>Though I always wondered if the animal rights type of vegetarians eat this stuff
Some don't like it, but I do. As long as it resembles processed meat instead of intact animal parts (like chicken wings, for example), I'm not bothered by it at all. It might as well be any other processed plant-based food to me.
>why would anyone go through the motions to have fake chicken when you have multitudes of vegetarian options
Because meat tastes better, and I want it. If I can have that taste without an animal involved then it’s all the better. If not then I’ll continue eating meat.
Vegetarians and vegans just don’t seem to understand this. Food is all about personal preference but the extreme majority of people eat and enjoy meat. They enjoy it because they find it delicious. If people felt vegetarian options were as delicious as meat we wouldn’t be having these discussions.
People who don’t have a taste preference for meat are obviously not the target for plant based meat.
>The vegetarians that I know don't like meat. So making a veggie burger that tastes like the thing they don't like is just dumb.
I like meat so i'll give it a try.
If it's a choice between me eating junk food that's killing animals and earth, and eating this junkfood that is probably very slightly better for those and my health then i guess this will work.
> But then in your effort to eat less meat, would you replace it with plant-based alternatives?
Yes, 100%. I like meat, and meat based dishes. I’ve never had a vegetable based dish that compares to even something similar but containing meat.
I feel like when meat alternatives are discussed this option of just making vegetable based dishes always comes up. And I think most people agree with me here - meat makes them better across the board. If it didn’t this market wouldn’t exist and people buy much less meat.
As I’m unwilling to switch completely to vegetable based dishes, meat alternatives are the next best option.
> I really don’t understand eating vegetarian, presumably for well-being, and then making fake “meat” food science experiments a major part of your diet.
People eat vegetarian diets for many different reasons. Sometimes religious, cultural, health, environmental, and sometimes as a protest to animal suffering. I think a majority of Americans consume processed foods on a daily basis. If you are eating deli meats, hot dogs, burgers, etc. the food is pretty processed. A chicken, pork, and beef filler hot dog is not natural by any means. The way animals are raised before slaughter is not natural and the feed they are given are not what animals consume in nature. Everything you eat is really a food science experiment.
>> It takes as much as 10 kilos of plants to produce a kilo of meat, so if you respect plant life the best thing you can do is stop wasting it feeding it to animals you intend to eat.
I do value and respect all life, but I don't think that means I shouldn't eat it. Your comment was the one that made that point.
Rather than watching a video I can't converse with I would prefer it if you explained to me yourself why it's OK to eat one kind of life one respects and values, i.e. plants, but not another, i.e. animals.
> The thing is, vegetarian food is incredible without needing to taste like meat.
I'm not a vegan nor a vegetarian. I just sometimes think I eat too much meat and check out vegetarian restaurants. They all have 100 kinds of fake burgers and little else.
There are thousands of good food recipes without meat. Why are you trying to sell me burgers?
> We really don't need the amounts of meat (if at all), averagely consumed in the US, EU or many other places nowadays. Not by far.
Define need.
I don't live to be a drone guided by some moral principles of other human who has the same rights as I do.
If I want meat - I will eat it regardless of whether I need it or not.
> And if you insist: there are plant based products today, that are often tastier and offer better nutrients than large swaths of the meat products they replace.
I hear the same mantra for last 10 years.
> There certainly is no lab-grown alternative for a tasty slab of expensive beef (I presume, I haven't looked for it), but there certainly is a tastier and healthier plant-based alternative for that €2,99 bucket of fried chicken things. Or for 6 of the 10 cheap burgers at your supermarket.
You forgot psychological factor. While the bucket of fried chicken is rarely as pretty before cooking as they display it, but in the end it is 100% meat. If we're talking about some plant surrogate, most people would probably puke at the thought of eating this. I certainly wouldn't enjoy it.
> I think it pushes away those who are on the cusp of moving towards plant-base foods.
I think you are completely wrong.
People eat meat because they like the taste and the texture, but at the same time everyone knows that meat is produced by killing animals, and that it's much less sustainable than vegetarian food.
If you want to get people to switch to meat alternatives, you have to keep everything that's great about meat (taste, texture, proteins), while removing everything that's bad about meat (slaughter, livestock industry).
And that is exactly what this new generation of plant-based alternatives are focusing on, and given their popularity compared to earlier attempts, I think they're on the right track.
Quick question: Are you yourself a vegetarian or vegan?
>I always wondered if the animal rights type of vegetarians eat this stuff, I would suppose they consider it a grotesque display or a mockery to dress up plant matter as animal murder.
Well, yes, your wondering is exactly right. Long-time vegan here. (I think most "animal rights type of vegetarians" are vegan–what's done to cows in the dairy industry isn't pretty.) Butchers, ads for eating lambs etc start to seem horrific. I'm not at all interested in fake meat. Yes, the very idea seems grotesque. There's plenty of delicious vegetarian cuisine from around the world without needing or wanting fake meat, fake cheese etc. I haven't missed, wanted or craved meat once in..uh..gee, almost 30 years.
I think even vegans/vegetarians have to acknowledge they are killing plants to eat. I suspect the better for environment/health argument is more prevalent (why I eat little meat).
At some point somethings going to have to die to feed yourself (until we can gene edit photosynthesis into humans..). I take some consolation that I'll be feeding bacteria when I'm gone.
> If the same taste can be had in a healthier package and without killing anything, it's a win-win.
Most people that are vegan or vegetarian choose that, because the ethics part of eating meat is the most important factor for them, with price and taste and nutrition trailing that.
And then a lot of those people make the assumption that everyone who isn't vegan absolutely doesn't care about the ethics of it. But that is simply not true. A lot of people, myself included, care about the ethics, it's just that we care more about taste and cost and nutrition. I love eating a good burger, or a good steak. I'm sorry a cow had to die, but I'm not sorry enough to stop doing it.
But give me an alternative that is just as good, but where cows don't have to die, and I'll switch in a heartbeat.
The thing about meat is that it tastes good
>Though I always wondered if the animal rights type of vegetarians eat this stuff
Some don't like it, but I do. As long as it resembles processed meat instead of intact animal parts (like chicken wings, for example), I'm not bothered by it at all. It might as well be any other processed plant-based food to me.
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