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Anyone who's talked to me about food will be able to guess my reaction to the claims about the ingredients list being important here. (If we want to, we can list the chemicals that make up beef... it will still be food. Meatloaf is not less wholesome than burgers because it has more ingredients. Etc.) 

But getting excited about a 96% lean beef burger just seems sad, like getting excited about diet cheese. That's actually a comparable product for Beyond burgers (as are fast food burgers), whereas a properly cooked, pastured, fresh ground brisket or chuck burger is not. 

What I would like to see is beef distinguish itself from comparable alternatives by becoming a higher end product--with better standards for the cows raised for it. But getting cheap protein remains to malnourished people remains a challenge in a lot of the world, and not one that should be downplayed. That'll almost definitely affect how things progress, especially if global markets aren't closed.

People can make their own choices. I would never advocate for a meat tax for example. It would be nice if they didn’t receive billions of dollars worth of subsidies and government protection but that’s mostly the libertarian in me talking. I think most people are educated enough to understand that eating meat, especially processed meat, isn’t great for you, and it’s probably healthy to eat more vegetables when you can. 

What amazes me is the people - in the face of a continental obesity epidemic and diet being the primary cause of early mortality - who are desperately worried about where their vegan friends are going to get their protein.