WHEN THE VEGANS FIGHT

            Few things are as enjoyable as watching your enemies fight each other.  It's a whole lot better than fighting you.  The vegan meat substitute manufacturer Lightlife Foods has taken out huge full page ads in the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, and other major newspapers titled  "An Open Letter to Beyond Meat and Impossible Foods."

             I'm sure many of you have seen it.  Here is the opening of the letter:

             Enough

          Enough with the hyper-processed ingredients, GMOs, unnecessary additives and fillers, and fake blood.

          While we want the same things--a greener planet and a more sustainable food system--at Lightlife, we've chosen a very different way to get there.

          We're making a clean break from both of you "food tech" companies that attempt to mimic meat at any cost.

             It's signed by Dan Curtin, president.  As you can imagine, Beyond Meat and Impossible Foods didn't take the letter too kindly.  Begun in 1979 as Tempeh Foods, Lightlife is certainly the granddaddy in this genre, but there are others besides these three companies:

             Sweet Earth Awesome Burger (Nestle)

            Pure Farmland Burger (Smithfield)

            Gardein Ultimate Burger

            Hormel Happy Little Plants Burger

             Dr. Rachel Cheatham, a food and nutrition consultant for FoodScape Group quoted in the Aug. 26 issue of Foodnavigator says that all of these companies use "modified cellulose and natural flavors" and added that this broadside "will do little to broadly boost trust among customers."

             Mythylcelloluse  is made by heating plants with caustic (alkali)solution and then treating it with methychloride.  The process makes a white odorless powder that gels and emulsifies to make something otherwise dry taste succulent and juicy.

             In the article, Dr. Cheatham called the letter "nothing more than a PR stunt."  The article lists all the ingredients of all the fake meat burger brands and they are strikingly similar.  I imagine the scientists working in their labs graduated from the same schools.'

            Such a vicious, public attack.  Wow.  I wonder if the president of Lightlife Foods just wore his mask one hour too long and he decided he had to strike out at somebody.  At any rate, I get a lot of satisfaction at watching these fake meat titans beat each other up.  At least they're leaving the cows alone for a day.  We'll take relief where we can get it.

             Does this letter make you want to run out and buy Lightlife fake burgers?