Whole Foods CEO on plant-based meat: Good for the environment, but not for yo

The meat of his criticism (rimshot) is that the foods are too processed:

> “I don’t think eating highly processed foods is healthy. I think people thrive on eating whole foods,” Mackey says. “As for health, I will not endorse that, and that is about as big of criticism that I will do in public.”

The article then brings in valid concerns from dietitians that the meat substitutes aren’t necessarily any healthier than the meat they replace - but it feels like a disservice all around to put that beside an argument that “they just aren’t natural.”

My impression is that these companies are not even branding their products as health foods, exactly. They’re succeeding because so many consumers now expressly care about the environment and want to reduce their carbon footprint along with their consumption of factory-farmed animal products.

The reason it's bad for you is the same reason all other junk food is bad for you: half of it is oils and there's too much sodium. To much Oils are terrible for the body because they're inflammatory.