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CNN 10
U.S. Makes a Policy Change Concerning Israel; We Explore Upsides and Downsides of Plant-Based Meats; Real-Life "Iron Man" Breaks His Own Record
Aired November 20, 2019 - 04:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CARL AZUZ, CNN 10 ANCHOR: A change in United States policy concerning the nation of Israel. That`s what`s first today on CNN 10. I`m Carl Azuz,
grateful you`re spending 10 minutes of your day with us. This week the Trump Administration announced that the establishment of Israeli
settlements in the West Bank is not inconsistent with international law. Here`s what that means and why it`s significant. Almost a tenth of
Israel`s population, about 700,000 Israelis live in settlements in east Jerusalem and the West Bank. These two areas were captured by Israel in
the six day war of 1967. Israel sees the West Bank as its territory so it says the settlements it builds there are legal but a number of other
countries disagree.
The United Nations sees the West Bank as occupied territory, land that Israel controls but doesn`t have the right to build settlements on. So
there`s an international dispute over the land itself and what Israel does there. Israel is America`s closest ally in the Middle East. In 1978, the
U.S. State Department gave a legal opinion that says Israel`s settlements in the West Bank were inconsistent with international law. That was during
the administration of President Jimmy Carter. The next U.S. leader, President Ronald Reagan, said the settlements were not illegal though he
did call them ill advised. The Trump Administration says its policy is in line with that of Reagan in saying the settlements were not against
international law.
So why does this matter? Palestinians, who see the West Bank as part of their own future country, say the U.S. is trying to replace international
law with the quote "law of the jungle" and the European Union which sees Israel as an occupying power in the West Bank says it should stop all
settlement activity there. But Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says the change in U.S. policy rights a historical wrong. We don`t know
how or if this will impact the work to achieve peace between Israelis and Palestinians but the Trump Administration says it still believes that
continued construction of Israeli settlements won`t help that process.
10 Second Trivia. Which of these fast food chains opened in 1954 making it the oldest on this list? Burger King, Wendy`s, Subway, or Taco Bell.
Burger King made its debut in Miami, Florida in 1954.
It`s now making headlines for serving a meatless Whopper called the Impossible Whopper and that`s made some vegans and vegetarians
uncomfortable because it`s cooked on the same grill as beef. One man`s even suing Burger King over this though the company says customers can
request their burger to be cooked separately from the meat grill. Rachel Crane examines the upsides to plant-based meat alternatives.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
RACHEL CRANE, CNN DIGITAL CORRESPONDENT: Plant-based meat or fake meat as some might call it is wildly popular especially on Wall Street.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Fake meat is turning into real profit.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The Stock Market debut for Beyond Meat went beyond.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The hottest IPO of 2019 so far.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The stock has a cult like following.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It`s going to sweep over the world.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Our mission is very simple. It`s to completely replace animals (inaudible) technology by 2035. It`s basically a prehistoric
technology.
CRANE: As prehistoric as it is to eat meat, plant-based protein isn`t exactly anything new and neither are plant-based burgers for that matter.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Veggie Burgers are here. Nutritious and completely meat free.
CRANE: So why is it that companies like Beyond Meat and Impossible Foods are surging in popularity now? Notice that the packaging for these
products don`t include words like veggie or vegan anywhere on them and that`s on purpose.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We absolutely only categorically care about meat eaters. It doesn`t accomplish anything to sell meat to a vegetarian.
CRANE: But selling plant-based meat to a meat eater isn`t exactly easy. That`s why Beyond Meat is convincing supermarkets that its products ought
to be placed directly in the meat aisle. And Impossible Foods has partnered with popular food chains to offer a plant-based alternative to
their staple menu items. The strategy is clear, sell plant-based meat where meat eaters are actually shopping.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: So whenever you`re out shopping for yourself or for the whole family, meat products that have been approved by the U.S. Department
of Agriculture.
CRANE: And so far, the companies say this is working. In the first half of 2018 for instance, 93 percent of customers who bought Beyond Meats
plant-based products in Kroger grocery stores also bought real animal meat. And for consumers who bought the Impossible Whopper from Burger King, 70
percent of them said they regularly eat meat.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Little do they know their Whopper patty is actually made from plants.
CRANE: It might seem like consumers taste buds are changing but not quite. That`s because today`s fake meat products are created to look and taste
almost exactly like real meat.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: But I wanted to see if we could use science to essentially sidestep the ethical debate, sidestep all the environmental
issues and allow consumers to continue to do what they love which is eat meat.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The visual cues are exactly the same and responds the same and you can use it for much more than a burger.
CRANE: It`s worth noting though that traditional vegan and vegetarian products are still generally the healthier option and consumers looking for
an all natural food choice might be turned off by these products long list of ingredients. A concern that certainly isn`t new.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: But there should be some kind of law that would keep people from selling bad food especially meat.
CRANE: Now experts believe that the popularity of fake meat is likely here to stay. Analysts predict that alternatives to real meat will grow so much
that by 2040, 60 percent of the world`s meat likely won`t even come from slaughtered animals. To make sense of that, let`s look at the problems
that plant-based meat could help to solve. The amount of food that we`re currently growing will only feed half of the world`s projected 9.8 billion
people in 2050. By then, the demand for animal products is expected to increase by 70 percent. This means that if the world is to have enough
food, we`ll need more land for crops and livestock.
Now take a look at Beyond Meats plant-based burger patty compared to a quarter pound of real beef, Beyond Meats burger has 99 percent less impact
on water scarcity and 93 percent less impact on land use. Forty-six percent less energy and emits 90 percent less greenhouse gases and the
company claims that those benefits come without sacrificing much in taste, texture or even appearance of your food.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: So if you`re a farmer hypothetically of 100 acres, you can now grow on seven acres what you used to grow on 100. So you`ve
essentially gained 93 acres now to grow other crops. You can create wealth by doing that.
CRANE: In the U.S., a quarter pound of plant-based meat is roughly $2 more than real meat.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: If we can get the taste right, the (inaudible) right. If we can get nutrition right where you get all the great stuff that`s in
meat but none of the downside you get price right (ph). Then it becomes, why wouldn`t you do this?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
AZUZ: But it`s those three things taste, nutrition and price that could stand in the way of plant-based meats becoming the alternatives that
companies and advocates hope they`ll be. Though it soared over the summer, Beyond Meats stock has been steadily dropping since then. It`s now less
than one-third the price as it was at its peak in late July. Investors are concerned about increased competition from bigger food companies and some
believe that plant meats that are popular now won`t stay that way. A survey that came out five years ago found that more than 80 percent of
American vegetarians eventually started eating meat again.
When it comes to meat alternatives, nutritionists say they are highly processed. You heard their lengthy ingredient lists mentioned. They`re
usually higher in sodium because they`re seasoned and though they have more fiber than beef which has virtually none on its own. Some plant
alternatives have less protein and what they do have can come from soy and pea protein isolate which raises concerns among some dieticians.
Nutritionists say that if you want a vegetarian burger and if you want it to be the healthiest one possible, the best thing to do is to make it
yourself at home.
Iron Man breaks his own record. That`s probably my favorite headline of the month. In this case we mean a British inventor who built his own "Iron
Man" suit. He set his first record two years ago flying at 32 miles per hour but then earlier this month with a new "Iron Man" suit, he destroyed
that setting a new Guinness record for fastest speed in a body controlled jet engine powered suit. He was flying literally at 85 miles per hour.
Has he lost his mind? Can he see that everybody wants that suit? Sadly, the "Tonystark" truth when you get "Downey" to business is that you`d need
more gold than iron to afford one. The "end game" is that it`s just too expensive though there`s no doubt it`s fun to "Marvel" at. I`m Carl Azuz
for CNN.
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