ABSTRACT
In this chapter, the author explores recent plant-based burger alternatives which were specifically made to “bleed like real meat,” such as the Beyond Burger, the Impossible Burger, and the Don Lee Farms “Better than Beef” Burger. She discusses what it means that these companies opt to intentionally add substances that imitate blood—one of the most blatant reminders of the brutality and inhumanity of meat-eating and one of the very core aspects ethical vegans and vegetarians steer clear of in their quest to save non-human animals. The author also examines several online responses to the different “bleeding” veggie burgers, including the Beyond Burger, Impossible Burger, and Don Lee Farms “Better than Beef” burger, including media responses and comments made in response to YouTube videos. Furthermore, the chapter discusses the ways in which companies, as they expand their vegan and vegetarian offerings, mimic (or differentiate from) attributes related to taste, look, feel, and cooking and the rhetorical impact of these choices as we think about the way vegans and vegetarian diets are being shaped and presented to mainstream audiences.
