Last week, a new study was published examining the diets of 55k+ people in the UK and emissions from 38k farms in nearly 120 countries, showing that plant-based eaters accounted for 75% fewer greenhouse gasses than those who eat 3.5 oz or more of meat per day. According to its author Dr. Peter Scarborough, a professor of population health at Oxford, if high-consuming British meat eaters halved their daily meat intake to 1.7 oz, they would save the carbon equivalent of taking eight million cars off the road. Meanwhile, that same week, a new startup called 50/50 Foods announced that it had finally been granted an exemption from the USDA to list the percentage amount of veggies in its blended BOTH Burger patties made of 50% grass-fed beef and 50% seasoned veggies. While brands large and small like Teton Waters Ranch and Applegate Farms (Hormel) are currently selling lines of frozen turkey and beef patties blended with veggies, the USDA doesn’t allow them to list the percentage of each ingredient, but instead the amount of vegetables per serving. This requires a heavy lift from the consumer and has likely contributed to the lack of traction in the category as further evidenced by Tyson’s discontinuation of its Raised & Rooted burger patties blended with pea protein isolate. Applegate, too, has seemingly discontinued its beef burger under its blended Well Carved brand in favor of a lone turkey patty.

“We all know we should eat more vegetables. But let's face it, sometimes you'd rather bite into a burger,” writes Applegate’s Well Carved packaging. “That's why our chefs have cleverly paired wholesome vegetables with our juicy, humanely raised turkey. The result: an organic burger made with real, simple ingredients – in a kitchen, not a lab.”