[disown]

> Can someone help me to understand all of the pessimism surrounding plant-based meat?

Think about what you wrote. Plant-based "meat". Would you eat a meat based salad that was created in a lab?

> "it's not healthier", "the name sucks", "it'll give you cancer".

It's not healthier, it's name does suck and god knows what it will give you. It's the most inorganic lab grown processed burger you can possibly have.