More startups are promising foods that are better for the environment because they're lacking a key ingredient, Carly writes.

• Why it matters: These companies have a noble mission to mitigate deforestation and greenhouse gas emissions. And many of their products taste like the stuff we're used to.

💭 Carly's thought bubble: I live in L.A., a testing ground for innovative food and drink products.

• Well before the rest of the country, my neighbors were consuming meatless meat, mushroom coffee, oat milk and alcohol-free spirits.

Case in point: Coffee-free espresso company Atomo just started offering its product in lattes at a Pasadena brunch spot.

• The company is trying to solve a range of problems: Coffee farming is linked to deforestation. Shipping beans produces carbon emissions. Research suggests climate change could affect the global coffee supply.
• A cow-free cheese startup, New Culture, is launching its version of mozzarella at renowned chef Nancy Silverton's L.A. pizza restaurant later this year.

Taste test: These foods have gotten close to mimicking the originals.

• ☕ Atomo espresso — made with ingredients including millet, date seeds, pea protein and guava — makes for a totally passable espresso substitute if mixed with enough milk. Don't worry: There's caffeine, which comes from green tea — 100 milligrams per double shot.
• 🍕 New Culture cheese — which uses fermentation and a protein found in cheese to make an animal-free food — is much closer to "what melted cheese feels like … in my mouth" than grainy, vegan options, Silverton tells Axios.

Reality check: Approximating the real thing in an eco-friendly way is expensive.

• Lab-grown meat companies have been struggling to reduce costs and reach mass production.
• New Culture CEO Matt Gibson tells us he hopes to reach price parity with conventional dairy cheese in several years.

🥊 Between the lines: Some of those added costs fall on you and me.

• Atomo lattes here have a $1 upcharge.

What we're watching: Sustainable food companies have figured out how to replicate flavors. But that doesn't mean the products are healthier and that the businesses, themselves, will be sustainable.

In response to our story about traditions for Passover, readers shared their own family customs, Carly writes.

🎤 Years ago, Rob Elkins of Port Washington, N.Y., wrote a parody of "Straight Outta Compton," and had Seder guests try to rap along.

• The first line: "Straight outta Cairo, crazy long hair named Moses, from the gang called Hebrews With Attitudes."

Other customs Finish Liners follow for Passover:

• 🍷 Instead of just drinking wine, incorporating other beverages like water and orange juice into the Seder as additional symbols with added meanings. —Gerald Katz, D.C.
• 🪑 Having an empty chair at the table "to remind us of the hostages held now for 200 days." —Nathan Lindenbaum, Teaneck, N.J.

🥞 As a way to honor their belief that Christmas represents the birth of Jesus Christ, Cindy Lahue of Byrnes Mill, Mo., has a Christmas Day brunch ritual:

• "Our family celebrates His birth with a birthday cake made up of a stack of pancakes with candles atop! We light the candles and sing Happy Birthday to Jesus!"