Why do vegans replicate meat if they are so opposed to it?

[Yelta]

"Why do vegans replicate meat if they are so opposed to it?"

Good question, often wondered about this myself!

Why do vegans replicate meat if they are so opposed to it?

The article doesn't provide an answer, it is food for thought, no pun intended.

Had to smile at this "So you create fake bacon, turkey, myriad burgers and sausages that look like meat but taste like thongs."

[Barry O'Speedwagon]

Hmmm....'taste like thongs'. Hope that was written by an Aussie and not a Pom

TBH the vegans I know don't eat the 'meat substitute' products outside BBQs (and it's not usually the vegans who buy it). I guess the other exception is the fake duck they put in stir-fries, but that actually tastes pretty good to me.

[LeroyC]

I seriously doubt it's demand from true vegans that leads to the creation of these products. I reckon it's more likely development teams at food manufacturers that see a potential for sales. As Barry said it's probably aimed more at non-vegans who want to provide vegan alternatives for guests/customers, but don't really know how to go about it or just need an easy solution. It's a bit weird, but that's the world we live in I guess.

(PS. Don't get me started on the whole vegan thing, it drives me nuts sometimes. People are entitled to their own views and opinions, but some of the reasoning from people as to why they are vegans is full of holes at times).

[trentski]

This sounds awefully like the "why do people drink decaf?" argument.

Maybe you like taste of meat but don't like the treatment of animals in the food production industry. Thats a good enough reason for me.

The day they can grow steak in a lab that has taste texture and nutrients just as good as grass fed beef will be a good day.

[readeral]

Having lived around the corner from a "vegetarian butcher" for the past year (Suzie Spoon in Newtown Sydney, no surprise), I can guarantee that vegans/vegetarians manufacture the replicated stuff, and that vegans/vegetarians buy their own replications for the appropriate occasion. The author (possibly by accident) creates a false dichotomy of vegans in contrast to manufacturers. Not so. If only anecdotally, there is at least one that inhabits the overlap of that Venn diagram.

FWIW, I don't eat sausages outside of a bbq either. Steak on the other hand.... Mmmmm.. whenever I can justify it. We do eat a lot of vegetarian food at our place, and of course it's not necessary to have something in the place of meat (like you'd need to replace eggs in a cake). In a whole bunch of ways, trying to replicate meat is a needless practice, sure, but when it comes to bbq occasions, there's a practicality about 'sausage' shaped and 'steak' shaped food.

And I mean, the answer to why there's a market for this stuff is obvious. Most vegans/vegetarians start their lives eating meat. The 'true vegan' (I'm defining that to be a person raised a vegan in a vegan culture) would be pretty rare, so familiarity can be a nice thing. As eating (and cooking) is more than just molecules, we enjoy textures, flavours, presentation - and at the point one moves on from meat doesn't mean they should have to move on from these things too. Sure there'll be a whole bunch that don't like to associate the form of their food to products that cause animal cruelty, but most would seem happy enough that they're simply not eating meat. Sure you don't have to shape your food into a rasher, but why not?

It furthers to vegan's cause anyway - "If it looks like meat, tastes delicious*, and is reminiscent of the good things about eating meat, then maybe even non-vegetarians will buy it".

*I have no experience in this area, but conversations with vegetarian friends suggest that the Suzie Spoon stuff is pretty good.

[Yelta]

Hmmmmm, I don't have any vegan friends! probably an age thing, we oldies are completely amoral, probably lacking in ethics as well.

[readeral]

Hmmmmm, I don't have any vegan friends! probably an age thing, we oldies are completely amoral, probably lacking in ethics as well.

Haha. I reckon it's a forgetfulness thing *cheeky cheeky* just forgetting you have vegan friends :P Age and amorality can't be the solution when you lumped yourself with the "moralisers" a few days ago

[LeroyC]

Hmmmmm, I don't have any vegan friends! probably an age thing, we oldies are completely amoral, probably lacking in ethics as well.

LOL! Stop it Yelta or you'll get me on my soap box about vegans who don't eat meat because they don't like to eat living things that feel pain etc etc.

[herzog]

If we weren't supposed to eat animals, why are they made out of meat?

[trentski]

LOL! Stop it Yelta or you'll get me on my soap box about vegans who don't eat meat because they don't like to eat living things that feel pain etc etc.

What's wrong with that? Its as good a reason as any for not eating meat.

[Barry O'Speedwagon]

Not sure that anyone suggested that people eating meat have no ethics (or questionable ethics). As I see it, it's basically up to individuals to work out what it is they are comfortable eating. That obviously requires a bit of information, and obtaining unbiased information is often tricky (given the behaviour of interest groups on either side of the debate). I'm too selfish to give up a nice rib-eye. But I won't knowingly eat foie gras, shark fin soup etc, and try to avoid the output of battery hen farms. I have no problem with the idea of killing and eating animals, I am concerned however about some modern methods of raising/ grazing / processing.

[LeroyC]

What's wrong with that? Its as good a reason as any for not eating meat.

For sure. As I said, everyone's entitled to their own views, beliefs and opinions.