How will beef industry weather rising popularity of plant-based burgers that taste good? Here are two views

The beef industry needs to pay attention because meatless burgers are here to stay, according to Eric Bohl, public-affairs director for the Missouri Farm Bureau.

Burger King, White Castle and a slew of other fast food restaurants are testing the waters to see whether the newest generation of plant-based burgers will be a hit with customers. The product of choice is the Impossible Burger, created by Impossible Foods Inc., which Bohl found to be nearly indistinguishable from real beef in a taste test. "If I didn’t know what I was eating, I would have no idea it was not beef," Bohl writes for MFB.

Bohl's positive review of the burger puzzled many readers, since MFB was instrumental in getting a state law passed last year banning companies from using the word "meat" to describe plant-based products. But Bohl wrote the day after his burger review that the column was meant to be a "wake-up call" to the beef industry, which is a major player in Missouri: only Texas has more cows.

New fake meats are increasingly tasty, and marketed to meat-eaters who worry about animal welfare, the environmental impact of meat, and health, Bohl writes. But he offers reassurance: The new meat analogues are more expensive than real beef, and "our industry has the tools to make a stand and remain the dominant way of providing the protein and nutrients our bodies need," he writes. "These companies are playing on emotions, making hugely misleading claims about the impact of animal agriculture on our bodies and planet, and claiming to be saving the world from our evil industry."

David Von Drehle of The Washington Post is not so sure that the beef industry will be unaffected. He observed that Impossible Burgers are not just tasty (he tried one) but that it and other meat analogues such as Beyond Meat are increasingly well-funded and enjoy a "cool factor" as celebrities increasingly invest in and promote them. "Face it: Tastes change. Bottled water is now more popular than soda pop," Von Drehle writes. "A new day is dawning for the meat industry, and the Word of the Day is: 'smaller'."