In recent years, we’ve seen a greater number of people turn away from meat and embrace either vegetarian or vegan lifestyles.
Each have their own reasons for doing this, but common motivators tend to involve the search for a healthier diet, concerns for the ethical treatment of animals, and an interest in promoting more sustainable food supplies.
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Some manufacturers like Beyond Meat have adapted these concerns into products that resemble meat in appearance and taste, but don’t contain any animal parts.
Arby’s has never been shy in expressing how they feel about this, but their latest mocking response has taken a turn for the strange.
In recent years, Burger King and A&W have both adopted plant-based burgers and received them directly from Beyond Meat.
As CTV News reported , that company’s founder, Ethan Brown claimed that his products are more sustainable than meat products because they use 99% less water and 93% less arable land to make.
In response, Arby’s said in an ad that if others can make meat from vegetables, they can make “megetables” from meat.
As their chief marketing officer, Jim Taylor, said, “Plant-based meats are the latest incarnation of making vegetables look like what Americans really want, which is great, tasty meat.”
And so, they’ve created the “marrot,” an oddly-smooth carrot-shaped product made from turkey breast.
These “marrots” are made by cutting up strips of the turkey, salting them and adding white pepper, and then cooking them in a climate-controlled water bath called a sous vide.
From there, the turkey is rolled in dried carrot juice powder for that orange coloration and oven roasted for an hour.
A sprig of parsley is then added to the end to complete the look.
However, if you’re curious to try the product yourself, you may be disappointed to learn that the marrot isn’t available to guests, at least not yet.
And Arby’s makes it entirely clear that this is a tongue-and-cheek jab at other fast food companies for jumping on the plant-based meat trend.
As Taylor said, “Universally, people know we’re supposed to eat vegetables every day. But 90 per cent of American’s don’t eat the recommended amount. So we said if others can make meat out of vegetables, why can’t we make vegetables out of meat?”
It’s unclear how exactly the “marrot” and other “megetables” addresses this problem, however.
h/t: CTV News
