WE have all learned a lot over the past few years. The phrase 'divide and conquer' puts it best.
The rapidly growing 'green environmentally conscious' consumer, often critical of modern food production, can be easily misled with the current
'fake meat' trend.
Fake meat offers a fake solution to a real environmental crisis, distracts and diverts from raising awareness, education and most importantly stops real discussion about our food.
Fake meat claims to resolve animal welfare/environmental concerns and is marketed as
'eco-friendly', 'vegan', 'healthy' and 'sustainable'. However, fake food will only create more problems.
Those buying fake meat are doing so with the philosophy that animal welfare and the environment have been given absolute priority, but please consider the following:
Philanthropists
A quick search reveals many well-known 'do-gooder' philanthropists are huge investors. This should be concerning enough. Is this who we want to control our food sources?
Deforestation
Requirements of more and more land are needed to grow GMO crops, acres of forest have been slashed and burned to meet these land requirements, making room for GMO soya plantations.
Trees absorb and store carbon dioxide. If forests are cleared, or even disturbed, they release carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases back into the air.
Fake meat is the plausible excuse required and will be used to strip away acres of woodland/rainforest of the animals' habitat.
Surely vegan and non-vegans can agree that this is not what either wants.
GMOS
Buying Fake meat supports the Genetically Modified Organism (GMO) market and for GMO crops to be grown in the UK. GMOs are used to create the taste/colour of fake blood (GMO veast cells called soy leghemoglobin).
GMOs, when used in our soil, can contaminate the food chain. There seems to be absolutely no mention of GMOs resulting in the narrowing of biodiversity, plants and animals.
94 per cent of soybeans grown in the U.S. are GMO. (Center for Food Safety)
Government food regulation authorities use animal testing to approve fake meat
New GMO ingredients can be tested by Government food regulations on animals, to then be approved for human consumption.
Impossible Burger's scientists fed the leghemoglobin (GMO fake blood) to rats for 28 davs to determine the risk of allergic reaction or toxicity.
Dismantle our connection with nature
Fake meat ignores man's connection with nature, and ignores indigenous people, local farmers and years of ancestral knowledge.
"These artificial, synthetic foods dismantle our connection with nature and in doing so, disregard the role of natural processes and the laws of ecology that are at the heart of real food production." - Vandava Sheeva.
Toxic levels of glyphosate
Industrial agriculture is one of the most unsustainable practices today. The 'bigger is better' food svstem has reached a point where its real costs have become readily apparent.
Toxic high levels of Glyphosate have been found in fake meat. Glyphosate not only contributes to the rising number of people who suffer from health conditions - diabetes, heart disease, respiratory issues and obesity, but is one of the main reasons the Earth's cycles have ruptured, causing biodiversity loss, soil desertification and mass water pollution.
If you really want animal welfare and choose to be vegan - why not buy vegan organic? If you eat meat consider supporting organic farming where animals are reared on a diet natural to them, free from pesticides and are not fed routine antibiotics. Organic protects the environment, rebuilds soil, promotes the biodiversity of plants and wildlife without poisoning animals and destroying their habitat, and protects the soil, waterways and all surrounding life.
Distracts and diverts
Fake meat gives us a 'get out of jail free pass'. Suddenly we can iust make this quick switch, but have we gained any awareness and moved towards any real change?
Fake solutions do not address the root problem, customers have been crying out for cheap food for years, that's what's been provided and now the longer term environmental and health consequences have to be considered.
"I share the same disgust and hatred of factory farm meat as my vegan and vegetarian brothers and sisters, I am nonetheless disturbed to see a growing number of vegan activists that are cheerleaders coming together to promote fake meat, as a healthy and climate-friendly alternative. Even worse are the growing number of vegans, climate activists and high-tech/GMO enthusiasts who claim that abolishing livestock and animal husbandry altogether will solve our health, environmental and climate crises." - Ronnie Cummings, Organic Food Association
Single-use plastic for lab grown counterparts
Behind the scenes this fake meat, a product marked to 'save the day', using single-use plastic to grow the counterparts.
Negative soil carbon sequestration
Many will argue that Fake Meat is better for the environment because of its reduced carbon footprint: up to 96 per cent, and using less water, saving resources.
These stats mav be based on industrial agriculture instead of regenerative. However, an important fact that seems to be missed is that fake meat has a negative soil carbon sequestration.
Soil carbon sequestration is absolutely essential to protecting against air pollution, maintaining fertile soil and fighting the apparent climate emergency, but is conveniently ignored by mainstream media and climate activists. Pesticides used heavily in the production of fake meat completely destroy the life of the soil, killing microbiota, which enable the soil's natural ability to convert nitrogen into carbon.
Soil with no life has no water-holding capacity and no fertility to support animal or plant life.
Soil's lack of water-holding capacity and lack of carbon, or organic matter, is one of the reasons mass floods, droughts and forest fires are becoming more extreme.
Fake meat could be unhealthy, possibly unsafe and it sure won't solve the fake climate crisis! Do we really want to hand over complete power to a few private companies, that will wipe out years of indigenous people's knowledge, local farmers and ancestral wisdom?
The best way to predict the future is to make it. Every day, we have the power in our pockets to choose our future. Put your cash - your vote - towards real food for a real future.
