Please The Palate Pick of the Week: The Impossible Burger at Umami Burger

I am an omnivore. I like food. I do not restrict myself and jump on trendy bandwagons of "no gluten", "no dairy" or "no meat". And as much as I love vegetables, I do not like the idea of meat replacements. In fact, when I went to the launch of a new product this week and they said it was about "using science for the creation of their product", I found those words concerning and unnatural. But, then they brought out the Impossible Burger, a meatless burger that is now available at nine Umami Burgers, as well as at 10 other restaurants across the country, I was wowed. It looked just like a hamburger but in fact, it is a vegetarian burger for meat lovers. And that is why it is the Please The Palate "pick of the week." Impossible Foods was founded in 2011 by Patrick O. Brown, M.D. Ph.D., Professor Emeritus in Stanford University's Biochemistry Department and a 40-year vegetarian. Brown wants to make the global food system more sustainable. He explained that cows are the "most destructive technology on earth." People love to eat beef but cows will do irreparable damage to the earth as they produce emissions. As a result, Brown is focused on producing meat and dairy products from plants, which have a lower environmental footprint. In fact, the Impossible Burger uses 1/8 of greenhouse gasses, 1/20 of the land and will reduce water consumption by one billion gallons per year.