The Beef Industry Has Started a Smear Campaignagainstbeyondbeef
Let them eat beef.
Or let them not eat beef, but make sure they know it's not beef.
Do I have that right?
Last month, our own Sen. Deb Fischer introduced the Real MEAT Act to make sure consumers who are picking up Fake MEAT realize it is quinoa and soy in cow's clothing.
"As part of a new food fad, fake-meat companies are creating plant-based products meant to imitate real beef, but they are running dishonest smear campaigns to do so," Fischer, a member of the Senate's Agriculture Committee, told the Scottsbluff Star-Herald in December.
Beware, faked-out fake meat food fad consumers!
Make yourself more clear about what the words "plant" and "based" put together are up to, Plant-Based Products.
Fischer's efforts have the support of the Nebraska Cattlemen's Association — where are the women? — and the Nebraska Farm Bureau, and, perhaps, Confused Real Meat Lovers Everywhere.
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The nerve of the black-bean "burger," the mock "chicken" and the breakfast veggie "sausage" causing traffic jams of confused shoppers in the frozen food aisle.
"The confusion extends beyond nutrition," Fischer said. "Consumers are also unsure about what these products are actually made of. Fifty-five percent of consumers do not know that plant-based protein products are not beef at all, but rather entirely vegetarian or vegan. People are confused, and solving that confusion means dealing with deceptive labeling, which is why I introduced the Real MEAT Act."
Impossible Whopper goes nationwide at Burger King
In an op-ed piece for the Wall Street Journal — "I have a beef with phony meat" — Fischer noted one such fake-meat company, Beyond Meat, claimed eating meat increases one's odds of getting cancer or heart disease.
"The website failed to note that the study it was citing referred only to highly processed meats, not fresh beef," she wrote. (Head's-up, Hot Dog Lobby.)
She also pointed out that Beyond Beef burgers contain a "laundry list of mostly processed ingredients."
Duly noted.
Also duly noted: Beef is a $13.8 billion industry in Nebraska.
I'm a Nebraskan who doesn't eat beef. I don't feel the need to tell you why, anymore than you need to explain to me why you do.
The last time I tasted animal flesh was late in the last century, during a visit to Doane College, when a 90-year-old lifelong learner invited me to her campus apartment for lunch and served chicken salad. (I'm Nebraska Nice and it seemed rude to refuse.)
I'm not a big fan of meat alternatives, either, but I've sampled my share. Morning Star crumble — looks like hamburger, tastes like the taco seasoning you mix it with!
Boca burgers on the grill. An occasional slice of Thanksgiving Tofurkey or a Christmas Field Roast — not to be confused with pork roast.
I eat fruits and vegetables, ice cream and cheese, pasta and pizza and processed junk, and I can figure the nutritional value of the food I put into my body and what it's made up of by reading the federally mandated labels.
Fischer's bill would require the word imitation in prominent letters on packaging, along with a pinky-swear statement promising no meat or meat-byproducts went into the making of the (not) burger product.
Truthfully, I don't need yet another label to "warn" me that a product may be "entirely vegetarian or vegan." (Although it could be a bonus for vegans who need reading glasses.)
The Real MEAT Act has three co-sponsors, including one Democrat and Sen. Ben Sasse.
Fischer is not alone in her desire to protect beef's brand.
Similar bills have been passed on the state level and at least one of them is facing a lawsuit from the Not Meat Producers — Meat, it's what's not for dinner — and the ACLU, alleging the restrictions censor speech and favor the meat industry.
Last time I checked, Sen. Fischer was in favor of free markets, cutting red tape and ridding the country of undue government regulation.
I have a thought.
If she really wants to regulate the non-meat industry for the health of her meat-eating constituents, I'd start by doing more to protect workers in the state's meatpacking plants. More USDA inspectors. Slower line speeds.
Laws that might save lives.
Instead of laws that protect carnivores from plants.
Columnist Cindy Lange-Kubick's memorable stories from 2019
Cindy Lange-Kubick's most memorable: Based in Washington
It was a thrill to be in Washington to see the great Ponca leader from Nebraska take his rightful place in the U.S. Capitol.
Cindy's Lange-Kubick's most memorable: Working the line
As journalists we need to shine a light on important issues. The meatpacking industry -- how we get our food and the dangerous work of those who provide it – is one such issue. This story is a reminder that we need to do better.
Cindy's Lange-Kubick's most memorable: Moments matter
This story about a little boy with a fatal disease and the love of his family and community, remind me that moments do matter.
Cindy's Lange-Kubick's most memorable: A work of art
February is one of my favorite months to come to work and try to uncover important stories of African-Americans in Lincoln, some of them lost to time. I fell in love with Anna and her talent.
Cindy's Lange-Kubick's most memorable: A governor's snub
Read, read, read. I learned so much from this book and was saddened the our governor did not take the time to read it before deciding it was unworthy of a proclamation.
Reach the writer at 402-473-7218 or clangekubick@journalstar.com.
On Twitter @TheRealCLK
Source: https://journalstar.com/news/local/cindy-lange-kubick-sen-fischer-warns-of-fake-meat-industrys-dishonest-smear-campaigns/article_af5fdf63-ae86-584b-ac8c-98cc870b84f7.html
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