Why does vegetarian food imitate meat?

Question

Most vegetarians say they eat only veggies out of choice, not medical necessity. But, in the vegetarian section of the supermarket, there are vegetarian "burgers," "sausages," "bacon," "chicken," and "ham." Soon veggie salmon?

So, why is this? After choosing not to eat meat, do you wish to be reminded?

please explain this to me. Thanks.

Answer 1

We still have instincts that can not be entirely be overcome by a decision. You can decide to be abstinent and have your body still want sex. It also helps with blending into society a bit more. We are able to make many new things that would have been otherwise closed to us. It also definitely does not taste as similar to real meat as you would think.

Answer 2

THere are some foods which are clearl meat substitues - Ham,Chicken,Bacon.
However a burger or a pattie is only 'normally' made with meat. A burger does not have to have meat in, it is just the most common form of burger.
Sausages is a slightly different matter. If you consider that a sausage is made of the intenstines of an animal and a veg sausage is not, then are vegetarians actually eating a sausage at all?

If nothing else using the idea of meaty foods but changing them (to veggiefie) for a vegetarian diet allows peolpe to get a wider range of food types and styles which helps beat the craving for meat.
Having said that, I've been veggie for over 10 years and I have never craved for any meat.

Answer 3

Some people chose to be vegetarian because of the poor treatment of animals, though they like the taste of meat. With these fake meats, they are able to still enjoy the taste, without the guilty concience.

Also, it is hard to cook interesting, satisfying, and tasty vegetarian foods sometimes, especially if you're used to good ol' fashioned American food. The convience is a real benefit.

Many of the "fake meats" do not, in fact, imitate the taste of meat. Try one of GardenBurger's veggie burgers. They don't taste like meat at all-- I think they are delicious. Also, black bean burgers. Many restaurants offer to substitute one of these meatless patties into any of thier burgers, so I can enjoy foods that are similar to what meateaters are eating, though I choose not to eat meat.

And veggie salmon is a funny idea, but not a likely one. There is, supposedly, scientific research indicating that fish do not have feelings (how they tested this is beyond me), and so many people who call themselves vegetarians see no problem eating them.

Answer 4

Meat analogs don't really taste like meat to me.
For about a year I chose not to eat them because
they looked like meat. But I noticed how
many vitamins and minerals they are enhanced
with and decided to try them. Upon discovering
that they have their own taste apart from meat
I quickly got over the shape and form and started
including them in my diet.
I am very grateful
for their existence because they've brought allot
of people around.

Also I think they we vegetarians should have our
own clothes, accessories, and signature food.


Note* Ever asked yourself why so many non veg
people say " I tried a Boca Burger and I didn't;t
like it. It didn't taste like real meat"?
Veggie food is an acquired taste. It's also clean-
no grease, blood and poop mixed in. It's hard
to see how anyone could mistake the two.

Answer 5

Why do *some* vegetarians use analogs? Because it ISN'T meat! We're not objecting to the form but to the substance. Try to look at the following example in a dispassionate manner and maybe you'll understand. Most people eat pork but are appalled by the idea of eating human meat even though "long pig" is indistinguishable from pork. It's not the form (meat) people object to but the source (human vs. swine). In the same manner we don't object to something that appears to be meat-like as long as it isn't made of meat. Do meat eaters get reminded of cannibalism whilst carving steaks? gnawing on a rib bone?

And I think you're missing an important point about all those products you see at your local grocer. The *vast* majority of sales of these products isn't to vegetarians! It's to folks that want to east meat but have concerns about the health cost of eating meat. One example is that many doctors and health organizations recommend them to help lower cholesterol. Sales of analogs (the technical term for veggie meats) began to rise in the '80s when people were dying due to E.coli contamination of ground beef. Sales rose *dramatically* with the revelation that 'mad cow' disease was transmissible to humans! That's when the small companies that make these products started being acquired by major food industry players like Kraft, Kellogg's, Con-agra and ADM. If you look into the marketing of analogs you'll find that most of the advertising budget is aimed at omnivores and NOT vegetarians.

BTW; Fish substitutes have been on the American market since the late '70s when Worthington foods introduced Tuno, Skallops and Fillets. The frozen versions are quite nice!

Answer 6

I have told many people about this, here goes:-
1) Because they did not have to kill an animal to make a soy burger, soysage etc. they are cruelty free alternatives.
2) It doesn't really remind us about eating meat or fish, after all if we still as you say wanted to eat meat we'd still be Omnivores not Vegetarians and Vegans.
3) it is a variety thing and they have different textures so we add them to some dishes.
4) IMHO meat substitutes taste WAY better than meat ever did !!

Answer 7

Those veggie options are NOT meat though. Thats the whole point. Besides that, just because the meat industry came up with the "sausage" and "burger" first does not make them copyrighted. Last time I checked, there was no animal that either resembled a sausage or a burger on a farm.

Answer 8

Most meat eaters don't think about this, I didn't before I became Vegan, but meat doesn't even taste like meat. We put sauces, seasonings and everything else we can find to cover up the true taste. Truly what these Veggie products are simulating is not taste but texture. The taste of meat products is easy for many of these products to duplicate because most of meat seasonings are Vegan anyways.

"So, why is this? After choosing not to eat meat, do you wish to be reminded? "

- I really had a hard time eating these products until I realised the above, now it doesn't bother me, and I don't even associtate these products with their meat conterparts.

P.S. For anyone who hasn't tried Light Life's products you should, now. They are amazing.

Answer 9

Because being a vegetarian doesn't mean you have to eat vegetables and tofu all the time. Once in a while you miss meat, so there you have many options, so that you can get this "meat" taste without actually eating meat.

Answer 10

While a shiatsu master was helping me, he initiated me to vegetarianism, better should I say macrobiotic.
I always struggled with my weight and he told me it could help me to detox.
Some years later, one friend asked me how it was that as a vegetarian, I was never making that kind of fake burgers.
He was not exactly believing I was or has been, if you see what I mean!
Why?
Because I thought why should I try to fake things.
Why use energy to copy, why not go for the really different thing?
And as I never found that the grain coffee has in the slightest something to do with coffee, why would natural seitan, tofu, korn, tempeh have anything to do with meat... ?
It has always been and is still use as such by different Asian folks.
As well as seaweeds.
Other wise nuts provide the proteins too: walnuts, hazelnuts, almonds...
As much as bean: soja, azuki, white...
Full grains are very important in such a diet too: from maize to sesame, wheat, rye, rice, quinoa...
Remember: not everybody is tempted in fake things...

Answer 11

I was a veg. for 5 years, but I was the rare kind who DID do it for health reasons.

At the time, I also wasn't a huge fan of the taste of meat. I also thought the taste of these products were beyond horrible.

I have also always wondered this myself. Great question!!!

I do agree that many may use it to "fit in" into social situations. For example, a veg. may bring their own veggie hot dogs to a BBQ.