[blunte]

And probably less likely to include pathogens that come from animals.

I think all people need an occasional look at where their food comes from. The amount of animal shit (rodents and the slaughtered animals themselves) in commercially sourced meat has increased in the last decade. If you stood a person in front of a meat grinder and said, "Here, now we throw in the appropriate legally-allowed amount of poop into the mix", fewer people would be in line to buy the end product.

Or if they were allowed to go visit the factory chicken farms and see the sick, diseased chickens that end up on their dinner plates, I think they would be unable to eat it.

Do people not realize that the recent laws aimed at preventing information gathering from factory farms is designed to prevent them from learning what they are really eating?

[mc32]

Pathogens reduction yes. Animal biological matter, no. Harvesting entails inclusion of many small animals and insects which get processed.

That said, it may not be a bad thing to be exposed to those byproducts of farming. Too sterile an environment (and food) can result in other problems. Obviously we don’t want to overwhelm our immune systems with pathogens but they need to be exposed to them to be ready and also to not attack our own system.

[blunte]

I don't think we are at any risk of living in too sterile an environment. If anything, the knowledge that at least 1/3 of people don't wash their hands after they poop... is just one of the lovely ways we get exposed to a lot of interesting "biological matter".

Practically everything we touch in public has someone else's complex human fecal matter on it, plus stuff from other sources.

[gwbas1c]

If that kind of thing worries you, then stick with plant-based whole foods and wild fish.

Plenty of humans have had low, or no, animal products in their diet "forever." You don't need a fancy new food from Silicon Valley to avoid meat.

[blunte]

I never suggested that a manufactured meat replacement was a solution :).

Personally I think the fake meats are a needless crutch. Yes, creating an interesting vegetarian dish requires more effort than just throwing a fatty steak on a grill (the magic of heat, fat, and animal protein), but with just a bit of effort a vegetarian dish can be very satisfying and healthy at the same time.

[gwbas1c]

> Personally I think the fake meats are a needless crutch.

More then that, they're a hype-driven fad where a good concept gets ruined by people letting their imaginations run away, like cryptocurrency and driverless cars.

Honestly, I think test tube meat is where the real revolution will come from. (Animal flesh grown without the animal.) "I can't believe it's not meat" will join the ranks of Jello salads and other foods that we no longer eat.

(That, and I think that vegetarian dishes will slowly become more and more popular as people realize that they taste good and eating meat everyday is boring.)

[pvaldes]

Remove plant-based foods from the list. There is a "120%" guarantee of previous contact with animal poo and animal urine in your vegetables.