I don’t believe in kicking anybody when they’re down, but I have to admit that it’s definitely the most opportune time to kick somebody. In the latest Bloomberg Businessweek, Deena Shanker tears into the American “plant-based” beef substitute business with a cover story headlined “Fake Meat Was Supposed to Save the World. It Became Just Another Fad.” Since I come from a family of cattlemen and live in flyover country, I’m part of the innermost audience for Shanker’s oddly gleeful hit piece. It hits home all right, but even I have to admit it’s a little early for a final judgment on the fate of pseudobeef. No, a year of shock food inflation has not been especially good for an expensive type of experimental cuisine.
