I found the solution!

[Cain]

I'm going to third what nullified and Howl have said.

I've tried Beyond Meat burgers, and while there is a little...something (I believe it's texture related) that makes it feel not quite like real meat, it's very damn close. Not to mention if you are having it in a burger, it's covered in enough sauce, fried onions, cheese, lettuce etc to really make it hard to pick out. I was purposefully looking for differences and I found a very minor one.

If the price went down, I'd happily eat them in lieu of real meat 95% of the time (I've not heard of any good imitation fish or bacon). I wholeheartedly recommend them to anyone who is looking to give it a try.

[Fujikoma]

I think it important to note that the real goal isn't to just, do away with the meat industry over night. Like it or not, cows shit, big, floppy dumps, all the time. Ever seen a cow shit? I've spent enough time growing up and exploring the woods and a ranch to know JUST HOW MUCH THEY SHIT. It's huge. Methane is a greenhouse gas. Now, I still eat meat, but I try to eat a lot more vegetarian food, because any dent I can make in my carbon footprint is better than just being the straight-up carnivore nature designed me to be. Luckilly, foods that can meet my needs are more plentiful now.

[Cain]

Yeah, the methane they produce accounts for something like 15% of all man-made emissions of greenhouse gases. It's ridiculously potent.

I also eat more meat than I should, though I'm not eating it every day (or even every other day) at this point. My sister's a vegan, but I'm honestly not quite that committed.

[altered]

NVM, I changed my mind, they aren't. What I clearly ment with that first comment (probably) was the owners, who'd be left with stagnant production lines specifically designed to make living things dead. Bit of lobbying and they could repurpose those into amusement parks for orphan children or something equally disturbing.

Sounds like someone doesn't support THE FREE MARKET!

[Q. G. Pennyworth]

oddly enough, buying more steak has helped our household reduce meat consumption. The Husband has an unfortunate blood type thing that requires a shitton more iron than is healthy for the rest of us, and for the longest time I was trying to find a middle ground between the food he needs and the rest of us. Now I just buy cheap steak and freeze it (buddy also likes his meat lean as hell and cooked to death, so it's cheaper than you'd think). A couple nights a week he's a happy camper cause he gets his red meat and the rest of us have a meat free dinner.

[Fujikoma]

I've been having trouble because my iron levels are horribly excessive, much as I like meat, and much as my primary care physician may say that, eating meat isn't affecting it, I still feel the need to cut back on any sources of iron. Then again I'm a horrible mutant and may be about to evolve into a new pokemon, but I'm not willing to put bets on that. More likely the simplest answer is the best, which is, "stop eating iron or you're going to get a systemic overdose."... that's not the case for everyone.

[Doktor Howl]

NVM, I changed my mind, they aren't. What I clearly ment with that first comment (probably) was the owners, who'd be left with stagnant production lines specifically designed to make living things dead. Bit of lobbying and they could repurpose those into amusement parks for orphan children or something equally disturbing.

You think you're joking but you're not.  It's been done.

[altered]

NVM, I changed my mind, they aren't. What I clearly ment with that first comment (probably) was the owners, who'd be left with stagnant production lines specifically designed to make living things dead. Bit of lobbying and they could repurpose those into amusement parks for orphan children or something equally disturbing.

You think you're joking but you're not.  It's been done.

I had thought so but had no proof and didn't want to be yelled at for a childhood memory.

Yes, so, I strongly have a childhood memory of touring a slaughterhouse. A big part of MEAT PLACE was driven by the memory of this very nearly psychedelic trip through a not-totally-cleaned up meat processing house that had cardboard animals haphazardly stood up in corners.

There were three men who we were stopped and got lectured at by along the way, all former employees who were clearly upset their old job was replaced with This Shit.

The whole thing wasn't scary really, just sad.

[Frontside Back]

NVM, I changed my mind, they aren't. What I clearly ment with that first comment (probably) was the owners, who'd be left with stagnant production lines specifically designed to make living things dead. Bit of lobbying and they could repurpose those into amusement parks for orphan children or something equally disturbing.

Sounds like someone doesn't support THE FREE MARKET!

It felt like a decent idea, but it turns out you need to pay for everything there, despite the name...

[altered]

That gave me an epiphany.

Capitalism is fast food. Socialism is an all you can eat buffet. Late stage capitalism is a fancy restaurant with a waiting list and a cover charge.

Capitalism doesn't charge you for walking in the door, but you get garbage and have to pay through the nose for it.

Socialism charges you to get inside, but you get to have it all in there. The problem is so does everyone else and they're all stinking apes (you too) so it's a health hazard.

And late stage capitalism charges you to get on the list, charges you to get in the door, and charges you to eat anything on top of it all.

[LMNO]

Is the Not-Meat stuff only replicating ground meat?  That severely limits menu options.

[Q. G. Pennyworth]

Is the Not-Meat stuff only replicating ground meat?  That severely limits menu options.

There are commercially available reasonable chicken stand-ins, but they do best in nugget or patty form. There's a sorta McRib equivalent that's decent, but that's largely a function of being slathered in bbq sauce. I haven't tried any of the sausage ones, but I imagine they work alright based on the expected texture. Basically as long as the meat you're replacing is sufficiently processed you can get away with the fakes, but a proper fake steak is nowhere on the horizon.

[chaotic neutral observer]

I don't get the whole artificial meat thing.

I mean, I like meat?  But I think I'd rather have real vegetables than fake meat made from plants.  Is transforming it into synthetic meat really the best way to prepare a vegetable?

[Q. G. Pennyworth]

I don't get the whole artificial meat thing.

I mean, I like meat?  But I think I'd rather have real vegetables than fake meat made from plants.  Is transforming it into synthetic meat really the best way to prepare a vegetable?

Vegetable meat-like foods can be a good way to manage a craving or to help people who want to cut down on meat to do some easy swaps. You're right that less processed vegetarian meals are better, but meat substitutes are reasonable baby steps.

[Doktor Howl]

I don't get the whole artificial meat thing.

I mean, I like meat?  But I think I'd rather have real vegetables than fake meat made from plants.  Is transforming it into synthetic meat really the best way to prepare a vegetable?

Fake meat is either fungus based, or is based on beets, which aren't any kind of food at all.