Wrong direction, if Arbys offered a plant-based meat alternative on their menu it would be great. This is a flip of the finger to animal suffering, heart disease/obesity and staving off climate change. Very disappointed in them!
192
Well, Arby's, you missed the point of plant based food. You "Have the Meat" but will never have my business.
138
I will never eat at Arby's again.
Ownership changed when Arby's was bought by the corporate raider Nelson Peltz. He merged it with the Wendy's hamburger, and then sold the both of them to a private equity group. Both Arby's and Wendy's are run by MBAs who are more interested in squeezing out profits and market share, and who have no bona fide interest in quality food and service. They just want to entice schlemiels through the door to buck up earnings for the quarter. Eating at either place is an antiquated trauma.
I applaud Burger King for veering the industry in a meatless direction with the Impossible Burger. I can't wait to try one. That small step may change our collective health as well as the environment.
So much of our entire food supply is driven by fast food. I was amazed to read about the dynamics in the book, "Fast Food Nation." After that, I will not touch tater tots, and am way of most all products from Idaho save authentic organics. I try to keep the beef to a minimum. There are tricks to preparing these ersatz hamburgers. And some of them are pretty good.
Fast food restaurants going a little bit meatless could change things. Arby's meat carrot is a grotesquerie out of Eraserhead.
112
As usual, those for whom the message “gee, maybe stop and think about where your meat is coming from” is hitting a bit close to home try to distract with a non sequitor.
29
The irony is that Arby’s began with an actual hunk of roast beef hung in its store roasting. They did away with that in favor of processed meat way back in the seventies or eighties. Our local franchisee lost a sizable portion of his business since Omahans know their beef. He petitioned Corporate headquarters to be able to continue use of real meat and received permission—although that ended at some point. Their sandwiches lost most of their appeal with that switch. Now this!
31
Meat alternatives often try to substitute the nutritional value of meat (predominately protein). Hence why soy/tofu or legumes are usually a staple element within any meat alternative. Simply making a vegetable-shaped piece of meat misses the challenge, as well as the point (lowering the amount of animal cruelty we go along with). But that's traditionalists for you: they only see that someone somewhere wants to change something always make time to actively dismiss it. The details, scientific or ethical or moral or otherwise, always seem to elude them.
38
Honestly pretty disappointed that more fast food companies aren't jumping on the really excellent faux chicken that's been around for awhile. I haven't eaten at KFC in 10 years, but I would go just for some Kentucky fried Quorn if they started making it.
39
Honestly, they are all missing the point. Most people just want a decent vegetarian or vegan otion on the menu, only the unimaginative places try to replicate meat.
85
Plus, carnivores like myself are all to willing to be enticed by creative vegan and vegetarian dishes as well.
61
So much effort to own vegetarians and others open to experimenting with potentially healthier foods.
21
'Eh, What's up Doc?' just took on a whole new meaning...
13
Didn't Friends cover this topic with the episode on fishtachios and mockolate?
5
This article misses the most important reason to avoid meat. It is the product of fantastic, unfathomable, unimaginable, and disastrous cruelty that is visited upon billions of factory farmed animals every year in the US alone. The Arby's CEO has been revealed as an immoral monster.
85
It's honestly pretty funny to consider that Arby's serves 'meat' at all. Jon Stewart wasn't laughing without reason.
28
Hey, with the marrot, I can now use the word 'gag' in *two* different ways when talking about Arby's!
14
Mr. Lynch is getting well paid for being on the wrong side of history. He does not plan to join Beyond Meat or Impossible Burger next year.
17
McDonald's offers the McVegan in Helsinki, Finland.
23
I stopped eating meat in 1974 after learning about the environmental impact of meat production. At that time vegetarians were considered a little kooky, like members of some obscure cult. Some more outspoken critics of my preference to not eat meat suggested it was a sign of homosexuality, although they didn't say it that politely. How times have changed. I look forward to a future where fast food advertising focuses on who has the best veggie burger.
74
@Benito
Hey some of us already focus on that right now :)
12
If those meat alternatives were really better for the environment, they'd be cheaper than meat. More expensive = more resources used in production = worse for environment. Oh, and did I mention they are no healthier, and taste horrible?
10
@False Profit how much evidence do you need showing the resources meat requires to convince you how harmful it is for the environment? More expensive does not always mean more resources are used. Beef = 6.61 lbs of carbon per serving. Legumes (which are what most meat alternatives are) = .11 lbs. Sorry if this is inconvenient for your palate.
67
@Sari
Not to mention that the price of meat has been driven artificially low as a result of government subsidies on oil, wheat, soybeans, and corn which are used to literally and figuratively fuel the food industry.
69
@False Profit "If those meat alternatives were really better for the environment, they'd be cheaper than meat." That's a world-class non sequitur. The last sentence I won't argue with.
19
If this was 'step by step' the illustrations would show 1) a living turkey raised in a cramped, overpopulated 'turkey house' with no where to walk or forage, 2) a turkey being slaughtered on an assembly line 3) a dead turkey being defeathered and butchered on an assembly line 4) then the meat. How convenient to skip these steps. And people want to know where their food comes from? Start with the animal. Don't make a joke of their slaughter.
106
@ Carol wood - yes, Steps 1-3 are invisible to the public and magically the end 'product' appears like out of nowhere ... for the animals, another story!
31
@Carol wood - Know where your food comes from.
I have occasionally advocated a law that would not allow anyone over the age of 16 to eat meat unless they have actively participated in the butchering of at least one warm-blooded animal (not a fish or an oyster) that they have then eaten. (Dissecting a lab rat doesn't count, unless you eat it.) This would cut meat consumption and meat-related environmental impacts sharply without banning meat or taxing it.
I do still eat a little meat, even sausage after seeing it made, and thanks to my rural childhood and a little hunting, could continue to do so if my law ever passes.
16
Sometime in the not too distant future Arby's will change their slogan to: We Have the "Meats"
4
Why serve something cruelty free when you can continue to contribute to the suffering and slaughter of factory farmed animals?
37
I always assumed that Arby's was already doing things like this already. Seriously, are we to believe they've been serving "food" all this time?
20
If I want to have vegetable, I'll get a salad. No need to have someone form that salad into a meat-like pattie. You veggie people are so fake!
14
@Jeff some of us "veggie people" have legit health issues and would just like to grab a healthy-ish meal with a little protein when we are on the road with our kids.
32
@Jeff
A bit ignorant on how veggie burgers are made?
Or would you call the reality “fake! News”?
17
What a clever piece of posturing by Arby's.
There's huge sales mileage to be gained by mockery, especially of what the right-wing calls "snowflakes".
Arby's has very effectively positioned itself as the voice of "real-men" who want "the meat". It's not enough for those people to choose unhealthy foods in defiance of all good medical advice, they savagely mock anyone who thinks otherwise.
Obviously, Arby's executives have been to Trump rallies, absorbed what goes on there and built it into their marketing.
80
The marrots are funny! (Sounds like a band.) That said, Arby's is nothing to behold; their food is generally pretty poor.
17
When I think of Arby's I think of Jon Stewart's quips.
Arbys. When your appetite is stronger than your memory.
Arbys. Shock and awe...for your colon.
60
KFC has trialled a burger called The Imposter in the UK with a Quorn fillet - “a vegan burger that the Colonel would be proud of”.
7
@Giles Berry
Considering his rampant abuse of animals, the Colonel needs to take a stand against meat. I’ve even read that chicken is more unhealthy than beef.
All in all, plant based foods are the logical choice for the health of humans, non-humans and the earth.
20
I love the sense of humor. Given my very limited (on purpose) exposure to Arby's "meats" (I once tried them and was overwhelmed by their chemical taste), I don't think I'd try them.
15
I'd consider myself a conscientious omnivore, but I fully support vegetarian and vegan lifestyles (and have been vegetarian at points in my past). That said, I find this hysterical. So tongue in cheek. There's really something to be said for having a sense of humor and not taking yourself too seriously.
29
@Josie I've had food allergies all my life: mostly fruit, some veggies and soy. I am not allergic to any animal protein or fish. I grew up eating lots of fish, chicken , and the main veggies were lettuce, potatoes, and carrots. I also drank a lot of carrot juice. I would totally try this marrot...
3
@stuckincali
Sorry to hear about your allergies. That must be tough.
And again the comment section does not fail to disappoint. Way to play right into the stereotype that vegetarians/vegans are tightly wound, know-it-alls with no sense of humor.
To the ethically superior herbivores among you, I am reminded of a study that took place in Australia that showed that per pound of protein, a plant only diet actually killed 25 times more sentient animals than a meat diet. When you look into all the rodents, reptiles and furry little varmints that get roto-tilled off to their great reward, this omnivore but will continue to enjoy a nice beautiful, mouth watering pound of Prime Rib every couple weeks and still sleep like a baby.
34
@Pedro
Meat doesn't come from a vaccuum. I haven't read this study myself, but I'd wager that the amount of grains it takes to raise cattle to slaughter also kills quite a number of sentient animals. As an omnivore myself I do feel a ping of guilt when eating red meat. Given the environmental impact, I just don't think it's something we should take lightly.
48
@Pedro There is simply no way that plant protein kills more animals than meat does. This will forever be true as long it takes more than 1 pound of plant protein to make a pound of animal protein. The source requires some serious fact checking.
39
@Pete Plants are not completely comprised of protein. The animal converts its food into protein with its body.
4
I wouldn't call it "answer" I would call it a stupid idea.
23
Hahaha oh that’s so funny oh my god so brilliant Arby’s got us on this one hahaha omg so clever.....what’s even the point of this article?
30
Arby’s the guardian of real meat? PLEASE!!! I’m old enough to remember when they roasted and carved REAL roast beef instead of the pressed together chemicalized scrap- crap loaf they’ve marketed for the past few decades and called beef. And they thought we didn’t notice. And that impossible stuff? Read the ingredients on the back of the package. There might be a vegetable in there somewhere. I can report it gave me a nasty rash which is why I dug the several layers of plastic packaging out of the recycle trash to read in the first place. No thank you. I’ll do my best to eat real food found around the edges of a modern supermarket, and organic whenever possible. Even then you have to be careful. The organic hamburger at my local markets is sourced and combined together from Australia, Peru, Brazil, and other far off lands. And then wrapped and sealed in toxic plastic with impossibly long shelf lives. Ugh. No wonder we all have diabetes. Soylent, anyone?
23
@Doctor X Ah, someone else who remembers. When I was a kid, there was an Arby's not too far away and the family went there often.
Then one day, things didn't seem right but I don't think anyone mentioned it. The next time we went, again, things didn't seem right and it became a topic of discussion at the table - and eventually with the manager. The manager explained this great new meat they had. We never went back as a family.
However, decades later, I was thinking about eating lunch and happened to drive by an Arby's and thought to myself "I wonder if they ever went back to proper meat - surely they must have since they are still in business". So, I gave them a try -- nope, still ground up scraps and binders pressed into a loaf that is vaguely the color of roast beef. Of course, I've not been back since and doubt I ever will.
20
My price for eating at Arby's was already quite high, but it just got out of reach unless you are on the Forbes 500 (I'd take the money and donate it to environmental-, child-, and animal-protection charities).
And for anyone tempted to accuse me of hypocrisy, I've been a vegetarian since 1974.
8
I don't really want to eat fast food, but as a life-long vegetarian Im going to fast food joints offering vegetarian alternatives all summer... my small part to stimulate demand I guess. I've enjoyed the burgers a lot especially at A&W in Canada where they are available everywhere. The fake meat in tacos and burritos seems unnecessary when I love the beans and cheese without the addition of a meat product so much. Taco Bell has always been the safe fast food place for those of us who have been doing this for a long time.
16
@Alicia H
Del Taco just started using Beyond Meat in their tacos, really yummy.
8
The disease industry (aka the "Health Care" industry) thanks Arby's and others for ensuring they will continue to enjoy unchecked price increases for many decades to come. Fat, diabetic, hypertensive, cancer-laden America has no incentive to change its behavior, and everybody else is paying for it.
25
I've seen a vegan recipes that prepare carrots as a replacement for a hot dog, an appealing idea when you think about what is in a hot dog. I am not a vegan, but would rather have a carrot hot dog over what Arby's is serving up.
24
@Elisabeth
I’m vegan and heard about the “carrot dog” trick and never saw how it could fly.
In my previous meat eating life I really LOVED sausage and frankfurters. Missed them. Typical veggie dogs didn’t hack it.
Then, along came Field Roadt frankfurters (and Italian style sausage).
OOOOOOOMMMMMMGGGGGG! Yes, the heavens opened up and the angels sang, they are THAT good.
5
This is the fast-food equivalent of "rolling coal" — basically, this is Arby's pointing its finger up at everyone, despite the problems associated with its products.
39
It appears that any meat product that is commericely raised has the inherent products of the animals diet. plastics, BPH, antibiotics, grain products (lectin, gluten) and various pesticides. Yes, forget the fat , these are the things that will eventually harm your health. Maybe organics is OK but who can trust labels these days? Who could trust a money making chain to comply?
Big Joke Arby's , hiding the poisons for your customers.
3
most vegetarians or vegans i know, do not long for the taste of meat. it is anathema to them... and a pointless exercise. i love both meat and veggies and wish them to remain in their basic forms... i wouldn't touch a marrot from anywhere....but then, fast food in all its forms is an anathema to me.
17
This is utterly pointless and pure stupidity. I am no vegetarian and I love meat. But health and ethics/animal rights issues aside, consuming this much meat is simply not sustainable and does contribute to global warming. Plant-based meat is an excellent alternative to all the meat lovers out there, an eco-friendly option without sacrificing the taste. But what is meat-based plant trying to accomplish? Showing global warming a middle finger?
21
@Emma It's 100% a joke and click-bait. It's kind of funny and got Arby's into the national conversation. Mission accomplished for them and, no, they're never going to offer this on their menu. Too much trouble for not much gain.
15
@Emma you DO REALIZE that ‘converting’ the veg to ‘fake meat’ likely consumes more energy than straight meat. Eat veg only in regular form - cooked however suits you.
6
When you don't offer *any* vegetarian choices you don't just lose the patronage of vegetarians, but also the substantial number of consumers who want to go out to eat with a friend/spouse/family member who's vegetarian (not to mention a sizeable number of people who only eat halal meat). Could be a car with seven people in it and one won't/can't eat industrial meat - so they go somewhere besides Arby's. It's just a stupid business decision.
30
@Haiku R: I agree. Our family has dropped a couple of restaurants from our rotation because there are no real options for the vegetarians. Their loss. I must admit that I haven't been in an Arby's in years, but this move pretty much guarantees that I will not be making any future visits, and that's a shame because after reading this article I have a craving for a roast beef sandwich. Arby's is being short-sighted, and I'm convinced that this stunt will backfire on them.
5
@Haiku R The TRUE vegan will not even enter a place where meat etc are served. Just like a true orthodox Jew keeps kosher.
@Allison
I'm confused...
Why would reading an article about Arby's make you crave a roast beef sandwich? As far as I can tell, Arby's hasn't served a roast beef sandwich in many decades.
Although they do serve some sort of ground up, mushed together concoction of (supposedly) meat scraps and binders and _call_ it "roast beef". But, just as a rose by any other name is still a rose, a potted meat product by any other name is still just a potted meat product.
8
Does anyone remember the Simpsons episode when Lisa declares "I'm so hungry I could eat at Arby's"?
America's (liquid) Roast Beef, Yes Sir.
12
This feels like the dietary equivalent of "rolling coal"--modifying one's car to belch large quantities of noxious black smoke--a conspicuous, in-your-face, and frankly puerile kind of defiance that was once a hallmark of of stunted youth, but now has escalated to pretty much all of conservatism. The liberal equivalent would be having gratuitous third-trimester abortions, but liberals are not blind to moral implications the way conservatives seem to be.
Hey, if you don't feel animal welfare considerations (nor the environmental damage wrought by meat production) are sufficient to tip your own personal consumption away from meat, then fine. I disagree, but I respect your decision. But don't be a jerk to people who are willing to make sacrifices for the common good.
31
Wow. One can only assume that Arby's is in the pocket of the big ag/meat complex. In the first instance, their food is terrible but the knee jerk, science-is-fake-news, let's-kill-the-planet posture is just another reason to never eat at Arby's. You don't have to be vegetarian to see the folly in it.
15
Oh, how welcome Jon Stewart's biting barbs about Arby's would be at this moment.
8
The Beyond Meat burger is delicious and it’s great that we’re eating less meat. It cuts carbon emissions significantly (not to mention it saves some of the 70 billion animals every year that suffer in factory farming), but processed foods are inflammatory and so simply replacing beef burgers with processed veggie burgers might not be the best long term solution.
The 3 rules for a long life:
1 - Eat whole foods (not processed).
2 - Mostly plants.
3 - Not too much.
12
@Crazy Canuck
Like burgers, they’re meant to be an occasional treat.
That said, seventh day Adventists and Asians have a long history of concoctI got meat substitutes in a manner that really cannot be castigated as “processed”.
3
It's interesting how clearly the NY Times shows concerns about global warming as a political issue, while not understanding at all how food, including fast food, relates substantively to environmental issues. Getting involved in petty disputes about plant-based meat vs meat-based vegetables is folly. The question is how to get "all hands on deck" in turning around our dependence on greenhouse gases.
What does THAT have to do with fast food menus? Everything! So change the tenor of your story to reflect what's important to readers-- those that care about our children's health and well being.
Fast food places are notorious for high water usage and pollution, directly contributing to greenhouse gases on a global scale, and adding dangerous pollutants like VOCs (volatile organic compounds) to our children's air.
18
why the new labeling or marketing "plant-based meat"?
veggie burgers have been around for yrs.
and texturized vegetable protein (TVP) also.
the latter was great in chili, and i think my mother once made a "meat" loaf out of it.
you could not tell the difference.
i question whether these new items will be made w/ complex
carbohydrates for net protein utilization and indeed have the same nutrients as what they are trying to mimic.
3
To be honest, I've never been a big fan of meat alternatives, though I eat them on occasion and though I ate them fairly regularly when I was vegetarian. I don't entirely understand why we need to replace meat with something that resembles meat, when there are many, many healthy and delicious ways to eat vegetarian without a meat replacement. Why does a pizza place need a meat alternative, for example, when you can just order a vegetarian pizza? I don't consider a black bean burger a "meat alternative" either, because it's basically a bean patty and isn't trying to make you think its meat. Eating vegetarian is pretty simple, and doesn't have to involve processed meat alternatives. But then again I'm not the kind of person who eats fast food, so I suppose I'm not the right demographic.
15
@reader I decided to go vegetarian to help the environment, not because I don't like meat. I have a strong distaste for beans and mushrooms, two vegetarian staples. Meat substitutes (at fast food restaurants, deli meat for sandwiches, etc.) are a godsend for someone like me and it makes me really sad to see all these restaurants condemning them. Of course, many vegetarians such as yourself are perfectly content finding non-meat-ish foods to enjoy, but I'll bet I'm not the only one who appreciates being able to eat somewhat "normally" while still helping the planet.
13
@Nora I'm the same way. I love the taste of meat, but have tried to become more conscious of how much I consume for environmental concerns. While I do like beans, mushrooms and tofu, it still doesn't replace my cravings for red meat, while these types of alternatives generally do! It's cool that science can help people who eat fast food more frequently (whether for convenience or cost) find a more environmentally-friendly option. I don't think it's a "fad" like Arby's president implies.
10
I would be a regular customer daily if one fast food place started serving this. It is healthy and the regular beef is toxic to the human body. High cholesterol.
3
Arby's? I didn't even know they were still in business. No matter. They, and the others like them, with their backwards reasoning will continue to usher themselves further into irrelevace, until they're finally gone, as we sit back and enjoy our ever improving and available vege burgers. G'bye.
18
While consumers see a healthy alternative in plant-based burgers, we should be mindful that these new products are loaded with salt. Marketers have chosen to focus on the fat-free aspects of their products, but of course do not mention the high salt content. High-salt diets are a leading cause of high blood pressure, which can be as bad or worse for your cardiovascular system as high cholesterol. The Times and other publications would be doing a public service by informing consumers that these products contain high levels of salt and should not be mistaken for a health food.
4
So I see I need not further patronize Arby's. Meanwhile and not mentioned (?) here, Carl's Jr. serves the excellent Beyond Burger. The employees at our local even inquire whether we prefer to leave off cheese and mayo, to stay vegan.
Either way it's delicious. I don't order 'real' meat burgers any more.
17
You know, if these places offered any veggie options AT ALL (even their salads usually have meat), then there wouldn't be a need to replace meat with a plant "meat" and maybe they wouldn't feel so threatened by that situation. But heaven forbid you conceive of a veggie option that isn't simply a meat dish with the meat replaced with something as close as possible to the meat.
It's also real entertaining to have to pay full price for an item when you get it without meat and there is no substitute available (e.g. Egg McMuffin without meat).
17
For years, I patronized a Buddhist vegetarian restaurant here in Flushing that has since sadly closed. While their selection of imitation meat and fish dishes could be fun at times, I always preferred the honest veggie items. There is no compelling reason for one thing to taste like another, though tofu by itself is a rather bland product.
12
Years ago, I attended a lunch by a Seventh-Day Adventist church (of which I am not a member, nor am I a vegetarian). They are vegetarians, strictly. I was amazed, and surprised, by the lavish spread, including various plant-based entrees that were fashioned after familiar carnivorous dishes, thus "pigs in a blanket," that sort of thing.
It was all delicious. I therefore had to wonder, if this is so good, why dress it as if it were imitation "meat"? Why not just make it without having to copy some sort of meat? The answer I was given is for marketing--it would be more appealing to dress up soy protein like a burger or a hot dog, rather than whatever else it might look like.
Bottom-line: Plant-based food is delicious, takes up less water, feed, energy to make compared to cattle, chicken, and pig products. Less atmospheric methane too. The food is tasting better and better. Why not join in?
26
Many years ago, at my university, a new graduate student from India was wandering the halls looking totally beaten and dejected. A professor, who had been born in India, saw the student and asked him what was wrong. The poor student poured his heart out:
"Sir, I am strict vegetarian. I cannot get any vegetarian food here. In the cafeteria, even the vegetable soup is made from chicken in the water."
The professor, with rather more wit than empathy, replied, "Well, if you go to a chicken farm here and see how the chicken is raised, you will realize that by the time it gets to the store, it is practically a vegetable."
It seems to me that this is in fact why many turn from meat to vegetarianism. Arby's doesn't get it.
11
I have never been to a Shake Shack, but I was pretty sure they had a veggie burger on their menu. If you read the CNBC article, it states they have no plans to add _Beyond Meat_ products specifically to their menu. If you actually read the article: "Shake Shack already has a vegetarian option on its menu: the ’Shroom Burger, a deep-fried cheese-stuffed portobello mushroom patty. The chain also tested a more traditional veggie burger on its menu last year." So I would hardly count Shake Shack as a "naysayer" when it comes to plant-based offerings.
16
S. W.,
Correct. My children are vegetarians, and they're happy to eat at Shake Shack. My children also have no interest in eating plants pretending to be meat, because they have chosen not to eat meat. They do understand the benefits of these new products for people who do want to think they're still eating meat.
10
The article perfectly illustrates why capitalism and the so-called entrepreneurial culture are inherently incapable of providing any real solution to any challenge that society faces. The development and marketing of any one new product is not going to accomplish anything when the challenges and problems we face are systemic. As cultural satire of the Vegan movement and plant-based meat products, the Marrot is absolute genus. The fact that they actually think they want produce and sell the Marrot only proves that Vegans have a legitimate point. The agricultural methodology that produces the raw materials for any mass-produced food like substance is fundamentally unsustainable. The only thing that will actually produce real change is a complete top to bottom overhaul of the agriculture industry. Until such time that this occurs then I will continue to put my faith in the original dystopian food like substance; Soylent Green.
9
Imitation meat is absolutely WRETCHED! Anyone that actually believes artificial colors, flavors, and chemicals, have to be better for you, is beyond hope!
8
@Mike OD Animal agriculture contributes to antibiotic resistance, climate change, immense animal cruelty and suffering, PTSD for slaughterhouse workers, destruction of rain forests, pollution in mostly neighborhoods with underserved residents...so, NO, imitation meat is not "wretched." It is hope for humanity and animals.
24
@dc And fake flavors & colors will destroy your digestive system, but that's actually negligible because you'll die of the cancers they are PROVEN to cause first!
1
@Mike OD Self evident that you haven't tried the new non meat 'meats'. Sssssshhh: they are DELICIOUS.
4
Such false bravado from Arby's. The world is changing fellas. We now know that animal agriculture is one of the leading causes of grave environmental woes. Your "joke" carrot will perhaps appeal to a "select" few. But most of us really do want a planet our grandchildren can inhabit. Companies that get this have a future. Companies that choose a path backwards, don't.
24
@Mara Farrell
And that is the beauty of a capitalist economy. Rather than having bureaucrats decide what we want, the fortunes of the companies will rise or fall based on actual consumer preferences. If, as you believe, most of us want to support plant based meats then those who offer them will thrive. If, as I believe, this trend appeals to a select few then they will remain a niche market.
5
@michaelscody I would hardly say that the heavily government-subsidized meat industry adheres to the laissez faire economics you seem to believe in so strongly, Michael. Perhaps if it was a completely level playing field, so to speak, I would agree with you, but then again there's the crushing reality of climate change, which is fueled in large part by meat and dairy production. Essentially, I think the "beauty of the capitalist economy" is inherently flawed as we don't live in a perfect closed system.
20
@michaelscody Actually it's the bureaucrats who are largely responsible for the disproportionate power of the meat industry, through government subsidies of corn, used for animal feed in factory-farming operations, as well as less direct subsidies policies. If consumers actual paid the "real" cost of eating so much meat, devoid of any government interference or support, meat would cost five times as much and fewer people would purchase it.
16
I realized what would incline people toward a "meat carrot" when I got to the part about caramelizing the thing with sugar. When you don't have a decent product, sweeten it up. Sugared turkey makes addicts of people who think they're being healthful via the turkey, and (hopefully for the CEOs), will sell. I'm not a vegetarian, and I've never been to Arbys, but after reading this article about this ridiculous chain, I will make a point of never going there. I prefer my turkey unprocessed, organic and most of all, unsweetened.
6
Arby's meat-based carrots are an excellent prank for April's fool day; while a veggie-based burger is the healthier choice. It's like dangerous 'sodas' filled with sugar, compared with healthy carbonated water. Your choice really, live to eat or eat to live, to avoid aging faster than needed, use some moderation, and sanity, in avoiding obesity, diabetes and hypertension, and their consequences. It's that simple. And yet, easier said than done.
3
"An Answer to Plant-Based Meat: A Meat-Based Carrot
Amid rising demand for beef alternatives, major restaurant chains remain skeptical. One has vowed never to offer it, while others are taking a wait-and-see approach."
Vowed never to offer WHAT? (And what is the upside of incoherent teasers?)
1
This reminds me of the wake of the "Supersize Me" documentary years ago. A lot of places started posting calorie content and looking to add a few healthy alternatives to the menu, and Hardees introduced a triple patty bacon cheeseburger. If fast food is a regular part of your diet, I'm not sure you're too concerned about your health anyway. And when your brand is "we have the meats," you gotta double down, I guess. There will always be folks whose aversion to "being told what to do" is so strong that they voluntarily act against their own benefit.
24
The executives at Arby’s might want to watch “Forks over Knives” (Netflix). Science based evidence explained by Dr. Caldwell Esselstyn of the Cleveland Clinic (the gold standard for treating heart disease) should convince them to add a plant based option. Cardiovascular disease causes more deaths than all forms of cancer and lower respiratory disease, according to the CDC. Preventing CVD is not a fad.
11
@jjlaw1, or the excellent Netflix documentary, What the Health.
3
@jjlaw1 - I have a feeling that texting while driving kills more people than cancer but I don't hear the rush to offer a textless-phone at the drive-thrus. .
2
How about these businesses offer whole food, as opposed to even more processed food, non-meat options. Hummus plates, vegetarian chili, vegetarian pot pie, seasame and cucumber cold noodle salad, etc? That would be progress and likely financially profitable.
33
@Deb If you can stand that nasty hummus! I cannot eat/digest any legumes due their sugars. Beans gave me an ulcer when I was 8, and forced to eat them! Veggies? They're recalled more than meat as they mostly come from other countries where sanitation in the fields aren't much of a priority!
2
@Deb - Hummus? I can eat most anything but I pass on hummus. Sesame and cucumber cold noodle salad? Maybe if you throw a couple of pounds of fat prawns on top.
Vegetarian chili is just a can of beans.
Vegetarians and vegans go to great lengths to come up with meat/dairy dishes even though they are against it.
1
Yet another reason not to eat at Arby’s (not that I ever needed one). All restaurants need to do is start with a simple veggie burger. How hard is that? Offer substantial and satisfying meat alternatives (read: not just salads) so your meat eating customers can bring their non meat eating friends. Win win! Beyond and Impossible are not the only burger alternatives out there.
17
When ten, my son explained how he could tell if someone is a vegetarian...because they are constantly telling you.
22
@Patricia Your son is astute, and yes vegetarians often have to announce their status. But it's only because they're inundated with things they can't eat. Go to any major chain restaurant and even in the salad section of the menu, there might be only one or two options that don't have meat. Besides, as a vegetarian myself, I'm proud to tell people about my choice and how it affects the planet, and most importantly, the animals I don't kill and eat.
33
@Graceann Totally understand why someone would choose to not eat meat. Don't understand why they have to preach it at non-meal times.
11
@Patricia
Lol. So you'd prefer to hear about why you shouldn't eat something when you're eating it? Gonna call your bluff on that one. For the record, I'm a vegetarian and have never told anyone they should or shouldn't eat anything at any time. Most vegetarians/vegans I know are similar. There are some loudmouths, but they tend to be the exception in my experience.
29
Imagine, in one fell swoop, improving public health, eliminating an enormous environmental stressor and saving countless millions of sentient beings from a life of torture and mistreatment. Plant based meat does that.
So why would the boneheaded management at the Arby's poison factory mock it?
75
@Nerraw
I could be wrong but I think a lot of the mocking stems from insecurity in their decision to eat meat. At least a part of most people know they shouldn't be doing it or doing it a lot less, but we're creatures of habit and a lot of us are lazy and apathetic about anything that we don't immediately see or that doesn't immediately impact us. So instead of making the shift they look for half-baked reasons why they shouldn't which include everything from taste, health concerns (which is astounding), label vegetarians "soy boys"/paint it as not masculine, etc, etc.
29
@Nerraw
Because a large portion, a majority in my opinion, of the restaurant patron population likes meat and finds the anti-meat crowd somewhat pretentious and mockable.
19
@michaelscody: I like the taste of meat, but I hate its cruelty and disastrous impact on water priorities around here, and on the planet generally. So I welcome these remarkably tasty substitutes.
There. Mock that.
14
The problem for plant-based meat products being sold at fast food restaurants is that most people who try to avoid meat and/or eat healthily eat at home most of the time.
When the Impossible Burger is being sold in grocery stores it will be a big seller.
6
@Travelers It is. I can buy it in my local grocery store.
1
Travelers,
It's supposed to be available in stores later this year, so we'll see. Beyond Meat products are in stores now.
3
“It is pretty funny,” said Rob Lynch.
Is it, Rob? Glad to see that trolling is now a thing with company presidents in the US. Cool.
Also: "Some of the skepticism about meatless meat stems at least partly from the products’ nutritional content."
So Arby's, Taco Bell, Domino's, etc. are worried about having unhealthy products on their menus? Well that's interesting.
Even if these products ultimately prove to be just as unhealthy as the real thing (which is highly doubtful) and in their production take up as many resources as real meat (again, highly doubtful), I'll still opt for that alternative as their production doesn't involve the daily torture and horrific deaths of millions of animals.
70
I'm very Happy with these developments in Vegetarian food. Gone are the days when I have to go to Taco Bell and tell them hundred times to substitute Beans instead of Meat. Now, I have more choices.
17
@Raj M
A problem is that you are supporting the slaughterhouses, just the same as if you were ordering beef.
That is why the restaurant chains are doing this—to get you through the door and to get you to give them your money. Money is money. To them, it doesn't matter whether it comes from the wallet of someone with a conscience or without a conscience.
8
@Paul, comments like yours give people the idea that vegans/vegetarians are rigid, humorless people. Instead of commending @Raj M for making plant-based choices at fast food places, you chastise him for giving them money. Any demand for plant-based foods drives supply, and it's not helpful to suggest that people need to live a "pure" life. If you buy products from Hains Celestial, a company that owns many of the popular vegetarian/vegan brands now on the market, you are supporting a company that also sells Earth's Best Chicken Nuggets. Life is messy. Do the best you can.
43
@Paul
I must disagree. If enough people choose the plant-based alternatives at any restaurant, chain or local, those choices will drive out the meat based ones. Personally, I doubt it will happen in this country (and I hope I am right), but the idea that consumer choice is irrelevant is mistaken.
6
Business never went wrong targeting young men’s insecurities.
50
I don't think this thing counts as a fake carrot if it's "coated in a carrot marinade."
3
this is obnoxious. Way to make fun of a climate crisis and people who are trying to innovate so we still have a planet..
139
@m
This nonsense is ubiquitous in our society.
-"Rolling coal"
-Straight Pride Parades
-NRA conferences in cities impacted by mass shootings
-Alternative facts
-"Good people on both sides"
20
It not a very journalistically sound article. Meatless alternatives are exploding. Vegan restaurants, meatless offerings, and more. The article suggests there is this great resistance and this whole process is a sort of "hmm let's see how this plays out" situation. The number of vegans has gone up 50% since 2012, and plant based meat products have gone up in sales significantly. BK is on board -- imagine that 10 years ago. Beyond Meat's stock is up more than 100% since May! Arby's has always been the weird stepchild of fast food so I am not sure what quoting them accomplishes except to further the predetermined conclusions of the writer. I am not a vegan by the way, but I know what B level journalism smells like and when a carrot is not a carrot.
52
@Andrew,
I hope you’re correct that “Meatless alternatives are exploding.” I’ve been a vegetarian for almost 50 years, and more recently a plant based whole food eater (no animal products and minimal to no processed foods, including low to no added oil, sugar, and salt), and I still can’t find a lot of options.
And, because I have not eaten meat for so long and am now eating whole, as opposed to processed, food, I don’t eat faux meat products. But it seems like a good first step for those who want to decrease their meat consumption. But not a healthy step to linger on.
10
@Andrew - I wouldn't say vegan is exploding. When I see Seattle get a chain of drive thrus like Dick's Drive-In, I will agree that vegan is exloding. There are vegan restaurants in town and not a single one of them has a line in front of 3-4 cashier windows all day long like Dick's does. And none of them serves up such a yummy bag of greasy fries like Dick's, either. Cauliflower ice-cream from the vegan place? No thanks. I will stick with the root beer float at Dick's.
6
I see that becoming a vegetarian or vegan means you must give up your sense of humor.
For the greater good, of course!
30
I'm a vegan with a great sense of humor. There's not a lot to laugh about when the subject is the cruel, inhumane treatment and slaughter of sentient beings. Haha.
19
Sure, laugh all the way to Planetary Climate Catastrophe!
58
@Italian Special
Halting meat consumption is not even close to being able to prevent Climate Catastrophe. How about halting human overpopulation and over consumption?
11
Arby's needs a new slogan - "The place where empathy, people, and the planet come to die." They serve nothing but unhealthy products for people and the planet.
170
@BMD They know their market (MAGA crowd, most likely) so it's best if the rest of us shun them.
11
I've been a vegetarian most of my life. I do not want any of my food to look like meat. I can't understand why any one would. I don't in the least feel deprived by not eating something that is raised in misery and killed in pain and fear. To me and many others, meat is disgusting.
Any vegetarian could tell those "carrots" aren't vegetables just by looking at their cookie-cutter sameness. . What an irresponsible "joke". What a waste of resources.
I can't imagine carnivores wanting them either - with the exception of my dog.
24
Ok, but that’s you. Most of us eat meat every day, enjoy it, and don’t think twice about the issues that bother you. To each his own. For now vegetarians are a tiny minority.
18
@DRS,
For now. Vegetarians are a tiny minority.
But they have a greatly reduced impact on global warming, and climate warming. Outsized impact, based on their minority status.
Alternatively, meat eaters are helping the planet along toward climate catastrophe.
14
@DRS Try thinking twice about it, just as an experiment. I recommend the movie Dominion.
7
Food like Arby's one one of the reasons I quit eating meat.
32
Maybe it’s just me, a vegan for almost 25 years, but this seems disrespectful to the animal. At least if you are going to eat or serve animal products, respect the creature they came from.
52
@Dlbroox I think it's pretty disrespectful to carrots. Who will defend carrot rights?
19
I'm there! As soon as they start offering burgers made from Soylent Green, I'm in!! After all, it's a great way to save the planet by recyclng!!
4
Meat will always have a very important place in the human diet. The iron and estrogen content in the meatless burgers, as well as being processed food, is very unhealthy. As far as sustainability, we've been past that tipping point for many decades now. Our population is so large, with a multitude of different governments and wild variations of wealth in different countries that it would be impossible. A very, very small segment of the population is totally vegan. Plant-based is a crash diet that people give up when they're out late at night with their friends and fast food beckons. It's the chick with the Louie bag while driving a Mazda. Plant based is aspirational.
3
@Chad I love to eat a black or pinto bean burrito with guacamole. I love to eat vegan Ethiopian lentils. I love to eat homemade chickpea hummus. These are all very satisfying meals for me. They're all "real" food too, not processed like fake meat products. I have backyard chickens and feed them dandelions and other weeds from my garden. The eggs are so delicious.
I feel great when I eat mostly plants. Greasy fast food hasn't appealed to me since I was a teenager and didn't know about the Amazon burning to make way for cattle or the CAFOs filled with sick and overcrowded cows. I'd have to be really drunk to want a Big Mac. And I don't drink.
27
@Chad
If you don't feel any empathy for non-human animals, consider the mathematics of it.
If you put lots of water into growing grain and feed that grain to a cow over many weeks, you get meat from the cow that a few people can eat. If you feed the same grain directly to people, you get a lot more food from less water and can feed more people. I know it's tempting to think "but meat = protein," but this is not the case. Humans can get sufficient protein directly from plants. At this point, cutting out the middleman (i.e., the cow) is really the only thing that *is* sustainable.
26
@Chad,
I agree with you that processed food is unhealthy.
But you are wrong that the “iron” in the meatless burgers is “very unhealthy.” Quite the contrary:
— those eating meat-free diets tend to get more fiber, and magnesium, and vitamins like A, C, and E; they also get more iron. But the iron found in plants is non-heme iron. Those eating meat-free diets don’t get any of the heme iron found in blood and muscle, which may be a good thing. The avoidance of heme iron may be one of the key elements of plant-based protection against metabolic syndrome, and may also be beneficial in lowering heart disease risk. — https://nutritionfacts.org/video/the-safety-of-heme-vs-non-heme-iron/
The same is true for the “estrogen” content of the meatless burgers: they may contain phytoestrogens — plant estrogens — which are not estrogens. In fact, for example, soy phytoestrogens are anti-estrogenic in breast cancer cells (so they inhibit tumor growth), but estrogenic in stimulating bone growth. The estrogen in meat, on the other hand, is very unhealthy.
8
Synthetic meats are a great idea> For the meat packers and restaurant chains. They no longer have to deal with those obstreperous farmers and ranchers as well as the long lead times due to the time needed to bred, raise and fatten the animals that lead to fluctuating prices. With synthetic meats the supply can be kept at the optimal level to insure high prices.
Who care that half of all agricultural lands are not suitable for raising crops, meaning that the only way to obtain calories or income from the land is grazing.
2
As a longtime vegan, I see many ironies in this story. Many of the companies that are reluctant to get on board with a plant-based menu are saying that they don't yet know if such a menu is "sustainable" from a business perspective. Nevermind that a plant-based menu is the only sustainable menu from a health and environmental point of view. They are like the delivery businesses who insisted that they would stick with horse-drawn carts despite the advent of automobiles.
Meanwhile, the restaurants who shun plant-based menus may say they are listening to their customers, but the reality is that most of their customers are actually dead, killed off by heart disease, cancer and other maladies closely tied to a meat-centered diet. Perhaps if these dead people could speak from beyond the grave, they would have a thing or two to say about the folly of a meat-centered diet.
While I am a fan of plant-based foods, I am not a fan of the newest crop of meat alternatives such as those from Impossible Foods. These meat alternatives may contain no cholesterol, but they are very high in fat, sodium and calories. They are hardly better than their meat counterparts from a nutritional standpoint.
The only truly sustainable business model is one that does not kill off your customers or destroy the planet.
35
@Dan Frazier Agree. Vegans who follow a whole food plant based approach won't be interested in fake meat. Panera has it right - beans, quinoa, rice, tofu, vegetables are more in line with healthy eating.
19
@Jen I am a vegan who follows a whole food plant based approach, but I sure would love being able to grab a veggie burger on a the rare occasion when I am on the road and for one reason or another, I am in a tight spot.
The only time my family has eaten at McDonalds has been in trips to Italy where they've been serving a veggie burger for years.
4
@Dan Frazier
Gotta love a guy who advocates for environmental sustainability and then says this:
"They are like the delivery businesses who insisted that they would stick with horse-drawn carts despite the advent of automobiles."
7
Driving across southern Wyoming about a decade ago I was hungry and had to stop at a Burger King. I don't eat fast food but my stomach was grumbling. Many years ago, I gave up eating meat that isn't pasture raised because it pains me to think of a cow being fed corn and antibiotics in an over-crowded contained animal feedlot and what that meat would do to my own body. Pasture-raised meat also is more expensive, so I eat much less of it, which is better for the health of the planet anyway.
I thought I'd just have french fries and I was so excited to see that Burger King offered veggie burgers. Thank you Burger King! I've not been back to BK since, but if I ever find myself famished on a long road trip again, I know where to stop.
48
@Jude I was a vegetarian for 22 years but recently went back to eating meat a few years ago and pretty much follow your type of diet as well. Everything I buy is free-roaming pasture and grass-fed stuff and it is expensive so I do eat a lot less of it. It's funny that you mentioned Burger King because when I travel by car in the U.S. and there's not time to stop or eat somewhere decent, that veggie burger has also been my go-to.
8
“There’s a strong argument to be had for taking a wait-and-see approach. A lot of this just really smells fadlike. It’s still a very new thing.”
Plant-based meats may be relatively new, but people have been adopting vegetarian diets since they days of Ancient India and Ancient Greece. I'm no historian, but that doesn't "smell fadlike" to me.
I'm sixty and have been a vegetarian for most of my adult life, so again, not such a fad.
Am I surprised that a company whose tagline ie, "We've got the meats," has difficulty adjusting to innovations in their own industry that can increase their customer base and help save the planet? No.
99
AH,
I understood "fadlike" to refer to plants "pretending to be" meat, not to vegetarianism.
11
@AH - Have you been in an Arby's? There are posters of their meat offerings all over the place - on the walls, on the outsides of windows and also on the insides of the windows. Vegetarians I know would not be willing to stomach the atmosphere, much less trust that Arby's would actually deliver what they want - and most don't want it to taste like meat, either!
1
As a vegetarian for going on 30 year, meat based carrot are hilarious. Props for humor. But Arby's food was always terrible and I wouldn't eat there when I ate meat.
95
@todji - There's a famous line in "The Simpsons" when Bart, Lisa and a bunch of kids are stranded on a desert island. One little girl says, "I'm so hungry, I could eat at Arby's!"
82
@todji
I find it deeply amusing that you -- the 3 decade long vegetarian -- sees the humor in this, while the rest of the crowd clutches at their pearls.
18
Idiocracy. It was supposed to be a comedy about a dystopian America 500 years in the future. Instead, it's turned out to be a travel guide to the insanity and self-destructiveness of present day America.
First stop in our Brave New World? Arby's. Bon appetit, everybody.
86
These are private businesses doing what they think or not doing what they think consumers want or don’t want - no 1984. If you don’t like the offerings, keep driving.....
6
@George Decisions of what people eat affect all of us, whether you choose to understand that or not. Beef production is one of the world's biggest drivers of climate change.
20
@Leslie
By far the biggest drivers of climate change are rampant human overpopulation and consumerism now moving to third world countries. Beef would be no problem at all if human population was at reasonable levels and cattle were raised not in antibiotic driven feedlots but in sustainable free range environments with humane butchering.
11
So much machismo, so little concern for animal suffering.
213
Talk about head-in-the-sand, totally missing the point thinking. Of course it's done only for marketing, but taking such an important issue so lightly is pretty disgusting to see.
185
The article indicates of the top 15 fast food chains in the US, only Burger King and Little Ceasars offer plant based meat. Chipotle, ranking 12 on the list, may not offer the Beyond Burger or Impossible Meat products, but they have offered (since early 2017) a vegetable based meat alternative meant to mimic ground meat. "Sofritas, shredded Hodo Soy tofu marinated in a spicy sauce made from chipotle chilies, roasted poblanos, and Mexican spices."
71
It's ridiculous - though the carrots are not cutely humorous - that Arby should take a heroic stand to insist everyone eat meat just as the environmental impacts and adverse health effects of a meat-based diet are becoming better known.
116
For the best substitute burger try frying up 1/2" thick slabs of tofu in olive oil and caramelized onions. Serve on a hamburger bun with ketchup, pickles, and or mustard. Very delicious and nutritious!
27
@Mark Muhich
That sounds terrible, a misuse of tofu. There are literally thousands off recipes for bean and grain based burgers.
14
@Mark Muhich
I'm with you except that I'd substitute tempeh for tofu. It has a more solid texture which I prefer to the pillowy tofu version of soy.
5
@Mark Muhich. Sounds tasty, Mark! I love tofu.
3