Impossible Foods Wants To Educate Kids With Its New Nuggets
Impossible Foods has released a new set of plant-based "chicken" nuggets. In addition to the Impossible Chicken Nuggets Made From Plants, they now also sell Impossible Chicken Nuggets Made From Plants: Wild Nuggies.
Don't let the misspelling fool you. There's more at work here than simply offering a child-orientated plant-based nugget. The "wild" aspect is that these nuggets are shaped like endangered or vulnerable animals. According to Laura Kliman, Impossible Foods' director of new product development, the "goal is to spark a conversation at the dinner table about how our food choices impact our planet, and how eating plant-based is the best way for kids to help combat the urgent threat of climate change and nature loss."
So, parents can now educate and nourish children with black rhinoceroses, Galapagos tortoises, polar bears, and right whales. How children will react to eating animals that humanity has driven to the brink of extinction remains to be seen. At the very least, it's a hands-on lesson.
Children like meat, but not the idea of harming animals
The new nugget shapes introduced by Impossible Foods follows the news that children may be kept in the dark about where their food comes from. In December, researchers at Furman University released a study that found that most children cannot reliably explain the origins of meat products. One of the most striking statistics revealed was that 41% believed bacon was a plant.
Just as striking was the overwhelming bias against eating animals, with nearly 66% against eating chickens, 73% against pig consumption, and 76% against cow consumption. "The current study suggests that children eat meat unknowingly, and perhaps in violation of a bias against animals as a food source," the researchers concluded.
The overall point they made is that children may prove a fruitful path in the transition from much of society's meat-heavy diet. While Impossible Foods did not comment on the study directly, the idea that the nuggets could teach children about how a plant-based life is a viable alternative speaks to a similar goal.