Recently, there has been a rise in companies that use plants to mimic the taste of meat. Companies like Beyond Meat or Impossible come to mind when mentioning plant-based meats, which use plants that include soybeans, potato starch, and other non-meat substitutes.

Plant-based foods are a product you should avoid. They seem healthy at first, however, they fall short of what I consider to be real meat. For one, plant-based meats come off as artificial and non-natural. Although companies try to appeal to the population that consumes real meat, I find the attempts made by the companies still in the development stages of an experiment. 

Companies argue that the carbon output from cows produces more greenhouse gasses in the atmosphere. That problem has already reached the point where trying to halt greenhouse emissions is fruitless. If you’re concerned about the planet getting warmer, complain to the government instead of forcing people to adopt plant-based meats. Not to mention plant-based meats are also highly processed, to the point where they can be considered a health hazard.

To add to that, humans have been hunting and gathering for millennia. When considering this, eating plant-based meats is unnatural compared to getting meat from an animal. If humans were to continue, at this rate we could forget ever eating meat due to everyone eating plants. Meats also provide key nutrients for the human body such as iron, vitamin B6, and much more. Eliminating people’s access to meat could have health risks that accompany it. 

Also, people who live within the Arctic Circle rely solely on meat to survive due to the harsh conditions in the area. Forcing those people to change their lifestyle would be impossible due to the limitations on their environment. 

When considering the information, I believe that plant-based products should be stayed away from. Since they’re highly processed, lack nutrients for what a person needs, and people can’t change their lifestyle to accommodate what they want.