Fake Meat, Real Consequences: How Plant-Based Trends Are Shaping the Future of Farming
What plant-based meat means for crops, cattle, and the people who grow your food
Over the last couple of emails, we’ve taken a close look at plant-based meat—what’s in it, where it comes from, and whether it’s really saving the planet like some folks claim.
This week to wrap up, let’s zoom all the way out.
Because beyond the burger, beyond the branding, beyond the sizzle and the soy—this shift toward “alternative proteins” is having a real, measurable impact on farmers.
And it’s not all good.
Some parts of agriculture stand to gain. Others? Not so much.
So today, I want to share what this plant-based push looks like from our side of the fence—as a livestock farm that works directly with the land, the animals, and the folks who eat our food.
Let’s break it down.
🐄 The Livestock Industry: Pressure’s Building, But It’s Not a Landslide (Yet)
Let’s start with the obvious: plant-based meats are trying to take a bite out of the meat industry.
And sure, they’ve made some noise. You’ve seen them in the fast food drive-thru, in the frozen aisle, maybe even on your cousin’s grill at the family cookout.
Big names like Beyond Meat and Impossible Foods got a lot of early attention, and venture capital money has poured into companies making everything from lab-grown chicken to “mycelium bacon.”
But here’s the reality:
Meat sales are still strong—especially real meat from small farms.
Most Americans still eat meat regularly (more than 85%, according to some studies).
And most people who buy plant-based meat aren’t vegetarians—they’re “flexitarians,” looking to cut back but not cut out.
Still, we’re seeing real shifts, especially in:
Fast food chains trying to appeal to younger, more environmentally-conscious customers
Institutional buyers (like colleges and hospitals) looking to “green” their menus
Investor-funded companies pressuring the media and grocery stores to carry more alternatives
This affects conventional producers more than farms like ours—because our customers aren’t just shopping for calories. They’re buying flavor, ethics, and trust. But the pressure’s there. And it’s growing.
🌾 The Crop Side: More Peas, Fewer Cows?
Let’s look at the other side of the food chain—what gets planted in the ground.
To make a plant-based burger, you need crops. Lots of them.
Peas (for protein isolate)
Soybeans (textured soy protein)
Canola (for oil)
Mung beans, chickpeas, rice, and wheat gluten, depending on the brand
This shift is starting to reshape what farmers grow, especially in areas like the Northern Plains and Canada, where pulses are becoming big business.
Some would say that’s a good thing. More legumes = more diversity, right?
But let’s not romanticize it:
These crops are often grown in the same monoculture, high-input systems as corn and soy.
Many still rely on chemical fertilizers, pesticides, and tillage.
And the bulk of the processing? It’s happening overseas—particularly in China and India, where cost is lower and environmental oversight is… let’s say, different.
So, while we may be swapping one set of industrial ingredients for another, the underlying system hasn’t changed. It’s just wearing a plant-based label.
🧾 Winners, Losers, and Who’s Left Holding the Hay Bale
Here’s a quick look at who’s benefiting—and who’s being left behind—in the fake meat gold rush:
Winners
Losers
Global food processors & protein isolate manufacturers
Small livestock producers who rely on commodity markets
Investors & start-ups with slick branding
Soil health (if we keep propping up monocultures)
Industrial pulse crop farmers
Rural communities without access to value-added processing
Big food brands adding green options
Consumers thinking they are getting real, whole food
Meanwhile, folks like us—who are working with animals, rotating pastures, stewarding land—we’re out here actually regenerating the environment… and getting squeezed between policy trends and supermarket marketing.
🤔 The Big Picture: Is Fake Meat the Solution, or Just a New Distraction?
Let’s ask the million-dollar question:
Are plant-based meats fixing the food system?
In my view: not really.
They may reduce emissions compared to feedlot beef, but they do nothing to solve the root problems of:
Soil degradation
Chemical dependency
Globalized, fragile supply chains
Processed, nutrient-poor food
And they certainly don’t bring back the connection between people and their food.
That’s where regenerative farming shines. We’re not outsourcing. We’re not isolating protein or flavor in a lab. We’re building food systems from the ground up—literally—starting with the soil and working outward to healthy animals and well-fed communities.
🧠 What Can You Do?
Here’s the good news: you don’t need a PhD in food science to make the right call.
You just need to ask questions like:
Who grew this food?
How was it raised?
Can I pronounce the ingredients?
Can I picture the farm it came from?
And maybe most importantly…
Can I shake the hand that raised it?
If you can’t, maybe it’s not the kind of food we should be building our future on.
🙏 Thank You for Standing With Real Farms
At C&F Farms, we’re doing this the old way—with a forward-thinking twist. We’re rotating animals, improving soil, treating animals with care, and growing food that feeds people… not investors.
We’re not trying to reinvent meat—we’re trying to restore trust in it.
So thanks for standing with us. Thanks for choosing real food, real farms, and real flavor.
And if someone at the grocery store ever tells you fake meat is going to save the world?
Tell them your farmer said otherwise.
