't think you're going to notice the difference between real ground beef and the fake stuff in a Taco Bell taco.
I don't think you're going to notice the difference between real ground beef and the fake stuff in a Taco Bell taco.
That's not really saying much, is it? How about a nice burger made with well-marbled ground chuck? Much harder to replicate the flavour and texture of that.
I have my doubts we'll see anything marketable and cost competitive that could compete with larger cuts of meat in the next decade, but I could see a near-term future where Taco Bell is using a 50/50 beef/plant "meat" in their food with that ratio shifting away from animal products with time.
[1]: http://meat.tamu.edu/ground-beef-labeling/ [2]: http://beyondmeat.com/products/view/beefy-crumble