In the past few years, it’s quite obvious that there’s been a revolution towards plant-based diets and imitation meat. More and more people are dropping meat out of their daily diet, substituting it for vegetarian alternatives like tofu, mushrooms, lentils, and the reasons are becoming increasingly clear. For starters, a plant-based diet significantly lowers our chances of obesity, heart disease, and it lowers the impact the meat industry has on the environment! So what exactly is a “meat patch” and what are its benefits? A “meat patch” is similar to a caffeine or nicotine patch and it’s intended for meat eaters who want to eat less meat. It works by releasing the smell of meat when eating plant-based foods to trick our brains into thinking it’s actually meat. Since our smell and taste are closely linked, it makes sense that it’s an effective method to make us enjoy our veggies a bit more. To illustrate the effectiveness, imagine this scenario: we have a delicious vegetarian dish composed of lentils, veggies, and potatoes. While most will find this amazingly appetizing, our carnivorous friends might have a hard time stomaching this food. Fortunately, the meat patch releases the smell of bacon and it helps meat eaters find this dish a little bit more tempting. Meat can be a hard habit to kick ourselves out of if we want to eat less of it. Many people have ate meat all their lives and it’s unreasonable to expect that someone can just stop out of the blue. The meat patch can be a creative way to ease us off of meat slowly until we feel comfortable with a plant-based diet. While I don’t think the meat patch is groundbreaking enough to be commercially available everywhere, I do think it shows promise and potential towards the technological advancements to limit meat consumption. The meat patch is a great example of an invention that mixes different fields of study such as psychology and chemistry to create something new. If technology keeps on advancing like this, it’ll be interesting to keep an eye out for the alternative meat options in the next few years. Since the meat industry is one of the main causes for pollution and global warming, I believe that it’s critical that we find creative solutions to lower our meat consumption in the next decades. We can already see this with things like the “Impossible Burger,” a burger that substitutes the meat patty for a plant-based patty. Also, lab grown meat is becoming more sophisticated and it’s close to resembling actual meat. Hopefully these potential solutions will keep growing and advancing until they can become as feasible and reliable as meat itself. Admittedly, the meat industry will remain powerful for many years to come. But inventions like the “meat patch” are creative ways in which people will slowly be more and more encouraged to make the switch. If this technology can keep on advancing beyond its potential, we can find more healthier people and a healthier environment
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Paul's Eats: Foodie Adventures Around the World 
Reblogged this on Koi Lovers Paradise and commented:
Hello Paul Osbourne,
Thank you for bringing this to the public’s attention.This is astounding! A patch that makes kicking the habit of meat eating easier. Sign me up! I mean I would simply love to make this whole vegetarian thing easier. I have tried so many times to go vegetarian because I know that it will be more environmentally friendly but it is just so hard. I just want to make the world a better place but when burgers taste that good how can I say no? I definitely think that the idea of a plate of lentils or chana masala sounds exquisite but I simply cannot say no to a good burger at my favorite spot in town The Malt Shop. I mean thinking about it right now is making my mouth water. However, I think it is great news that scientists are finally trying to work towards a solution to this “addiction”. The large amount of meat eaters in the United States alone in turn correlates to the large amounts of farmland taken up by the meat industry. If we in some way are able to convert our society from omnivorous to herbivorous we could utilize all this land to grow food for our consumption instead of using it to grow the food to feed our meat products. Just imagine all the cows’ lives that could be saved if the bovine industry alone was largely reduced. Just that industry being absolved would open up nearly 60% of all agricultural land to be used to grow vegetables and other eco-friendly proteins. That is crazy! 60% of all agricultural land is being used for beef production, even though for most people in the world it is not a main staple in their daily diet. I think that the land would have a lot better use as a produce farm. With the utilization of this patch I think it is possible to envision a world where people will become a lot less dietarily dependent on meat and can look towards other alternatives to fill their protein and dietary needs. A main drawback of meat alternative products is their price as well. They sometimes can be more expensive than actual meat, which forces those without as much flexibility in their spending to shy away from them because they cannot afford to purchase and eat them. I am hoping that if the public’s consumption of meat were to greatly decrease this would allow for the price of meat alternatives to go down as well over time due to demand and a better market for them. A price decrease would allow those who are discouraged by the price to be able to finally purchase these products. This can be especially important when considering lower income families, if they were able to purchase these products they could be healthier and not have to rely on what is cheap but also on what is good for them, which would be simply wonderful. Then everyone could help save the planet, one black bean burger at a time.
Thanks for reading!
Keep Swimming,
Koi Lover
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