I love meat. I even got an A+ in the Meat Science course that I took in college (it wasn’t nearly as easy as it sounds). In my opinion, animal protein gets an unfairly bad rap for being unhealthy. I went on a diet of mostly high-fat meat and vegetables before my wedding, and lost forty pounds–there’s no way that I’m not healthier because of that. However, there are plenty of people who feel that animal-based diets have significantly negative health and environmental repercussions. Many of them would like to be able to enjoy meat, but can’t because of what they know, think, or feel. Beyond Meat is going to change that… kind of. They are a Manhattan Beach, CA (headquarters) and Columbia, MO (plant) based company that is “focused on perfectly replacing animal protein with plant protein where doing so creates nutritional value at lower cost.” I’d rather just eat a nice steak, but all the veggie burgers and seitan ribs are proof enough that there’s a market for this kind of stuff.

To Vegetarianism and Beyond!

Beyond Meat was founded by a guy named Ethan Brown. He grew up on a dairy farm in Maryland, and eventually started pursuing a career in clean energy. The combination of those backgrounds led him to ask the question, “Would we continue to raise and eat animals in such staggering numbers if a delicious and perfect plant-based replication of meat existed?” My answer would be yes, but I can see the case for no. Right now Beyond Meat’s products all replicate chicken–they call them Chicken-Free Strips. They look like chicken, their nutritional profile matches up nicely with chicken, and I’d guess they’re supposed to taste like and have the mouth feel of chicken (but the reviews are mixed). The cool thing is that Beyond Meat’s products are only going to get better. If you’d like to help them achieve that, give Beyond Meat’s Jobs page a visit. Right now they’re looking for:

• Sales Coordinator (El Segundo, CA)
• Field Marketing Innovator (San Francisco, CA)
• Material Handler (Columbia, MO)
• Accounting Assistant (El Segundo, CA)
• Human Resources Administrator (Columbia, MO)

While I can’t imagine that I’ll ever want to eat something from Beyond Meat, I’d definitely try it to see if it lives up to the hype. This company is doing something pretty cool, and it would be fascinating to be part of it at such an early stage.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

• BeyondMeat.com
• Jobs at Beyond Meat
• About Beyond Meat
• Beyond Meat’s FAQ
• Beyond Meat’s Blog
• Beyond Meat News

Would you eat something from Beyond Meat?

Jobs Near You

---