Worried Beyond Belief

While cattle markets, meatpackers, beef prices, and COVID-19 have been dominating the ag news headlines, the fake meat market has been making some big moves seemingly under the radar.  Four major headlines which sparked my concern over the past few weeks have been set aside in the gamut of critical issues facing our industry today.

First, a little over a month ago, JBS debuted its own line of plant-based “burgers” under the company’s Planterra Foods brand.  “OZO” patties were prepared and offered as free samples to over one million frontline workers in Denver, Detroit, Chicago, Los Angeles, Seattle, and Portland.  After the fanfare and free samples, the new plant-based protein created by the world’s largest meat processor was made available through e-commerce and a select few retail outlets to follow.

Fast forward to the past week and three more headlines in a matter of four days urged me to key back into the actions of this so-called friendly competitor of ours.

In the midst of a pandemic when money is tight, Impossible Foods, the business with a blatant mission to eliminate animal agriculture, managed to raise another $200 million in funding – bringing the relatively new company’s financing to roughly $1.5 billion.  According to news sources, the most recent round of funding will be earmarked for product development and international operations.  And apparently, the international market could be promising for fake meat hopefuls.  A Chinese publication recently reported that the plant-based market is expected to grow by $2 billion over the next 3 years, hitting the $12 billion mark.

Even more concerning were the last two headlines to come across my email late last week.

Stanford Medicine recently published the findings of a study which found that substituting meat for plant-based protein products can lower some cardiovascular risk factors.  Plant-based protein products have been questioned by consumers as they are highly processed and high in saturated fats and sodium.  So, not surprisingly, the study, funded by an “unrestricted gift from Beyond Meat” and authored by a “longtime vegetarian,” mainly analyzed TMAO levels in a plant-based diet versus a meat-based diet.  TMAO is a molecule in the body linked to cardiovascular disease risk.

“At this point we cannot be sure that TMAO is a casual risk factor or just an association,” the study’s lead author Christopher Gardner said.

However, past studies have found associations between high levels of TMAO and increased inflammation, blood clotting, and risk for adverse cardiovascular events.  In the study, one group ate two servings of meat per day while the other ate two servings of plant-based protein per day.  Each diet was followed for two weeks before swapping to the other option.  In both cases, TMAO levels were lower when participants were on the plant-based diet.  The study also noted lower levels of LDL cholesterol and a two-pound weight loss for those munching on fake meat.

Of course, the headlines to follow made it sound a bit more glorious and fairly sure-fire with one liners like, “Plant-based Meat are Better for Heart Health” and “2 Servings of Plant-based Meat a Day May Help Lower Heart-Related Risks.”  This all occurred while our nation is working to set the dietary guidelines for Americans to follow for the next five years.  Seeing the previous strategies of these fake meat companies, I highly doubt that timing is coincidental.

And finally, the most worrisome headline I’ve seen this week read, “Beyond Meat to Make Sustainability Education Accessible to Students Nationwide.”

Yes, you may want to read that again.

Then, read the following mission statement from Beyond Meat:

“We believe there is a better way to feed our future and that the positive choices we all make, no matter how small, can have a great impact on our personal health and the health of our planet.  By shifting from animal to plant-based meat, we can positively impact four growing global issues: human health, climate change, constraints on natural resources, and animal welfare.”

So, a company that believes shifting from real meat to fake meat can positively affect human health, climate change, natural resources, and animal welfare is creating a curriculum for our nation’s students to learn just that.  After all, when you mention sustainability it brings to mind nearly exactly the “four growing global issues” the company believes could be solved by shifting from animal agriculture.  Do you not think that’s what that course will then teach our impressionable, young students?

“Health and sustainability are core to our mission at Beyond Meat, so we’re thrilled to partner with EVERFI to bring this digital course to students across the U.S.,” Ethan Brown, Beyond Meat Founder and CEO, said.  “We see food as a vehicle for change; this course being an important part of that commitment, helping students to learn more about the role of diet in health and sustainability.”

Beyond Meat has partnered with EVERFI, a digital learning platform, in order to make the “science-based course on sustainability” available to students, teachers, and parents nationwide.  And, of course, it’s free.

The course is set to launch as soon as October for access in the 2020-2021 school year.  Given the uncertainty many of our public schools are facing, it will also be entirely accessible for virtual learning scenarios.

It’s free, it’s virtual, and it’s easily accessible.  Kudos to Beyond Meat for creating a curriculum that perfectly fits the needs of today’s student.  However, the possibility of the content presented to those students concerns me beyond belief.

Now is the time for our Beef Checkoff to ramp up ag in the classroom more than ever.  We too need a course on sustainability that is just as easy for parents, students, and teachers to utilize.  After all, our industry is the walking, talking definition of sustainability.  Our businesses have survived over 100 years of difficult dynamics all while improving our product and doing more with less.  That’s a story worth sharing and lesson worth teaching.