The Spectacular Rise and Fall of Fake Meat in America

Plain English with Derek Thompson

The Ringer

News Commentary, News

4.8 • 1.8K Ratings

🗓️ 10 February 2023

⏱️ 36 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

For the past 50 years, Americans have basically responded to the case against eating animals by eating more animals. The share of Americans who call themselves vegan or vegetarian hasn’t increased in the past 20 years. But a few years ago, I was certain that we were near peak meat, thanks to the rise of plant-based “meat” products—like Impossible Burgers and Beyond Meat sausages. In 2019 and 2020, I looked like a genius, as meat-substitute products surged. But then came the crash. Beyond Meat’s publicly traded stock is down more than 80 percent from its all-time high. Impossible Burger has announced layoffs of more than 20 percent of its staff. So what happened? Today’s guest is Deena Shanker, who wrote a blockbuster story for Bloomberg on this very topic. We talk about the spectacular rise and fall of fake meat—and what it tells us about food, taste, politics, and technology. Host: Derek Thompson Guest: Deena Shanker Producer: Devon Manze Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Transcript

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0:48.0	For the past 50 years, Americans have basically responded to the case against eating animals
0:56.0	by consistently eating more animals.
0:59.0	We have heard, again and again, about the moral and ecological cost of eating meat
1:05.0	from viral documentary footage of slaughterhouses to activists organizations like PETA,
1:10.0	scientific reports on the fossil fuel cost of producing a medallion of beef.
1:15.0	And it hasn't made much of a difference.
1:17.0	The share of Americans who call themselves vegan or vegetarian has barely increased in the last 20 years.
1:25.0	With every passing decade, Americans have eaten more and more meat per capita.
1:31.0	And this doesn't make us unique, by the way.
1:33.0	As most countries get richer, they eat more and more meat.
	...

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