I tried the Beyond Meat patty, version 1 I think. Wondering if anyone else got an absolutely strange type of taste / sensation in their throat when they tried it? It wasn’t at all pleasant and really hard to describe. Kind of like - I don’t know - canola oil mixed with peanut - sort-of? While breathing in a thick gas. Very odd.

I was really hyped up to like it, but found it only somewhat like meat. I was impressed with the texture inside. The outer crust reminded me of warm cardboard. To be fair, I might have burned it so I do want to try it again. Really keen to try an Impossible Burger (anyone know if there’s somewhere in Australia that serves them?).

My whole place smelled sickly sweet after cooking it as well. I’ve seen some people describing it as smelling like cat food, which I’d agree with.

The white fatty flecks that make it look more like ground beef is coconut oil and cocoa butter.

I think coconut oil is somewhat like cilantro, in that certain people get a soap like taste from it, based on some kind of genetic trait.

Though it does have less aldehydes than some other types of oils, which goes against my theory. It does, however, have a fair amount of decanal, one of the aldehydes in cilantro.

Would "soap like" describe the unpleasant flavor at all?

Grill'd serves a beyond burger if there's one nearby.

Personally I don't think they're particularly healthy - I'll stick to chick pea patties or the occasional beef patty. They are highly processed.

I tried one of the beyond burger, I got a legume like taste, didnt like it.

I've tried one at two different Burger Kings, both tasted a bit burnt. I wouldn't mind a legume taste, but I can't do overdone. Has anyone else noticed this?

I agree, it tasted kind of synthetic, almost like plastic. I don't have that experience with other meat free burgers.

Have you tried that at A&W? I don't know what they do differently, but when I cook them at home the texture isn't as good, nor is the taste (but that's probably simply the condiments).

> weird people who doesn’t like to eat inhumanly raised animal products

It really shouldn’t be weird. It should be the default. Almost No one would purposely harm an intelligent animal yet it’s to norm to support industries that do.

> Almost No one would purposely harm an intelligent animal

Except for the fact that human beings have been purposely harming intelligent animals for food for millenia.

Unfortunately, there are plenty of people who eat chimpanzees and gorillas as bushmeat, even while appreciating their intelligence. There's no contradiction there. Humans are predators--don't underestimate our capacity to dissociate and follow our predator instincts. In fact, forget the whole predator angle--don't underestimate our capacity to dissociate. That ability isn't inherently bad; it's one of the things that makes us human, and is a prerequisite for making choices in the first place.

>Almost No one would purposely harm an intelligent animal

Thought experiment: is it ethical to eat animals that have been genetically engineered to be braindead?

I think genetically engineering animals to be braindead is itself the unethical action. If we're willing to sacrifice efficiency we could emulate what animals go through in the wild. They live a life full of socializing and emotions and then slaughtered for meat at the end.

Is it ethical to genetically engineer animals (e.g. people) to be braindead?

I've known some (otherwise) vegetarians that ate bivalves, kinds of the same thing.

I'm not sure if this is a useful thought experiment.

Why not? Animal welfare is a primary reason why some people don't eat meat. Making them braindead should alleviate the concern for those people, but I have a feeling that the same people would be against it.

The weird part might be in the rest of the quoted sentence where they don't care what other people eat.

I am not sure if that is even weird tbh. Maybe I am an outlier, but I know a lot of vegetarians and can't think of a single time where they have commented about someone eating meat.

I don't think vegetarians are usually the ones commenting, there's a reason vegans get a lot of flak on the internet. I've also never heard vegetarians commenting on anyone's dietary choices.

Why do you care if meat is inhumanly raised, and not care what other people do?

People hold themselves to different standards than the general population all the time.

Just because I cycle to work and don't own a car for environmental reasons, doesn't mean I think car owners are assholes - I have owned a car in the past, may do again in the future, sometimes get taxis and lifts, and have plenty of friends and family members with cars.

Because he respects others people's decisions and don't want to force his/her ideas in them.

That's not what he said though. He said he didn't care. That's different from respecting a decision. You can respect and still vehemently disagree.

I think that "not caring about other people actions" should be the standard way of thinking if you think their actions doesn't cause harm to other humans. That's what I get from that text.

Why is the only concern that no harm is done to humans? What about animals? Are we not animals ourselves?

But he already said he had a problem with inhumanely produced meat, in other words, actions that cause grave harm to animals. Why would you have that standard at all if you don't care if it's met?

(There's also the land use and emissions angle. Arguably meat consumption causes harm to all humans and beyond.)

> he already said he had a problem with inhumanely produced meat

Well, technically they said that they don't "like to eat inhumanly raised animal products".

But I guess the general argument is whether their stance is inherently consistent.

...which is pointless to deconstruct without further input from the parent.

For me, it’s a “chose your battles” sort of thing. I don’t seek confrontation nor even diminishing others. Life is too, too short. I further hope that my nonviolence will lead others to treat me nonviolently.

But is the parent really needed here? This discussion seems to have become "how dare you take a stance in this issue that we cannot fully understand"?

How about, while hungry they are sickened by the cruelty involved in producing food, but while full, they simply have other, more important things on their mind?

I don't care that much about animals, as far as their pain or feelings.

If we slaughter ants and fruit flies while not caring for their rights, what is that different from a cow or dog?

I know this is an unpopular position, but I don't see the logic in animal rights.

Now, when we're talking about maintaining ecosystems, I'm all for it. What's happening to bees is bad for humans.

But creating cattle just to slaughter and eat it, that's just part of our nature. Like a lion slaughters a gazelle. We just evolved to have the tools to breed them...

Maybe cattle breeding is inefficient and pollutes the planet. That's also bad,but it's the best way we've found yet to feed billions of people and keep affordable food prices.

I am sure almost every action could indirectly be related to human suffering of some sort. Using a phone for example and there is a good chance that it will have cobalt mined by children in Congo.

Sure. But that's a very weak excuse if it's one at all. I sometimes jaywalk, does this justify me mudering someone? I mean I can't be perfect right so why even try?

One could make the argument that treating animals poorly lowers the value of life.

Kind of like if someone has a poorly maintained house in your neighborhood, it impacts the value of your house.

For me (not about meat but other things) it's selfishness and ego. I care about me, I care about the picture of myself I have in my head and who I think I am. My self-image and the kind of person I want to be (and want to pretend I am) are important enough to me that there are some things I do (or not). Everyone else? Looks like they have different delusions, fantasies and aspirations about who they are and who they want to be.

Cause he’s “one of those weird people” that do so.

> I just don’t care what other people choose to eat

I wish the world had more people like you... I suspect there will be less wars.

I'm usually not in favour of posting YouTube links in Hackernews threads, but I don't think there's been a more appropriate time to link to this [0].

[0] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=teBzetVsiQM

Care to summarize the link for those of us who cannot open YouTube currently?

Upon seeing the name of the comedian, I wasn’t planning on watching, as I’d previously found his humor more baffling than funny. But, the title of the song piqued my interest, “Peace anthem for Palestine”, so I watched in entirety and include below my complete summary.

Tim Minchin, comedian pianist, is going to share a song he hopes will be a seed for peace (first 2 and 1/2 minutes), the lyrics are “You don’t eat pigs, we don’t eat pigs, why not not eat pigs together ... ... pigs.” (last 2 and 1/2 minutes)

The audience laughs and sings along. I liked the song but the laugh timing, particular when he was playing music but not speaking, made me feel as if there was an in joke I was very far outside of.

Yes, in short - peace through not eating pork.

"Why not not eat pigs together."