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How Are Plant-Based Trends Shaping the Future of Farming? Pt.3

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.

Is Plant-Based Meat Really Better for the Planet? Pt.2

Is Plant-Based Meat Really Better for the Planet? A farmer’s take on carbon footprints, regenerative grazing, and who’s actually fixing the food system In our last email, we pulled back the curtain on plant-based meats and asked some hard questions about what’s really inside those patties. If you missed it, I’d recommend giving that one a read first—especially if you’re wondering what methylcellulose and titanium dioxide are doing in your food. But now, let’s tackle the other big claim the fake meat industry makes: “We’re saving the planet.” You’ve probably heard this before. Major brands and tech investors alike love to say that plant-based meat is the future because it’s better for the environment. Fewer emissions. Less land. Less water. Sounds great, right? Well… let’s slow down a second and look at the bigger picture. Because as someone who farms with the environment, not against it, I think it’s worth asking: What kind of farming are we comparing this to? And are the environmental benefits of plant-based meats as black-and-white as they seem? Let’s dig into it. 🌍 The Case For Plant-Based Meat (According to the Industry) There’s no denying this: When you compare plant-based meat to feedlot beef, it wins on most standard environmental metrics. The Impossible Burger, for example, produces around 89% less greenhouse gas emissions and uses 87% less water than conventional grain-fed beef, according to its 2019 lifecycle assessment. It also uses 96% less land, mostly because it doesn’t require pasture or large feed operations. And honestly, compared to industrial feedlots—where cattle are packed into small spaces, fed corn and soy, and stand in mud or worse—that’s not a hard bar to clear. But what about farms like ours? 🐄 The Case For Regenerative Grazing Our cattle are raised on pasture, moving regularly to fresh grass, fertilizing the soil naturally, and helping the land regenerate through rotational grazing. This practice isn’t new—it’s how animals and ecosystems have worked together for thousands of years. And the benefits go far beyond just “carbon math.” When you manage livestock properly: You build topsoil through trampled grass and manure You store carbon in the soil as organic matter You improve biodiversity and native forage You increase water retention, reducing runoff and erosion In fact, a widely cited study from Quantis International found that a regenerative farm in Georgia—White Oak Pastures—produced beef with a net negative carbon footprint. That’s right: their beef actually pulled more carbon out of the atmosphere than it produced. Meanwhile, the Impossible Burger—while cleaner than feedlot beef—was still a net carbon emitter. So… Who’s Right? Now, is every grass-fed farm carbon negative? No. It depends on how it’s managed. And scaling regenerative systems is a real challenge—we don’t pretend otherwise. But one thing’s clear: fake meat isn’t regenerative. It’s still part of the same industrial ag system. Just with different crops and a shinier marketing strategy. 🚜 The Farming Practices Behind Fake Meat Let’s talk about where those plant-based ingredients come from. Peas, soy, mung beans—these are monoculture crops, often farmed in giant fields with chemical herbicides, synthetic fertilizers, and high tillage practices. Most of them are grown for yield, not nutrition. And once harvested, they’re heavily processed into isolates and additives. The soil they’re grown in? Often depleted, compacted, and reliant on constant chemical input to produce anything at all. That doesn’t sound like a food system we should be proud of. And let’s not forget: most of this processing happens overseas. A lot of that pea protein isolate comes from China. The oil? Often GMO. The “natural flavors”? You tell me. We’re not just outsourcing ingredients—we’re outsourcing responsibility. 🧠 A Closing Thought Look, I don’t think plant-based meat is evil. And I’m not here to shame anyone trying to eat differently, more ethically, or with less impact. That’s a good thing. But I do believe in honesty. And I believe we owe it to ourselves—and the land—to look deeper than a slick label or a feel-good ad. Because regenerative farms are doing the hard work that fake meat companies only talk about. We’re building soil, sequestering carbon, improving biodiversity, and raising real food in ways that restore the land—not just feed the hype machine. And we’re doing it without titanium dioxide, methylcellulose, or a lab coat in sight. We’ll keep raising real meat, the real way—outdoors, with care, and without shortcuts. Thanks for being part of this movement with us.

Plant Based Meats, The Environment, & Agricultural Impacts Pt.1

Over the years, we’ve had a lot of conversations with our customers about food labels, sourcing, and what’s actually in the food we feed our families. And time and again, one topic keeps popping up—plant-based meat. In fact I did a short writeup on plant based meats a year or two ago, but since it still keeps coming up I thought I would do a deeper dive! Over the next 3 weeks I’m going to dig into the topic of plant-based meats and give you some insight into the impacts of fake meat on your health, the agricultural industry and the world as a whole. You’ve seen it in fast food commercials, popping up on grocery store shelves, and even in flashy tech articles talking about 3D-printed “steaks.” Yes, that’s a real thing. They’re literally 3D-printing meat. And I get it—people are trying to eat better, be more conscious of their impact, and find alternatives to the mess of industrial agriculture. But here’s the thing… Just because something is labeled as “plant-based” doesn’t mean it’s good for you—or the planet. So today, I want to take off the gloves (gently) and walk through some questions I think every consumer should be asking about these so-called “fake meats.” As a farmer committed to regenerative practices and real food, this isn’t about judgment—it’s about education, transparency, and a return to common sense. 1. Can You Make It in Your Own Kitchen? Here’s a rule of thumb I’ve come to trust over the years: If you couldn’t make it in your own kitchen, maybe it doesn’t belong on your dinner table. Let’s look at a typical plant-based burger. One of the leading brands has the following main ingredients: Water Pea protein isolate Expeller-pressed canola oil Methylcellulose Yeast extract Potassium chloride Natural flavors Titanium dioxide (for color) That’s not a recipe—it’s a science experiment. If I asked you to whip up a burger using pea protein isolate and methylcellulose, you’d probably look at me sideways. And you’d be right to. These are highly processed industrial ingredients, not foods you’re going to pick up at the local farmers market. And while “plant-based” sounds simple and wholesome, most of these products are the opposite—ultra-processed, lab-assembled, and dependent on chemical inputs every step of the way. 2. Can You Pronounce the Ingredients? Here’s another great rule of thumb…if you can’t pronounce it, maybe don’t eat it. Now of course, this isn’t a hard science. I’ve met some folks who can pronounce “methylcellulose” just fine. But that doesn’t mean they know what it is—or that it belongs in a burger. The point is, ingredient labels on these fake meats often read more like a chemistry exam than a recipe. Go ahead and flip over the package of most popular plant-based brands and you’ll find a long list of additives, stabilizers, texturizers, and lab-made flavorings. Sure, they’re technically “plant-derived,” but they’re not food in any traditional sense of the word. I saw a great example of this from another farm like ours: they posted three ingredient lists—two from top-selling plant-based burgers, and one from a premium dog food. And unless you really squint, you’d have a hard time telling which is which. When you see ingredients like: Titanium dioxide (used for color) Methylcellulose (a binder made from plant fiber) Disodium inosinate (a flavor enhancer) Soy leghemoglobin (a heme-like molecule made using GMO yeast) …you can ask yourself, is this something I’d cook with at home? Or even keep in my pantry? This isn’t about fear—it’s about awareness. The more we rely on processed, lab-made shortcuts to mimic nature, the more we disconnect from real nourishment. So yes, reading ingredient lists takes a little time. But once you make it a habit, you’ll start noticing just how unreal many of these “better-for-you” foods really are. 3. Do You Know Where It Comes From? This one hits close to home—because it is home. We proudly raise our animals on our farm, on pasture, in the open air. We know the feed, the soil, the weather, and every inch of the land they roam. When we buy from other farms, it’s folks we know and trust—who raise food the right way. That’s a level of transparency no lab can match. Meanwhile, the plant-based protein supply chain is… murky, to say the least. Roughly 80% of the world’s textured soy protein (a common plant-meat ingredient) is processed in China. Pea protein isolate often comes from Canada or Europe, but many of the processing steps are overseas. Common additives like canola oil or lecithin often come from GMO sources. So even if you’re buying your burger from a shiny U.S. brand, the ingredients themselves could be bouncing across the globe before they hit your plate. At that point, can you really say it’s local? Sustainable? Ethical? So What’s the Takeaway? We live in a time when food has become way more complicated than it should be. And “plant-based” meat is one of the most confusing categories out there. So here’s what I’d offer as a simple filter: ✳️ If it can’t be made in your kitchen… ✳️ If you can’t pronounce the ingredients… ✳️ If you don’t know where it comes from… Maybe it’s not what real food is supposed to be. And that doesn’t mean we can’t improve the food system—we absolutely can. But replacing one industrial system with another doesn’t get us any closer to better health, stronger communities, or a more honest relationship with our food. What We Believe At our farm, we believe in raising animals naturally and respectfully. We believe food should be nourishing, not engineered. And we believe you should always know exactly what’s on your plate—and where it came from. So next time you see a flashy new meatless product at the store or a commercial promising to save the world one lab-grown patty at a time… take a second to ask: Is this real food? Or is it just a high-tech detour away from the truth?

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