r/politics • u/huffpost ✔ HuffPost • 29d ago

No Paywall Trump Official Bluntly Tells Americans To Change Their Diet If Beef Prices Are Too High

https://www.huffpost.com/entry/brooke-rollins-beef-prices-trump_n_6ab29ecfe4b085277b53a8d0?utm_medium=Social&utm_source=reddit&utm_campaign=us_main
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u/SomeDumbPenguin America 29d ago

Plus, a lot of those meat alternatives like the Beyond products are around the same price point per a pound as beef currently is

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u/nightmaresabin 29d ago

An Impossible Whopper at my local Burger King is a dollar more than the normal beef Whopper.

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u/gleaf008 29d ago

That’s unpossible.

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u/ciaomain New York 29d ago

Me fail English?

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u/teknorath 29d ago
unpossible

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u/poorlilwitchgirl 28d ago

That's just the Vegan Tax. Plant-based foods have always been less resource intensive and thus (after accounting for animal ag subsidies) cheaper sources of protein on a gram for gram basis, but companies charge more because it's a small but dedicated market. The pendulum has actually been swinging away from the plant-based market lately, but maybe this will change that.

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u/dformed Washington 29d ago

It's like a $3 substitution at Red Robin, but tbf it's usually slightly better than their beef patties.

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u/psiphre Alaska 29d ago

actually love me an impossible whopper

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u/warmfuzzume 29d ago edited 29d ago

Yes there’s totally a “vegan tax.” I’ve been vegan over 25 years and was never rich, but there seems to be this impression that only rich white women will buy specialty vegan products or something.

I was so happy when Dunkin’ Donuts had to start providing plant “milks” for the same price as dairy!

Of course it’s also difficult for small businesses to sell them cheaper…there’s multiple causes.

But the vegan tax absolutely is a thing.

Plus veganism aside, that’s totally unfair to all the people who have allergies, which in my lifetime certainly grew among the younger generation, probably because of unintended consequences on our microbiomes from over-use of antibiotics.

Which are overused with the cows too, then creating these giant poop and antibiotic mess pits that overflow during our increasingly severe hurricanes. Further degrading the quality of the soil.

Which research shows veggies already have noticeably less nutrients than they used to because the soil is depleted.

But let’s all just go change our diets , it’s all simple folks duh.

I’m sure the farmers we gave all those subsidies to will figure out something to do with their cows.
Like just slaughter them & throw it out. 🤷Easy peasy.

Or at least how that’s trump’s mouthpieces and puppets and conspirators love to dish out the snark right. They do not seem to care at all about anything but money for themselves do they.

Until you dish a little snark back and they’re all like 😭😭😭

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u/SomeDumbPenguin America 28d ago

Ironically, they've actually helped the alt meat industry with what they did. I haven't seen Beyond compete with beef per a pound until recently, unless there was a sale.

A least with some of those veg options they try to watch out for allergies like nuts and soy

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u/GlitterPirateKiki58 29d ago

Tofu is cheap! But it might be chemically contaminated from packaging ink.

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u/RogueSquirrel0 29d ago

Because they aren't subsidized like beef+dairy.

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u/dmj9 29d ago

Wait until zee bugs

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u/cat_prophecy 28d ago

But you're also not supposed to eat "ultra processed food" which I imagine those meat alternatives definitely fall under.

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u/Sassychic02 29d ago

If you are going meatless there are way better ways to do it than going to impossible anything. Like hummus and cooked mushrooms make great burger patties. Its not the same of course but its really good.

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u/zombiegojaejin 28d ago

Beyond has to pay their own way. You know, like conservatives allegedly believe we're supposed to do? As opposed to the massive subsidies to red states for animal ag and feed crops.

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u/getdemsnacks 29d ago

Of course they are, how else are the c-suite people of those companies going to be able to afford their first mega yacht

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u/oooshi 29d ago

One’s cost is high because of the cost of raising a cow from birth, feeding and housing it several years until slaughter.

The other’s cost is high because it positions itself as the moral and superior choice and thus should cost more because it’s genesis arrived from the costs, both morally and financially, being higher than the slaughtering of the industry the latter set out to replace.

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u/getdemsnacks 29d ago

Fair point. I was thinking it would be the gouging.

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u/oooshi 29d ago

Totally. Sorry if I at all came across aggressive in my comment. Merely wanted to get the thought out while piggy backing yours. we just seem to agree with one another is all 😆

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u/getdemsnacks 29d ago

It's all good 👍🏼

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u/Biodiversity1001 29d ago

I was looking at veggie burgers in the freezer section and they run about $10/lb, it is not an affordable alternative.

I always wondered about tofu being so much more than meat, too (not steak, perhaps) but higher per pound than chicken and pork.

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u/Wallacecubed 29d ago

Tofu is super cheap. There’s TVP, which is really cheap. Tempeh. Then you go into lentils, beans, etc. There are a bunch of cheap vegetarian proteins.

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u/Biodiversity1001 29d ago

Last I looked a few years ago a pack of tofu was $5, and not sure if that was for a pound. Fresh chicken tenders were 1.99/lb this week.

I have issue digesting beans in any form. I do have a general recipe for veggie burgers, starts off with basically proportions for a variety of ingredients. So they would be a lot cheaper made from scratch with beans, lentils, rice etc. It's the spices that are going to run up the cost.

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u/Wallacecubed 29d ago

Spices aren’t an expense. They’re an investment in the future. Like a parrot.

Also, A pound of tofu is $1.65 at ALDI. It’s even organic.

https://www.aldi.us/store/aldi/products/21732553-earth-grown-extra-firm-organic-tofu-14-oz

Edit: Ok! 14oz! Jesus! I don’t have my glasses on.

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u/Biodiversity1001 29d ago

It would cost me 40 in gas to get to an Aldi, and I get 30mpg.

Will hjave to check the price at the local chain again, now I am curious.

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u/defaulticus 29d ago

Veggie meat substitutes have never been the affordable option. Vegetarianism tends to be a more expensive life choice.

There is a cheap version of vegetarianism, but it looks like lots of rice and beans, not impossible burger.

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u/TAMeaniePies 29d ago

fortunately, bean burgers are waaay better than any ‘meat substitute’ burger.

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u/Biodiversity1001 29d ago

true. I didn't eat meat for years but I did do eggs and dairy. Ya, I know, dairy is bad for animal treatment, too. I now eat beef and chicken, not often, but I did give up pork. I do miss bacon.

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u/mustachegiraffe 29d ago

That’s insane

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u/psiphre Alaska 29d ago

which, considering how much better for the environment one impossible/beyond patty is than a beef one, makes them a clear win. $BYND, i'm tellin' you

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u/Development-Feisty 28d ago

Costco’s got a really good deal

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u/hereforbobsanvageen Canada 29d ago

Not only that, but a majority of those products are hyper processed, which is arguably way worse for you then just straight beef.

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u/Wallacecubed 29d ago

Man, is the meat industry spamming these comments? There are so many meat alternatives that are worlds healthier than beef, especially with all the steroids and antibiotics that go into them. Then you have the methane cows give off playing an enormous factor in greenhouse gasses. Never mind tax payer subsidies that make beef cheap in the US. It’s a dietary relic of a bygone era that needs to go.

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u/Lizziedeee 29d ago

As someone allergic to red meat, I appreciate that they’re available, but yeah, not so good for you.