Teeth bared in ‘meat’ battle
As plant-based substitutes gain ground, cattle ranchers aren’t giving up without a fight, writes Laura Reiley
Tofurky — a plant-based meat substitute — wasn’t keeping cattle ranchers awake at night. For decades, veggie burgers were the token offering to vegetarians at the backyard barbecue.
But as plant-based meat goes from an afterthought to a financial juggernaut that aims to change how most people eat, the opposition has suddenly awakened: many of the United States’ 800,000 cattle ranchers have declared war on newcomers Impossible Foods and Beyond Meat, which use technology to make products that are similar to meat, and now “firstgeneration” veggie burgers and similar products are caught in the crossfire.
This year, officials in nearly 30 states have proposed bills to prohibit companies from using words such as “meat”, “burger”, “sausage”, “jerky” or “hot dog” unless the product came from an animal that was born, raised and slaughtered in a traditional way. Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Dakota, South Dakota, Oklahoma and Wyoming have already enacted such laws.
Mississippi’s new law is sweeping: “Any food product containing cellcultured animal tissue or plant-based or insect-based food shall not be labelled meat or as a meat product.”
The states, in most cases backed by cattlemen’s associations, claim that consumer confusion is the driving force for the laws.
“Beyond Meat Beefy Crumbles has a picture of a cow on the front and says ‘plant-based’ in very small lettering at the bottom,” says Mike Deering, a cattle rancher and the executive vice president of the Missouri Cattlemen’s Association. “I’m a dad and I’m going through the grocery store before one of my boys has a meltdown, and [if] I pick up that package that says beef with a picture of a cow on it, I’m going to buy it.”
This isn’t quite a David v Goliath fight. The cattle associations have enormous political power, and several of the top veggie brands such as Morningstar Farms and Boca are owned by food giants such as Kellogg and Kraft Heinz. Notably, the major meat processors aren’t taking sides, relying on the ranchers for traditional meat but also investing heavily in these new alternatives they believe consumers increasingly desire.
Traditional animal agriculture is looking to the lessons learnt by the dairy industry, which saw cows’ milk sales dwindle by US$1.1 billion last year, much of that business scooped
up by alternative milks such as almond and oat. And some of the biggest retailers and restaurants in America are now on board with plantbased alternatives.
Next month, Impossible Burgers are due to appear in grocery stores. Subway has announced meatless meatballs, Carl’s Jr and sister company Hardee’s have climbed on the meatless meat wagon, Dunkin’ introduced its Beyond Sausage breakfast sandwich and Burger King expanded the reach of its Impossible Whopper to all franchises.
Last month Tofurky joined forces with the American Civil Liberties Union, the Good Food Institute (a nonprofit that promotes plant-based meat) and the Animal Legal Defence Fund to file a lawsuit claiming Arkansas’ new labelling law, which went into effect July 24, violates the constitution.
“If we lose, there’s something wrong with our judicial system,” says Tofurky chief executive Jaime Athos. “The first thing to get out of the way is that people are confused. It’s all [the cattlemen’s associations] can come up with to censor speech.”
The bigger issue, Athos says, should focus on the benefits of a plant-based diet.
“The meat industry’s chickens are coming home to roost. Their industry was propped up by agricultural subsidies and misrepresented the true nutritional value and necessity of meat in the American diet,” he says. “We know better. These are not healthy things.”
There are reasons for Athos to be positive. Tofurky has enjoyed yearon-year double-digit growth limited only by production capacity, he says.
“There’s no question we’re seeing more attention to the category,” says Michele Simon, executive director of the Plant Based Food Association, which advocates for the leading plant-based food companies. “To have a company like Tofurky have an easy time talking to Walmart? This wasn’t the case five or 10 years ago.”
For Jan Dutkiewicz, a postdoctoral fellow at Johns Hopkins University who teaches a class a class titled “Modernity and the Slaughter House”, these first- and second-generation plant-based companies make strange bedfellows, with differing agendas.
“Tofu and seitan have been around for centuries. These were not on the mainstream radar — the stuff hippies eat. For Tofurky and Morningstar, customers were more vegans and vegetarians, not mainstream consumers. They weren’t trying to compete with meat on taste,” he says. “Impossible and Beyond are not an outgrowth of Tofurky. Their aim is to mimic meat as closely as possible. They are trying to supplant meat entirely.”
The investment capital involved is different, too, Dutkiewicz says, “by orders of magnitude”. Plant-based items that closely mimic meat are seen as a promising new revenue stream for most big meat and food companies. These giants are beginning to reposition themselves as “protein companies”.
Smithfield Foods, the world’s largest pork producer, this month announced it would launch a plantprotein line under the Pure Farmland brand. Maple Plant-Based Breakfast Patties, Simply Seasoned Plant-Based Protein Starters and six other products will debut in stores next month. Tyson Foods is debuting its own meatlessprotein line. Perdue has launched blended meatand-veg chicken nuggets, tenders and patties. Nestle´ is rolling out a plant-based line, and Hormel’s Applegate has debuted blended meat-and-mushroom burgers.
The top item on the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association’s list of 2019 policy priorities is to hash out a regulatory framework for plantbased and cell-based meat.
According to Deering, some of the hubbub really relates to the anticipated launch next year of cell-based meat — meat, poultry and seafood products derived from muscle tissue grown in a lab with cells harvested from a living animal.
“We are at the mercy of the market, at the mercy of the weather,” Deering says. “We represent some of the most resilient people on the planet who can compete any day of the week and twice on Sunday. This is about consumer protection.”
This month the Centre for Consumer Freedom (CCF), which lobbies for the fast food, meat, alcohol and tobacco industries, placed ads in the
Wall Street Journal and New York Post highlighting the ingredients in fake bacon and fake sausage, pointing out that plant-based meat options are often highly processed and suggesting this might not fit with what consumers think of as “healthy”.
“People see veggie burgers on the menu and think it sounds like it’s chopped-up salad,” says Will Coggin, managing director of CCF.
“Despite what the name leads people to believe, ‘plant-based’ meats are made in industrial facilities, not gardens. Fake meat companies are trying to promote a ‘health halo’ over their products, but consumers should know that imitation meat is highly processed and in some cases has more calories and sodium than the real thing.”
Despite what the name leads people to believe, ‘plant-based’ meats are made in industrial facilities, not gardens. Lobbyist Will Coggin