Last year, Burger King released the new Impossible Whopper, with a patty that is a plant-based substitute for regular beef burgers. While i try to limit my fast-food intake generally, and had been boycotting some fast-food chains in particular, including Burger King, for many years (almost a decade by now), this decision by Burger King made me break that personal boycott and try this new burger of sorts.
So what are my thoughts on the Impossible Whopper? Do I regret having ended my personal boycott of Burger King in order to have these?
Well, before I answer that directly, let me address two major criticisms that I have heard about the Impossible Whopper. This is where I would take exception to purists on both sides.
The first one is this: it’s not a real burger. After all, how can it be labelled as a burger when, technically, it is not a “real” burger at all? Also, I have gotten some funny looks from a couple of people who seem skeptical about it. One coworker, when he was about to make a run to Burger King and heard what I was ordering, gave me a funny look. If that expression had words, it likely would have said this: “C’mon, man. If you’re going to order a burger, get a real burger!” It might be similar to the stigma that many guys in particular (but not exclusively) have towards, say the Toyota Prius, that a more environmentally friendly car is just not a car for a “real man.” These guys are young, and do not fit the bill of the close-minded Archie Bunker types, yet they still seem a little weirded out, if you will, when someone does something even remotely different from the norm. But I just returned his gaze and said nothing to alter my order. After all, the stigma basically only ends when others go ahead and do things, regardless of this kind of a reaction. When people start doing harmless things that many others view with skepticism, and others see them doing it, it hopefully will lose that sense of being the forbidden. Before long, it will be normalized – hopefully – and become a standard. For now, my guess is that it will become the preferred pick for people like me, who try to be socially aware of what they are doing, and the larger impact that it is having. Hopefully, it grows from there.
The second criticism that I keep hearing is that the Impossible Whopper is not, strictly speaking, 100 percent vegetarian. After all, it is cooked on the same grills as regular, actual burgers are, and some of the residue, if you will, from those burgers are left over, and thus attached to the Impossible Whopper.
This may be true, but here’s the thing: it’s a start. That is not a minor point. After all, this was just introduced last year. Think about that: it took this long for any of the major fast-food chains to offer a seriously tasty alternative to actual beef. Maybe at some point Burger King will eventually have a separate section to cook the Impossible Whopper. Hopefully. But in the meantime, the larger point is that, as mentioned earlier, this kind of switch to a meat-free burger is necessary. It is critical to the health of the planet that meat consumption is lessened. Frankly, that is especially true for Americans, who consume more meat (120 kilograms per person, according to Telegraph.co.uk) than any other country in the world. Burger King’s Impossible Whopper became the first major meatless, plant-based burger that any of the major fast-food chains offered. But it was not the last. The success of the Impossible Whopper has already triggered a kind of domino effect. Burger King’s biggest rival, and the fast-food chain that I believe still technically ranks as the biggest fast-food chain in the world, McDonald’s, released the P.L.T. (it stands for Plant, Lettuce, and Tomato). Dunkin’ Donuts also announced their own plant-based meatless option: the Beyond Sausage breakfast sandwich. And many other fast-food chains, including Taco Bell, White Castle, and Qdoba, have begun to offer their meatless options, to boot.
Indeed, this could prove to be a huge deal. If it catches on – and there are obstacles already mentioned, but there is no reason that I can see why this would not eventually catch on once people get past their stigmas – it could have a huge impact on minimizing climate change emissions and hopefully end the trend of deforestation around the world, because much of this deforestation was due to the desire to have farms which would produce cheap beef.
Is this the cure all for the world?
No, of course not. I do not want to exaggerate the significance of this development. When I have eaten the Impossible Whopper, it makes me feel a little better about myself, or what I am eating. Or perhaps, a more accurate way of saying it would be that it makes me feel a little less guilty than eating a normal burger. Because you see, burgers are easy to get and generally affordable. And when there are so many fast-food chains everywhere you go here in the United States, it often is difficult and very inconvenient to try and eat something that is different and…well, more responsible for the planet.
That is why the Impossible Whopper is, to me, a huge success. I did not extend this review to those other meatless options, because admittedly, I have not tried them. I never tried McDonald’s “PLT” burger, although if it is still available, I might voluntarily end my 10-year boycott of McDonald’s in order to get it.
This is not some great vision of a more ideal world. This will not make the world far greener and more ideal, reversing every injustice, and all of that. Again, my intention here is not to overstate the significance of this development. At best, it is a small step. But it is a necessary one, and somebody had to have the guts to be the first to do something like this. Veggie burgers have been around for a while, and my family has consumed them for many years now. They are not bad, but let us be clear: you will not mistake them for actual burgers.
Now the Impossible Whopper tastes like an actual burger, on the other hand. Of all the veggie options for meats that I have tried, and that includes a fairly close substitute for bacon that my parents had the last time I went up for a visit, the Impossible Whopper truly is the closest to an actual burger. It looks like a real burger, and even better, it tastes like a real burger. This is not a minor point, since people tend not to change their habits readily, much less easily. In fact, it feels like you are eating a regular burger, and it tastes like it, too. And that has the power of real potential. If people can get past their stigmas and reservations, they just might begin to accept a “burger” that is not, in fact, an actual burger. After all, we are at a point in our fight to try and combat climate change where we no longer have the luxury of time.
That is why I am dismissing the arguments made by detractors who will claim that this is not a “real burger,” and mostly, I assume that these criticisms will mostly be argued by men who desperately hang onto their toxic masculinity in every possible way. The other criticism, that this is not truly a vegetarian burger because it is still cooked on the same grills as regular burgers, is just another cumbersome purity test. Many vegetarians and vegans have earned a reputation for being holier than thou and rather extremist when they hop up on their soap box and claim that “meat is murder” and so on and so forth. I understand these arguments, and even sympathize. But again, anything that can reverse the trend of deforestation is, in my book, a positive. Again, we no longer have the luxury of time, or purity tests.
This is where I would remind militant vegans and vegetarians that maybe we do not want to throw out the baby with the bathwater, or not allow the perfect to get in the way of the good.
To me, Burger King taking even a tiny step away from the meat industry, and towards a more sustainable product, is a good thing. I mean, look at the franchise name - "Burger King." Clearly, they have relied heavily on bringing the cheapest possible meat to consumers for many decades now. Introducing a burger that, while not perfect, is a major step in the right direction for a fastfood chain that millions still go for, is definitely a step in the right direction.
Is it flawless? Absolutely not. Can they improve and make it more purely vegetarian or vegan? Absolutely.
But again, I ask: is it not at least a step in the right direction- and a major one, I would argue, given the industry? Yes it is.
So, yes, I believe that the Impossible Whopper is a huge success, and has the potential to be a real game changer, at least in time. It is still in the beginning phases, and there are still plenty of people resisting. This is not a surprise, and perhaps not entirely unreasonable, either. Admittedly, I felt a bit funny taking to eating at Burger King after almost a decade of refusing to have anything to do with them.
The Impossible Whopper got me to change my boycott of them. Apparently, it has been a pretty big success, and is pretty much available at all Burger King locations, as a regular value meal, or as a sandwich on it’s own. I welcome this development, and for once, sincerely wish Burger King the very best of success in this particular endeavor. My son and I have taken to going to Burger King for these Impossible Whoppers, and again, they are delicious burgers. We expect to go to Burger King and have some more Impossible Whoppers in the future, and to eat without guilt.
Admittedly, I am a meat eater. Oh, I have tried vegetarianism for a limited time, here and there. One time, I went the better part of a week. But it is difficult to keep doing it. It tends to be more expensive, and frankly, less tasty. I craved the texture and taste of meat, admittedly. Also, it is difficult not to see just how readily available meat is everywhere, particularly burgers. They are often a fast, cheap, and very convenient meal option, almost no matter where you are in this country. While I liked the logic of many vegetarians, and found the advantages of vegetarianism hard to argue against, that kind of militant self-righteousness that many of them seem to advertise when championing their values was kind of a turn-off. Yet, the older I got, and the more I understood of the impact of meat on the world, and the more urgent it seemed for me to try and do something to begin to minimize my own meat consumption.
I choose to eat the Impossible Whopper in order to do my part, in my own small way, to minimize my own carbon footprint, if you will. To try and support an option that truly could actually get people away from “real” burgers and eating this very viable, and very tasty, option. It is juicy, like a real burger tends to be. Yet, it is plant based, and that means that if it got popular, it could finally slow the clearing of the forests and the wasteful use of water, and the obviously detrimental pattern of humans clearing land exclusively for their use, and basically exterminating the habitat of other species in order to do it. Hell, the very fact that you are not eating a dead animal when you eat the Impossible Whopper is symbolic in this sense. And to me, it seems like a very positive trend, for a change, if it indeed becomes a trend. That is why I reversed my course, and began to go to Burger King again, to support this, to help it become a trend, hopefully.
This has real potential.
Why Burger King's new Impossible Whopper isn't totally vegetarian by Lyn Mettler, Aug. 6, 2019, Updated Aug. 12, 2019:
McDonald's is testing new vegan McNuggets — here's where to find them by Julia Curley March 18, 2019:
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