Meatless Monday – Beyond belief

*Featured image is not a Beyond Meat® burger. It is a vegan product that does resemble real meat though. 

Beyond Meat® burgers seem to be all the rage these days. Unlike other meat imitation products they do not make use of soy or gluten as its base. This plant based protein product uses pea protein isolate, common binding ingredients with beet juice extract to help mimic the look and texture of meat.

I’ve never been a fan of products that aim to look, taste and cook like real meat. Just the look of these burgers I find off putting.

Beyond Meat® burgers are available in Canada, the US and parts of Europe, mostly in fast food establishments and other eateries not known typically to carry healthy nutritious food.

pros:

less environmental impact than beef cattle; people transitioning may find this a gateway food to a vegan lifestyle; the name and look can appeal to both carnivores and some vegetarians/vegans; it is becoming widely available

cons:

still a processed food; expensive; glorifies meat and meat like products i.e. burgers, sausages and ground ‘meat’ and is found in the meat aisle (lentils aren’t as glamorous in comparison and soy and gluten get a bad rap though they are respectable protein options)

Give me a legume and grain based veggie burger any day over a meat lookalike.

What about you? Have you tried, are you interested in or do you like Beyond Meat®?