A New Burger Frontier

Plant-based patties offer alternatives for meat-loving consumers

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We’ve all noticed the explosion of plant-based meat substitutes in supermarkets and on restaurant menus, particularly in regard to burgers. The meatless frenzy may seem like a trend, but at the heart of these offerings is a larger mission that extends beyond the plate. By reaching for many of these products, consumers are opening the doors to the future of food and acknowledging the environmental impact of our consumption of meat. For the burger purist, biting into a grilled patty and seeing a warm, red-tinged center is satisfying. But what if you could experience that sensation without the beef?

Stephen McIninch, an associate professor with the Center for Environmental Studies at Virginia Commonwealth University, says the addition of plant-based alternatives that mimic the real deal give consumers a chance to reach for more sustainable food options. McIninch says the reach of the beef industry is huge, as are its potential environmental impacts, including increased greenhouse gases, water and air pollution, and deforestation. 

“The overall problem stems from an increase in beef demand [globally] and the producers working to meet that demand without consideration of negative externalities,”he says.

McIninch believes that meat alternatives can help provide a solution to some of the beef industry's potential impact, and an incentive to those who believe that they can’t go without meat. “If we acknowledge that feeding ourselves plants, instead of being secondary consumers [eating those that ate the plants], we can reduce our environmental impact, and even doing a Meatless Monday switch in our diets or a complete switch will help.”

Impossible Foods

“We are eliminating the need for animals in the food system,” says Jessica Appelgren, vice president of communications for Impossible Foods.

Patrick O. Brown, CEO of the California-based company, is a former biochemistry professor who took an 18-month sabbatical beginning in 2009 to tackle what he felt was the world’s No. 1 environmental problem: animal farming. He gathered a team of scientists and launched Impossible Foods in 2011. 

Brown knew that in order for his company’s product to have an impact, he had to create a meat-free patty that could equal the sensory experience of its beefy counterpart — a plant-based twin that could help address climate change and land and water depletion as well. 

In January, the company unveiled Impossible Burger 2.0, a revamped version of its original patty that Appelgren describes as “delivering the rich, beefy taste that discerning meat lovers demand.” It recently landed on the menu at Heritage, where chef and co-owner Joe Sparatta says that, along with serving the Impossible Burger, he will source grass-fed beef from small Virginia farms. He doesn’t want to support mass beef production. “The environmental damage that occurs in raising cattle for consumption is catastrophic to our planet.” 

Now gluten-free, the Impossible Burger has replaced wheat with soy, and ingredients include water, plant proteins, sunflower and coconut oils, and heme, an iron-containing molecule that gives beef its flavor and sets the 2.0 burgers apart. Currently only available in restaurants (they will hit grocers later this year), the burgers “bleed” “medium rare” or “medium” centers mimicking traditional patties, and, according to Appelgren, they “generate flavors our taste buds and brain recognize as meat.”

Beyond Meat

Producers of another popular burger alternative, Los Angeles-based Beyond Meat, was founded in 2009. CEO Ethan Brown (no relation to Patrick Brown) wanted to focus on the future of protein and create a product directly from plants that could have a positive impact on humans, animals and the earth. 

“Historically, meat has been defined in terms of origin — cow, chicken, pig, etc. — and we want to shift the conversation towards defining meat in terms of composition,” says a company rep. “At a molecular level, meat is essentially proteins, fats, trace minerals and water. None of these elements are exclusive to the animal and can easily be sourced in the plant kingdom.”

Beyond Burgers are available at grocers and restaurants, including the fast food chain Carl’s Jr.

Beyond Meat recently launched Beyond Burger 2.0, a gluten-free patty blending pea, mung bean and rice protein, along with coconut oil, potato starch and beets for color that's intended to be more fibrous and chewy.

Beyond Meat commissioned the University of Michigan to assess the environmental impact of the Beyond Burger compared with a beef burger, in a study released in September. According to Beyond Meat, “The report found that producing a quarter-pound Beyond Burger requires 99 percent less water, 93 percent less land, generates 90 percent fewer greenhouse gas emissions and requires nearly 50 percent less energy than a quarter-pound beef burger.”

The Flip Side

Jason Carter, director of government affairs for the Virginia Cattlemens Association, says the beef industry has made improvements in the past 20 years and claims it produces 30 percent more beef while using 30 percent fewer cattle. “The industry is much more sustainable and leaves less of an environmental footprint than people realize,”he says. 

Although burger alternatives have been embraced by vegetarians and meat eaters alike, farming groups and cattle farmers continue to battle to uphold what the term “meat” really means. Carter says the association supports advances in meat alternatives, but that cattle farmers want the production of alternatives to be held to the same standards as beef. In early March, the USDA and FDA agreed to establish a framework to regulate cell-cultured meat, “meat” grown in a lab using cell cultures.

“We do have an issue with using our good name to try and promote products that aren’t what they say they are,” says Carter. “Dairy and beef have a connotation of being healthy and satisfying and full of minerals and proteins. … Most of the times with these beef alternatives, it’s just the texture that resembles it.”

Where to find...

The Impossible Burger

Beyond Burger