Why do vegetarians have "fake meat"?

Question

The stuff don't taste too bad and it's probably healthy and a little change of pace but I thought the whole idea of being a vegetarian was to renounce the consumpsion of meat (for whatever twisted reason) and live on a diet of nuts, fruits, legumes, grains and vegetables. If that is the case then WHY DO so many veggie products mimic the taste of MEAT? If it tastes like chicken, then it had better be a chicken! Give it up, shut it up and have a lentel!

Answer 1

Why does anyone eat anything that isn't "natural"? Why do people eat Cheetos or Pringles or whatever weird thing someone thinks up? Obviously, for the taste and variety. Lots of vegetarians don't eat processed "fake meat". I've been vegetarian for over 30 years and eat a much greater variety of delicious food than I ever did on the "Standard American Diet", but I almost never eat a 'veggie burger' or 'tofurkey'... altho some people love them. Often it is simply because those things are convenience foods-- sometimes even 'natural foods' people want a quick meal and some (altho certainly not all, in my opinion) of those "meats" are tasty. BTW... the word meat does not only apply to animal carcasses.
As noted by others, there are many reasons people give up eating dead animal bodies--- But it is not necessary to give up taste and texture and variety, and one is not a hypocrite for eating "fake meat". Many of us wouldn't even call it that, but call it wheat gluten, tofu patties, etc..

Answer 2

Because, quite simply, it's NOT meat!! It's not a dead animal. If you give up eating meat, it's because you don't want to eat meat- the objection is with what it IS, not what it looks and tastes like. Whether it resembles a burger or a chicken or a piece of bacon, it's still just soya. This in no way threatens a person's deicision to "renounce the consumption of meat". It doesnt matter what the flavour was based upon, at the end of the day, it's still not meat.

The purpose of it is to enable vegetarians to keep on eating the same recipes as before, but without the meat, because Western diets are so meat-focused it can be difficult to know what else to eat at first. This makes the transition much easier, and people are more likely to go vegetarian in the first place.

I turned veggie before any fake meat products were around, but I know a few people who said they only decided to do it when they saw that there were alternatives to some of the foods they couldn't bring themselves to give up.

Answer 3

It has already been mentioned, but a lot of people are vegetarians/vegans for health reasons and not moral ones. Personally, I am a vegetarian for moral reasons. I do not like the site of chicken, beef, or any other kind of meat or anything that mimics meat. It nauseates me and reminds me of the slaughter that goes on. Also, some vegetarians that are new into vegetarianism have a tendency to miss meat. These fake "meats" may be used as an aid for vegetarians to not fall back into eating actual meat. In my opinion, these people usually give up vegetarianism after a short period of time, but they still have my respect for trying. When I turned vegetarian, I had no desire to eat meat, and I did not miss it at all. I still do not miss it, so I see no reason to eat anything that resembles meat. These fake "meats" are made out of soy, and soy is beneficial to humans. I get soy out of other products that are appetizing to look at.

Answer 4

Because it's not the the taste of meat that many vegetarians object to, it's killing animals that's the problem. Others avoid meat for health reasons. Still others want to live more in tune with nature. Live and let live; live and eat. I'm not a vegetarian - I'm close but no (soy) cigar -, but to me killing animals and eating their dead bodies is much more twisted than vegetarianism, Herr Chicken!

Answer 5

I was a veggie for 8 years. But craved sausages and burgers so got the 'star trek' ones, lol.
I didnt do all that fancy cooking, i just ate normally but without meat. I was suprised at how little meat i used before when cooking. I didnt miss it at all. I still had huge burgers with everything on it, but a veggie burger, same taste or better.

I have never been healthier before or since.

I think its the future for sure, but a way off yet.

Answer 6

I didn't know about this. My vegetarian friends don't have "fake meat".

It could also be possible that these "fake meat" vegetarian stuff are for those who simply decided to become vegetarians into adulthood or their late teens. They're used to eating poultry and meat and if there are meat-tasting products out there that are not actually meat then isn't that pretty damn good for them?

Why so judgemental?

Answer 7

Well nothing is twisted about wanting to stop the cruelty of animals. I grew up eating meat. I went to a friends vegetarian restraunt and the next day wanted to find the recipe for egg rolls. I came across a site on how animals are treated before marketed and couldn't ever eat flesh again from that point on. I love soy meats because they taste like meat yet they aren't. There are several types of vegetarians/vegans:

Vegetarians, as a whole, do not eat red meat. Some also choose to exclude poultry (pollo-veg) and/or seafood (pesco-veg). Because chicken and fish are indeed meat, it's debatable whether most would call it vegetarianism, but they are accepted forms.

Many veg's, in additon to actual flesh, eliminate non-meat animal products like gelatin and caesin. It varies a lot, though.

Drop all meat, but eat eggs and dairy, you're "lacto-ovo-vegetarian"
Drop all dairy products, and eat eggs, you're "ovo-vegetarian"
Drop eggs in all forms, but consume dairy, you're "lacto-vegetarian"

No eggs OR dairy, plus, no non-meat animal products, including honey, and you're, by definition, "vegan".

Go even further, and eat only plants and plant products (nothing grown with bacteria), and you're "macrobiotic" *please note, some macrobiotics DO eat meat. There's more to the philosophy than being non-meat-eaters. So, it's not technically a form of vegetarianism*

Vow not to cook your food, or do anything but pick and eat, and you're "raw-vegan", "raw-macrobiotic", or just "raw".

SO, to answer your question, there are, in fact, EIGHT forms af vegetarianism. (macro's don't count) pollo, pesco, pollo-pesco, ovo, lacto, lacto-ovo, vegan, and raw.

Source(s):

veg, myself (l-o-veg, in case you're curious)


I'm so surprised at how many uneducated people come onto our site and ask a question or make an ignorant remark. Not all vegetarians are vegetarians because they don't like the taste of meat.....mine are for animal rights issues...so you need to get on with life and quit worrying about what and why we eat what we eat...





http://www.brown.edu/Student_Services/Health_Services/Health_Education/nutrition/veg.htm

http://www.all-creatures.org/articles/ar-aninsidelook.html

Answer 8

I tried a few of those fake 'meat' things just for variety. Don't like them. The texture is weird. I KNOW it's not meat, but I feel like I'm eating a corpse!!!! But it's been so many years I don't remember what a piece of dead cow tastes like. Thank God!

Answer 9

I don't think everyone is a vegetarian for animal rights reasons. With the quality of meat so poor ( preservatives, hormones, artificial coloring , radiation, and such) some folks just want to eat healthier.

Answer 10

COnsider tHIS ~ perhaps it was the ORIGINAL and then it was man's sick "lord of the rings" grossness which brought him to ; "forget the taste of good bread"-mr.google

Remember in the beginning... there were PLANT BASED CONCOCTIONS beyond your wildest dreams... ethical good tasting substance.... the term "meat" or "milk" when used for "vegan" products are merely marketing tools to help the people back to the garden, in this slaughter world.

You do not "milk" the bean or the rice do you? I mean it is a different process.

The KEY to bringing "veganism" around QUICKER is to perhaps provide "the well seasoned meals .. like the breaded deep fried SEITENS or the VEGAN PIZZAs OR ICE CREAMS OR CHEESECAKES.... along with the UNIVERASAL DEFENSE PROGRAM IDEALS ~ LIFE FORCE INCLINATIONS

Cheese keeps its name right? I mean we are not changing the process are we? I mean it is more of an ingredient change or what ? is it a process change?