How a "Bloody" Piece of Fake Meat Shows the Battle Between Two Perspectives in Health + Life

What do you "see" when you look at this package of bloody fake meat, The Impossible Burger? Or what do you see when you look at a package of Beyond Burger that looks exactly like the real thing? 

Take a moment to sit, see, reflect and really engage with thoughts on this piece of fake meat that bleeds. This piece of vegan fake meat that bleeds is not only controversial, but it really shows the rise of the two worlds of consciousness. 

We've long known.."You Are What You Eat."

Just for a bit of a background....I've been involved in the vegan world since 2004.  One of my college jobs was that I worked for a vegan cafe and health food store for over four years. I've seen the industry grow, and evolve and what back then was a counter culture of food rebels and peace-loving "hippies" who were a bit more rooted to the earth and gardening, is now a mainstream trend that attracts all areas of life. 

Today, veganism has become like a cult or like a religion, where there is damnation and hate for people who eat animals, even hate for those who are vegetarian. However, the industry before it got mainstream was never entirely like that. 

There were always some anarchists, but for the most part it was a more peace-loving culture. Every counter-culture starts off as "cool," and then eventually loses its charm once it becomes hijacked by mainstream reality. 
 
Although back then everything was soy-based, for the most part people embraced bean burgers, various types of salads and soups - things that were made from earth-based ingredients! People cared about the ingredients as well as reading food labels to mitigate artificial flavors, food colorings etc. 

In reality, vegan meat and cheeses were never "healthy" because it was just a conglomerate of processed soy products. They were not essential for health purposes. 

My journey into not wanting to eat meat, rooted back to my childhood. My body didn't want it, nor did I crave meat. I enjoyed vegetables, fruit and carbohydrates a lot more. My family always had me eat at least one meatball or small piece of chicken to get my protein. One day my mother was marinating chicken and I asked her several questions. When she sporked the chicken in preparation of cooking it, I began to cry. I knew something deep down wasn't right. Seeing flesh and blood always repulsed me. Even entering high school, I knew companies like McDonald's were "bullshit," because I was raised off eating garden-based vegetables.

However, that is something that is innate in my physical and spiritual well-being.

So this perspective comes from someone who has more connection to the land per say by understanding the difference between homegrown vs commercial food.  

Like all things right now...there is a divide in lifestyle and perspective....

The vegan community has a massive division into various types of vegans. Some have turned vegan for health reasons, others for spiritual reasons (which also connects to health), and others just to save the animals. Although many "castes," are alive and well, throughout my time in the community as well as being a fitness / health coach for 15 years I've seen this divide and gap widen. 

We primarily have two general categories.
1. The more health-conscious / spiritual based plant-based eater who is connected to the land, understands natural / spiritual law and understands how the higher intelligence of nature is a self-organizing organism that regenerates and heals itself. These people know you do not mess with nature because human meddling can destroy it. These are commonly more spiritual / religious based people. These include the yogis, food rebels, energy gurus, vegan Christians and Seventh Day Adventists (more vegetarian than vegan). These people follow the scientific natural laws, as well as intuitive guidance. 

2. The other type of vegans are the ones who claim they are more "science-based," or junk food vegans who are in it for the animals but not necessarily for health purposes. Throughout my work as a health coach, I say they are "replacement" vegans as I've coached these people who swap hot dogs, pizza and chips for the dairy-free version. It is the same processed version of how they ate before. Many are atheist in nature with no spiritual belief, rebellions against anything from the past. Many work in technology and see veganism as progress, so anything that helps people not eat animals is a "yay." They see GMO or processed foods as okay, because we've been eating them for decades and science says it is ok. The more trendy types reside here. They see group one as quacks or weirdos. 

One example I shared on a vegan community Facebook page was about the impossible burger and its GMO ingredients, labor/creation practices and how it went on the market before FDA approval. According to Forbes, an article they wrote the article, "Why Bill Gates Is Betting Millions On Synthetic Biology," stating, "While most people have heard of Beyond Meat and the plant-based meat mania by now, they don’t realize that this is all part of a much bigger opportunity. In fact, many of the wealthiest investors on the planet have been going “all in” on this obscure megatrend. Synthetic biology involves reconfiguring the DNA of an organism to create something entirely new. It allows scientists to design living things with attributes and characteristics we desire. In short, it allows you to “program” biology just like you would a computer! It’s a way to create just about any product in the world. This is HUGE. Consider Beyond Meat and competitor Impossible Foods. These companies use a DNA coding sequence from soybeans to create meat that looks and tastes like beef but is actually made of vegetables."

​Not only did I get kindly put down, but people who worked in pharmaceutical and the video game industry said, "It's okay, don't be worried...we've been eating GMO and processed foods for a while."

But we're not talking about processing flour into a noodle, or grinding the stevia plant into a sugar-based substance. We're talking about a new form of technology and synthetic biology, which includes gene editing, something that is happening now to farm animals as well as in vegan meats. 
 

Back to the Burgers for a moment...

The burgers are controversial. Some are okay with it. Others are not.

If you look at the image above, these fatty pieces of fake meat actually have ZERO vegetables in it. It's technically not a veggie burger. When comparing it to beef, it actually has similar fat contents and calories as any normal beef patty. Even Registered Dietitians have weighed in their thoughts in this article. None of the protein comes from actual real food sources. 

Besides soy, beans and nuts, hearty grains like quinoa and dark leafy greens like kale provide plant eaters real and healthy protein. 

​Some important things to note: 

First, the Center for Food Safety (CFS) filed a legal challenge against the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) 2019 approval of soy leghemoglobin (“heme”), a color additive used to make the plant-based Impossible Burger appear to "bleed" like real meat. Because GMO heme is new to the human diet, and substantial quantities are added to the Impossible Burger, FDA should have required extensive safety testing before approving its use as a color additive. The CFS states, "FDA approved soy leghemoglobin without any of the long-term animal studies that are needed to determine whether or not it harms human health! This means it didn’t even consider whether it causes cancer, reproductive impairment, or other adverse effects. To make matters worse, a short-term rat trial detected adverse effects like the disruption of reproductive cycles and reduced uterine weights in females, and biomarkers of anemia, reduced clotting ability, and kidney problems." 

​The CFS is still in legal battles. I suggest reading about gene editing in animals stated from the CFS. It's the same gene editing that is happening to vegan meats.   

Second, according to a 2017 vegnews.com article, "Last week, food technology company Impossible Foods revealed that it tested its key ingredient—soy leghemoglobin (aka, “heme”)—on rats. In a statement entitled “The Agonizing Dilemma of Animal Testing” dated August 2017, Impossible Foods’ CEO Patrick O. Brown explained his stance on the matter, revealing a systemic issue with the process of receiving approval from the Food and Drug Administration for the safety of uncommon ingredients.

HAVE ANY BEAN OR QUINOA BURGERS EVER HAD TO GET TESTED ON ANIMALS? NO BECAUSE THE PRODUCTS COME FROM THE EARTH. 

Third, we have to understand that America is a processed food nation, with serious obese and health issues. Much of this arises because we eat more processed foods than other nations. The National Post writes, “The Beyond Meat burger is technically a processed food. We know that diets higher in processed foods are linked to the development of disease,” Lapidus said. When people eat more processed foods, they are likely to consume more calories and gain weight, a study by the National Institutes of Health found. With added weight gain can come such complications as kidney disease, diabetes, hypertension, high cholesterol and heart disease. Just because a product is plant-based doesn’t mean it’s automatically healthy. “French fries are plant-based,” Langer pointed out. For someone who has hypertension, a Beyond Meat burger at A&W — which has more than half your daily requirement of sodium (1,110 mg) — is not a good option. Conversely, A&W’s teen burger, which has bacon, has 910 mg of sodium."

Fourth, Throughout the history of plant-based eating, we've never consumed anything that is bloody in nature. The closet thing to blood is juicing a beet or sacrificing a blood orange. 

If you are a strict vegan, search within yourself and ask, "Why am I vegan?"
"If I find it unnatural to drink or eat the milk products from animals, do I find it acceptable or repulsive to eat genetically engineered blood?" 

At what point do we stop and say, this is too weird.

Are companies trying to normalize the consumption of blood? 

When I look at the burger it repulses me, especially the blood. For me this is NOT NORMAL. Consuming blood, whether real or fake for me, goes against any grain of compassion and love. 

Are billionaires trying to make it acceptable to consume bloody materials? At some point in morality, we have to realize when we are going too far. 

The excuse, "but this is for meat eaters to trick them into the real thing." I'm sorry that is not an excuse. That's called manipulation. It's the same tactic marketing has done for years. 

The industry is trying to make it mainstream to fit into the "normal" ways of eating for millions of people, so it detaches from the "hippie" stigma. 

The hilarious part of all of this.....

The mid-century 1960-70's "hippies" were the true plant-based food rebels who strayed from the mainstream to grow their own garden and eat foods closer to nature. They said "F U" to processed Kraft cheese and TV dinners which were making people sick! 

The grassroots origins of plant-based eating revolved around having connection to the land, "harmony with nature." They were rebelling against becoming a fast-food society. 
Even the ones who ate meat fought for sustainable, and ethical practices. 

Nature has given you everything you need. Science is even showing how mushrooms can clean up oil spills, and toxic waste. 

Isn't that progress? To use science to better understand the connection between humans and nature? 

Doesn't some fake blood and something that looks like dead carcass seem regressive? 

​You cannot rewrite the history of plant-based eating and this doesn't mean it can't have a modern twist...but this new technology is completely disconnected from nature or anything natural. Even the pagans were rooted to earth medicine and omens from nature. 

Do we want to live in a world where billionaires and corporations get the exception to every rule? Meanwhile small businesses and independent creators would be shut down immediately. 

Here is one thing I know...

When health concerns, boycotting artificial ingredients and things like coconut water and kale salads became the rise and massive companies saw a decrease in profit.....these businesses either have to alter, join in, or jump ship to avoid a future of going bankrupt. 

It's how business works. Why did Sears, JcPenney's and other companies go under? Because they never altered their business model. 

Why have companies like General Mills used GMO grain for years, and now that people are concerned over GMO's, starting making some "GMO-free" products. 

WHY HAVE BILLIONAIRES INVESTED IN, AND PHARMACEUTICAL COMPANIES BOUGHT VEGAN BUSINESSES?

​BECAUSE IF THEY DON'T FOLLOW THE TREND, THEY LOSE PROFIT AND POWER. AND THERE IS NO PROFIT IN MAKING PEOPLE HEALTHY, INDEPENDENT SOVEREIGN BEINGS. SO WHY NOT HIJACK THE VEGAN FOOD COMPANY, WHICH WAS THE FUTURE, AND TWEAK SOME ARTIFICIAL INGREDIENTS TO KEEP HUMANITY ON THE SAME FREIGHT TRAIN TO POOR HEALTH AND CO-DEPENDENCY ON MEDS AND THE HOSPITAL SYSTEM.

SWAPPING GMO FAKE MEAT DIET FROM (GENE ENGINEERED) REAL MEAT IS LIKE SWAPPING HEROIN FROM CRACK.  ALTHOUGH HEROIN COMES FROM THE SEED OF A POPPY PLANT, IT DOESN'T MEAN ITS GOOD FOR YOU. 

Look at three basic examples of vegan companies being sold to meat and pharmaceutical companies.
 
-Tyson meat invested in Beyond Burger, later backed out and created its own line of alternative meats, that technically are not vegan. The chicken nugget contains egg whites and the beef product, "blends beef and pea protein." - Say what?

-Daiya non-dairy products, a company out of Vancouver BC was bought out by a Japanese pharmaceutical company, Otsuka Pharmaceutical. 

-Local Seattle-based vegan meat company, Field Roast, bought out by Maple Leaf Foods, Canada's largest packaged meat company. 

This isn't about being perfect and only supporting 100% dairy-free companies. That is impossible!

This is about the hijacking the community of it's grassroots origins to make it something it is not, on top of not knowing how things like gene-editing will affect the human body. These companies will not all of a sudden become moral because they are adopting dairy-free products. They are profiting from the future and manipulating the products that do not provide robust, optimal health. 

In reality, everything you need comes from nature. Most man-made products, chemicals / things have harmed humans and nature for decades. 

When you are healthy, there is no profiting from nature. 

Many people who fit in category two that I mentioned above, are looking at things on a surface level. That is how the brain has been evolved in this digital era. Hear something and react. Thinking is being eliminated. They see the "science," but they refuse to look at the other side of science, mainly because it doesn't fit their belief system. In addition, with many of them seeing the "cool progress" of video games and technology they are in the belief that technology is the future and that it is progress in a positive way. Because many lack a sense of divine source, they are continuously following man-made laws, (and mainstream trends to fit in) and thereabouts which includes artificial intelligence, fake food, synthetic fibers etc. Many of these people DO NOT CARE about ingesting artificial ingredients. Many of these people are ego-driven. 

Many people in group one are very concerned that this so-called "progress" is actually a regression that can damage nature, animals and the entire planet on itself. They see how the human ego thinks it is above natural law. They are questioning if things are going too far, or in reality the trends in history show that powerful establishments have suppressed natural health, herbalism, healing and the like. Many who are in the realm have healed themselves through plant-based nutrition and alternative modalities. Many of these people DO CARE about what chemicals or substances they ingest. Many of these people are spirit-driven, or at least deeply rooted to nature.
 

They don't celebrate McDonald's or Burger King serving fake meat, because when has their business practices ever been ethical or sustainable to humans or animals? 

Most of group two personally doesn't care as long as its one less meat burger served on this planet. This group doesn't see it as a big deal that it bleeds or that it contains GMO's. It's a very short-sighted view point in life. 

The other group sees it as a big deal in many ways. Something (or many things) doesn't sit well with them about the actual burger and the practice behind it, and the ingredients in it. 

The GMO debate is huge because science proves both sides. However, the group that does not advocate for this burger is because they've read the science that shows how GMO seeds or products have done more harm than good. They know anything man-made disrupts natural law, and that there will be no animals or pristine nature with humans meddling into it's higher intelligence. 

​Why do you think sea animals have died from naval sonar? Because once again something that comes from humans has disrupted the natural frequency sonar of nature. 

In spirituality, one learns that everything is energy and every has a frequency. Nature vibrates at it's own natural frequency, it's own rhythm per say. The example of the whales are dying from a disturbance of a frequency that is out-of-tune. It's too high or too erratic and has caused disturbances. Humans meddling with the frequency is disrupting the natural law / flow of nature. 

Atheists do not understand this. They think it is quackery or some bullshit created by delusional hippies. They are completely fixed in the material world. 

So who is right? Is anyone more moral than the other?  

I don't think we should judge people for their choices as no one wants to be told what to do, or be shamed. Would vegans like it if a dictator forced the entire citizens to eat meat?

We really need to "dissect" our thoughts, morality and information to understand how we really feel. 
 

People's belief systems and perspectives alter or adopt their choices. 

As someone who has spent 15 years in exercise science, I have seen that most people lack the understanding of basic human physiology. We are creatures from nature and we cannot ignore that. 

​The naivety has to stop. Marketing is a powerful tool that is used to convince people to do, or buy something. 

People do not realize that what you ingest affects the planet's well-being. When you consume meds, drugs and other artificial substances that gets released through your urine and fecal. That body waste runs through the sewers and into nature. Maybe we are still understanding GMO's on how this affects the environment (we can't ignore it's pesticides have already had an affect) through our bodily waste, but one thing we should know is that we humans have an everyday choice to clean ourselves up, which cleans up nature organically. 

The two perspectives are very deep and entrenched in their belief systems. What one sees as good, the other views it as evil. It's the same polarity that has been rising for sometime. 

Since many vegans call themselves progressive and fight for women/human rights, will they open their minds and be progressive to listen to this spiritual woman from India, Vandana Shiva, who's spent her life work with seed farming and talks about how GMO seeds destroyed Indian farms on top of increased farmer suicide in India. So Gates, an investor in Beyond Burger, is the same investor in the farming seeds in India....and soon to be the world.

​So if you are what you eat, those who are consuming tons of artificial food are producing an artificial consciousness. There is some distortion to logic in this frame of thinking. It also includes a partial God-complex, which has the narcissistic tendency, that they are in sole control. Basically, we are our own god. 

Those who primarily stick to the earth-based foods understand and see things from a different point of view, or maybe the natural way. There is a higher intelligence in control and everything is interconnected. 

Let us not judge or hate one another for our choices. Let us bring awareness to recognize the future of this planet relies on the preservation of our health, which also preserves our earth. Becoming artificial beings will create an artificial, man-made earth where nothing natural exists. 

What do you think about the bloody fake meat?