The vegan industry generates billions of dollars in sales every year – and the numbers are going up. The beef and dairy industries, meanwhile, are crumbling. Americans are consuming 20 percent less beef, while dairy sales are facing annual double-digit declines.
More people around the world are adopting vegetarian and vegan diets – some are going as far as raw veganism – for a diverse panoply of reasons, some health, some ethical. Whatever the case, this suggests that the meat and dairy sectors are facing long-term challenges.
Can they overcome these hurdles? Well, if they’re successful in lobbying the government, then they might.
The Chicago Tribune is reporting that the U.S. Cattlemen’s Association is trying to get the federal government to order vegan businesses to stop using terms like “synthetic beef” or “vegan meat” because it deceives and misleads consumers. The newspaper also noted that the dairy industry is using the same premise: stop using “almond milk” or “rice milk” because shoppers might believe it comes from cow’s milk.
From the newspaper:
The U.S. Cattlemen’s Association, however, is appalled that new forms of protein are being sold under names such as Beyond Beef and Impossible Burger. Vegetarian and vegan substitutes for meat have gained a significant share of the market, partly because of health considerations and partly because of aversion to killing harmless animals for food. But the livestock group fears that consumers are being cruelly misled.
It wants the Department of Agriculture to stop not only the use of these brand names but any term suggesting that there is such a thing as “synthetic beef” or “vegan meat.”
It complains that Beyond Meat offers what it calls “a plant-based burger that smells, tastes, looks and even feels like ground beef”—and, if you can imagine, “strategically merchandises its products adjacent to traditional meat in grocery stores.” Yet, it notes, these foods are composed entirely of “non-meat ingredients such as ‘Pea Protein Isolate,’ ‘Rice Flour’ and ‘Yeast Extract.'”
…
This industry is not the first to try to stifle plant-based competition. Last year, Democratic Sen. Tammy Baldwin of Wisconsin (“America’s Dairyland”) introduced a bipartisan bill titled the Defending Against Imitations and Replacements of Yogurt, Milk and Cheese to Promote Regular Intake of Dairy Everyday Act (acronym: DAIRY PRIDE). It would prevent makers of substitutes from using the term “milk.” The supporters want the Food and Drug Administration to permit that label only for the “lacteal secretion” of a cow—yum!
The idea is that the government needs to intervene to prevent deception. Baldwin says that “imitations are marketed using the good name of dairy to sell their products.” Actually, they use the bad name of dairy—its reliance on the relentless exploitation of sentient creatures—to sell their products.
Because the industry is having a tough time competing, beef and dairy farmers want the government to intervene and stifle competition. It’s ridiculous, especially because they use the argument: consumers are too stupid to know the difference.
Out of spite, perhaps it’s time to eat more kale burgers and drink more almond milk.
Leave a Comment