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The Newest Eco Food Trend: Blended Burgers

by ArnulfoM54 Posted on April 12, 2018

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Though many environmentalists understand that red meat isn’t always green, it can be tough to forgo a juicy beef burger for its vegetarian alternative when dining out.

The all-or-nothing approach is common when it comes to red meat consumption, but restaurants are now taking strides toward a sustainable happy medium.

Introducing Blended Burgers

The newest trend in sustainable burgers is the blended burger — a beef patty blended with mushrooms. It still has real meat for those who just don’t want to give it up, but its carbon footprint is significantly smaller.

While you’ll find these burgers popping up on menus at sit-down restaurants everywhere, they’re just gaining steam in the fast-food world. Sonic, which has more than 3,500 restaurants across 45 U.S. states, was the first national fast-food chain to adopt this healthier burger alternative, which rolled out nationwide last month. Their version is called the Signature Slinger, and it’s made from three simple ingredients: 100 percent beef, savory mushrooms and seasonings.

Starting under 350 calories and at $1.99, the Sonic Signature Slingers combine beef and mushroom into one patty. Photo: Business Wire

It was a smart move. As the demand for sustainable food rises and more folks choose natural beef sources, quick-serve restaurants find themselves between a rock and a hard place. Fast food is known for being cheap, but sustainable beef isn’t. Because mushrooms are relatively low in cost, the blended burger could mean higher-quality, antibiotic-free, hormone-free beef without a spike in price.

All About That Taste

Blended burgers typically have significantly fewer grams of fat, carbs and calories compared with their all-beef counterparts. But now for the big question: What about the taste?

The James Beard Foundation has partnered with the Mushroom Council to host The Blended Burger Project, a contest and movement encouraging chefs to create their own mushroom-beef blended dishes. Competitors’ dishes are judged in terms of their creative use of mushrooms, flavor profile and overall presentation. With more than 200 enthusiastic participants in 2017, the contest is well on its way toward balancing nutrition, sustainability and flavor in America’s food system.

As previous award winner Stephanie Izard points out in an interview with the James Beard Foundation, “you shouldn’t have to sacrifice flavor in order to think sustainably.”

Mushrooms have a meat-like consistency and are incredibly juicy. So, when it comes to meat substitutes, they’re a no-brainer. They add a mild umami-flavored kick to burgers and give dishes unparalleled depth.

“Mushrooms have really come into their own as a solution to changing dietary patterns, earning their place on the plate with their nutrient quality, flavor impact and incredible functionality,” said Greg Descher, vice president of strategic initiatives and industry leadership at the Culinary Institute of America, in the company’s study on mushroom-beef blending.

A Sustainable Outlook

Who will offer a blended burger next? While McDonald’s recently announced some big steps to reduce carbon emissions — the equivalent of taking 32 million cars off the road for a year — the announcement did not include any menu changes.

Getting McDonald’s on the blended burger bandwagon would make a huge difference. With 37,000 locations around the world, there’s no denying the impact of the fast-food behemoth.

“Where McDonald’s goes, usually the rest of the restaurant industry eventually follows,” said Sara Senatore, a senior research analyst at a restaurant investment research firm, in an interview with The Washington Post.

Fortunately, McDonald’s has recognized the environmental impact of beef production and plans to address sustainable agriculture practices in its green initiatives. It remains to be seen just how the company will do that, and how other meat-serving establishments will address their undeniable environmental impact.

While a blended burger may not be a perfect solution, it’s a great option for meat eaters. Given the success of Sonic and other restaurants using this approach, we hope more eateries will join this sustainable movement.

Would you try a blended burger? Let us know in the comments.

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The Newest Eco Food Trend: Blended Burgers

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In Just 15 Years, Wind Could Provide A Fifth Of The World’s Electricity

by DorethaRoden Posted on October 22, 2014

Mother Jones

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Up to one fifth of the world’s electricity supply could come from wind turbines by 2030, according to a new report released this week by Greenpeace and the Global Wind Energy Council (GWEC). That would be an increase of 530 percent compared to the end of last year.

The report says the coming global boom in wind power will be driven largely by China’s rebounding wind energy market—and a continued trend of high levels of Chinese green energy investment—as well as by steady growth in the United States and new large-scale projects in Mexico, Brazil, and South Africa.

The report, called the “Global Wind Energy Outlook,” explains how wind energy could provide 2,000 gigawatts of electricity by 2030, which would account for 17 to 19 percent of global electricity. And by 2050, wind’s share of the electricity market could reach 30 percent. That’s a huge jump from the end of 2013, when wind provided around 3 percent of electricity worldwide.

The report is an annually produced industry digest co-authored by the GWEC, which represents 1,500 wind power producers. It examines three “energy scenarios” based on projections used by the International Energy Agency. The “New Policies” scenario attempts to capture the direction and intentions of international climate policy, even if some of these policies have yet to be fully implemented. From there, GWEC has fashioned two other scenarios—”moderate” and “advanced”—which reflect two different ways nations might cut carbon and keep their commitments to global climate change policies. In the most ambitious scenario, “advanced,” wind could help slash more than 3 billion tons of climate-warning carbon dioxide emissions each year. The following chart has been adapted and simplified from the report:

In the best case scenario, China leads the way in 2020 and in 2030:

But as the report’s authors note, there is still substantial uncertainty in the market. “There is much that we don’t know about the future,” they write, “and there will no doubt be unforeseen shifts and shocks in the global economy as well as political ups and downs.” The more optimistic results contained in the report are dependent on whether the global community is going to respond “proactively to the threat of climate change, or try to do damage control after the fact,” the report says.

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In Just 15 Years, Wind Could Provide A Fifth Of The World’s Electricity

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End fossil fuel burning, save $71 trillion — and preserve civilization as we know it

by CurtBourget Posted on May 13, 2014

who likes money?

End fossil fuel burning, save $71 trillion — and preserve civilization as we know it

By

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High gas prices got you down? Your problems are a tiny fraction of those faced by our whole fossil fuel–addicted global society.

A new report from the International Energy Agency considers the cost of remaining hooked on antiquated, polluting, and climate-changing energy sources.

First, here’s what might seem to be bad news from the new report: It would cost the world $44 trillion to end our fossil fuel addiction by 2050 and switch to clean energy. Worse, this figure is $8 trillion higher than the IEA’s last estimate, published two years ago. Expected costs have risen because we’ve delayed the process of switching over to climate-friendly energy sources.

And now the good news: We can save $115 trillion in fuel costs by 2050 if we move away from dirty energy, making for net savings of $71 trillion.

“Growing use of coal globally is overshadowing progress in renewable energy deployment, and the emissions intensity of the electricity system has not changed in 20 years despite some progress in some regions,” said IEA Executive Director Maria van der Hoeven. “A radical change of course at the global level is long overdue.”

Greenpeace put out its own energy report on Monday, in concert with international renewable energy groups. The Energy [R]evolution report, which is focused on the U.S., found that we could save $6 trillion by switching to renewables by 2050. That’s compared with pursuing the unambitious fossil fuel–heavy energy mix forecast by the U.S. Energy Information Administration in its 2013 Annual Energy Outlook.

Sven Teske, one of the authors of the Greenpeace report, told Grist that plummeting prices for solar panels and wind turbines mean that the barriers for an energy revolution of this sort are not financial or technological — they are political. They are the result of fossil fuel industries and outdated utility companies desperately fighting against the forced obsolescence of their assets.

“This is not something that is completely crazy; this is something that’s possible,” Teske said. “In the expert arena, this is accepted. But we realize that we’re not very close to the public opinion right now — especially not in the U.S.”


Source
Energy Technology Perspectives 2014 — Harnessing Electricity’s Potential, International Energy Agency
Energy [R]evolution 2014: A Sustainable USA Energy Outlook, Greenpeace

John Upton is a science fan and green news boffin who tweets, posts articles to Facebook, and blogs about ecology. He welcomes reader questions, tips, and incoherent rants: johnupton@gmail.com.

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End fossil fuel burning, save $71 trillion — and preserve civilization as we know it

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Bloomberg News: Ethanol’s Discount to Gasoline Expands on Outlook for Ample Corn

by Posted on August 22, 2013

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Bloomberg News: Ethanol’s Discount to Gasoline Expands on Outlook for Ample Corn

Posted 22 August 2013 in

National

From Bloomberg News:

Ethanol’s discount to gasoline expanded the first time in a week on speculation that next month’s corn harvest will yield ample supply of the biofuel feedstock and reduce costs for producers.

The spread, or price difference, widened 2.75 cents to 71.18 cents a gallon at 12:03 p.m. New York time, as participants in the annual Professional Farmers of America Midwest crop tour estimated higher yields in corn-producing states such as South Dakota and Ohio after inspecting fields. One bushel of corn makes at least 2.75 gallons of ethanol.

“Medium to long-term, it looks like there will be plenty of corn,” said Justin Dirico, manager of the biofuels desk at Eagle Energy Brokers LLC in New York.

With yet more reports of ethanol’s discount compared to gasoline, it is clear that the RFS helps ensure lower costs to consumers as well as the ability to both feed and fuel across the country.

 

 

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Bloomberg News: Ethanol’s Discount to Gasoline Expands on Outlook for Ample Corn

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USDA says crops will do better but food prices will do worse

by oks23po Posted on February 22, 2013

USDA says crops will do better but food prices will do worse

By Susie Cagle

It’s more cold comfort for drought-stricken farmers this week, and I don’t mean the snow.

USDA chief economist Joe Glauber was all sunshine this Thursday in announcing that normal spring weather is expected to improve corn and soybean yields by huge percentages over last year’s tiny drought-stricken crops. Bigger yields mean tinier prices — Glauber said corn would be down about a third from last year, soy would drop more than a quarter, and wheat would be down about 11 percent.

From the South Dakota Argus Leader:

The recovery should send prices for most oilseeds and grains sharply lower, providing a much-needed reprieve for livestock, dairy and poultry producers struggling with high feed costs, and relief down the road for consumers who have paid more for food at their local grocery store. …

“The critical factor that people will be following is weather,” Glauber said at the department’s annual outlook forum. “While the outlook for 2013 remains bright, there are many uncertainties.”

Way to bury the lede, Glauber. No matter how many times Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack says “American agriculture is quite resilient,” there still remains the fact that American agriculture is also in crisis, and forecasters are expecting more hot and dry weather this year.

And even though industrial prices are dropping, the savings won’t trickle down to consumers for at least quite some time — the USDA anticipates food prices will rise this year between 3 and 4 percent.

Richard Volpe, an economist with USDA’s Economic Research Service, said the evidence of last year’s drought is just now starting to really have an effect on consumer prices at the retail level, resulting in higher costs for everything from meat to corn syrup.

Dammit, if it were only meat and corn syrup and not also everything in between…

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USDA says crops will do better but food prices will do worse

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