Cows are no longer essential for meat and milk

IT’S LUNCHTIME in El Segundo, a small coastal town in Los Angeles County, around 130km west of where the McDonald brothers opened their first burger stand in 1948. Burgers are on the menu today. They come three to a tray, glistening in their brioche buns, piled high with lettuce, tomatoes, cheese and a creamsicle-orange sauce that tastes like mayonnaise-mellowed ketchup. Alongside them are other greatest hits from American fast-food menus: sausages nestled into long hot-dog buns with sautéed bell peppers and onions; sausage patties on flat English muffins; deep-fried chunks of white meat that look and taste like chicken nuggets.