Many people are trying to reduce the amount of meat that they eat but they still crave meat products Scientists have recently developed methods to create simulated meats from vegetable protein that have the appearance taste and texture of real meat to sat

The reading passage claims that simulated meat would make our food better for the environment and people and presents several evidences that seem to uphold the claim. However, the lecture counterpoints that even if the product fulfills all the requirements, it is still unclear whether it would be as beneficial as mentioned in the reading passage. The reasons mentioned in the lecture will be elaborated in more detail below. First of all, the lecture refutes the point made in the reading passage, which contends that simulated meat is better for the environment, by commenting that even if the product does require less land and provide less pollution, it still has negative consequences. Plant crops are grown with chemical fertilizers and pesticides which are detrimental to the environment. Also, rainforests are not cut down only with the sole purpose of raising livestock. People pursue such action to also exploit the land for farm crops. Second, while the reading passage asserts that simulated meat is much healthier for people than consuming meat and meat products, the lecture disapproves this assertion by claiming that even though meat tend to have more fat, it also contains nutrients that are not found in vegetables. Also, it is unreasonable to maintain that simulated meat is healthier because it goes through multiple chemical processes such as inserting large amount of oil and sodium to mimic the taste of meat. Last but not least, the reading passage contends that simulated meat is much safer because there is a lower chance of being contaminated with bacteria. However, the lecture counterpoints this evidence by mentioning that such claim is only partially true and is not entirely reasonable. Regarding the issue of allergic reations, while people can easily identify the origin of allergic reaction when consuming meat, it is extremely difficult to distinguish the reason to allergic reations in the case of simulated meat. Because people do not know all the ingredients that have been included in the product, they can easily show unexpected allergic reactions.