Why do vegtarians always eat food that looks like meat.....?

Question

This always confused me, if vegetarians don't like meat then how come there are all sorts of food that vegetarians eat the imitate meat. I just have to laugh when I see a vege-burger with the grill marks and all on it.....

adding fake grill marks to fake meat makes it tatse better......

weird idea...but no weirder than being a vege I guess.

Answer 1

Meat envy, I guess?

Answer 2

A lot of people in America grew up on certain kinds of foods. Having a bun with tomatoes and lettuce and onions and pickles just seems more like a burger with some sort of textured flat patty in there. Tacos seem like they should have a sort of mushy, seasoned, warm substance in the bottom of them. I don't necessarily want that type of food to look like meat so much as I would like the texture and taste of the seasonings and fake meat is a realy good carrier of those flavors. The more time I spend being a vegetarian the more I appreciate the flavor of fresh, natural food over overly seasoned stuff. But I will still always love fake meat tacos!

Answer 3

I became a vegetarian 14 years ago; not because I did not like the way meat looked, tasted or smelled. I did it for four reasons:

1.God did not intend on us or other animals eating animal flesh. In Genesis 1:30 God gives every green plant for food. Death was not part of His plan and only after Adam and Eve fell was death brought in as a result. Furthermore, animal flesh was not part of the human diet until after the flood. Seven of the clean animals where brought in and two of the unclean were. Most people think all came in two by two. That is not what the Bible tells us in Genesis 7:1
2.For health reasons. It is a fact that vegetarians live longer healthier lives than non- vegetarians. Even the USDA rethought what a “heathy” diet should consist of and came up with the food pyramid. Notice meat is NOT a category it is a subcategory of protein, which also includes nuts and legumes. Last point is for me just common sense. All energy comes originally from the SUN, which BTW I do not think is coincidence since all life originates from Jesus, the SON of man. Grains, fruits, vegetables, nuts etc all get their energy first hand whereas all meat that is consumed is at best second hand sun energy (most human consumed animals are vegetarians themselves) and some even second (insects & shellfish to name a few).
3.The planet and world hunger. It is something like 10 times less efficient to raise live stock than grain/vegetables. We could eliminate world hunger if we simply reduced meat consumption a little, not completely. I admit this is only one part of a tremendous amount of effort that would be required; yet, this would go a long way in helping get the ball rolling. I am not a believer, yet, in man-made global warming, but studies are showing that the massive amount of animals raised for human consumption may be contributing to it, if we indeed are creating it.
4.I love animals! I can no longer look at a cow or a pig as dinner anymore than I could a cat or dog. If you are wondering, YES, I also believe people that eat meat, for the most part, love animals too. They are just uniformed as to what the animal has to go through and many actually believe animals can’t feel pain. To that I say pickup a cat a pinch it and then tell me animals don’t feel pain...better yet pinch a rotweilier!

No offense, but not eating a vegiburger because it "looks" like a hamburger made of cow flesh makes about as much sense as a two-year old not wanting to eat something because it looks funny. I have a question for you, have you tried a vegiburger? If not and it looks the same why not?

Bottom line- we vegetarians eat many of the same things non-vegetarians eat just with out meat (spagetti being one), we do not sit around chewing on carrots all day. I, for one, am happy I made the change and despite the constant ridicule I get (from family and friends) will never eat meat again.

Answer 4

There are all kinds of reasons why people chose to be a vegetarian. Some chose not to eat meat becuase they just don't like the taste. Some chose not to eat meat because of the saturated fat, cholesterol, hormones and other reasons that make animal products very unhealthy. But I would say the majority of vegetarians (and vegans too) quit eating meat because eating the flesh of a dead animal that lived a miserable life is just not worth how good it might taste.

Luckily - we can have the best of all worlds. Vegetarian foods that are more healthful and mimic the flavors of meat with none of the cruelty! See how simple that is? :)

Answer 5

Most long time vegitarians hate the fake meat products. They are practically tasteless and expensive. They make good transitional foods for those moving to a vegetarian diet.

To me fake meat is like eating fast food. Boring and not very healthy.

What I want to know is why do you always ask stupid questions in the Vegetarian section of this site? Veggie envy?

Answer 6

I'd say for texture and the taste of the seasoning.
For example, even meat sausages don't taste like the meat itself, they taste like the spices in the ground up flesh and fat.
Also, most vegetarians (like me) probably grew up being meat-eaters and these products make it easier and more convenient to make the switch. These products also make it possible to use recipes from the old meat-eating days.

And, I don't think your "if vegetarians don't like meat" statement is quite what is involved here. Most of us don't like the cruelty involved in our current meat producing farms and slaughter houses. As the expression goes "if slaughter houses had windows" everyone would be a vegetarian!
When I started to eat veggie, I still liked the taste of meat---just not the cruelty involved and the fact that I was eating the flesh of a sentient being.

Answer 7

I didn't give up meat because I hated it, I gave it up because I hated the way animals were treated before they became hamburgers, steak, etc. There are some things that I missed the taste of at first, but now I actually prefer veggie burgers over the taste of real burgers. The soy products that are made to look like real meat products have (usually) a good taste, texture, and they're an easy way to get protein. You oughta try them.

Answer 8

individuals have diets finished of processed foodstuff, which commonly (continuously) has very guy-made, unnatural aspects in it. once you have a vegan weight-alleviation plan, you're ingesting healthful, organic, good-for-you foodstuff that makes you experience somewhat good. Then, your physique adjusts to it. in case you come back off of your weight-alleviation plan, you comprehend merely how undesirable guy made ingredients make you experience. once you consume meat and/or junk foodstuff each and every day, you get used to the sensation and don't even observe you experience undesirable. once you turn to vegan, you abruptly experience large and you have extremely some skill considering the fact which you're putting good foodstuff on your physique with extremely some skill-giving food. i'd say end switching between them, through fact it could decrease to rubble your physique to consume healthful foodstuff and then meat and junk foodstuff day after today. that's the reason you experience so yucky and look ill. Your physique has a no longer uncomplicated time processing it once you hold switching and once you initiate ingesting processed ingredients after a protracted hiatus.

Answer 9

You have been putting a lot of thought into this, haven't you?
It's mind boggling how fascinated meat eaters are with what vegetarians eat.
We eat meat substitutes like burgers, hot dogs, bacon,etc. b/c they are much healthier, tastier and there is no guilt b/c it is not animal flesh-they're made out of soy beans.
Why do you care so much anyways?

Answer 10

They don't always do this. While there are meat substitute products out there, most of the vegetarians I know don't eat these at all.

For those who do, it usually means that choosing not to eat meat is a matter of principle, not flavor preference. They may do this for religious, animal rights, environmental, or other reasons of principle. In these cases, they may actually enjoy the taste of meat, but choose not to eat it, and the meat substitutes may offer a reasonable alternative for them.

Answer 11

I'm a vegetarian because my body needs to be. I do not digest animal proteins as well as plants, and excessive meat consumption leaves me sick and doubled over in pain. But my family is not vegetarian. Veggie meat alternatives make family BBQS and church wienie roasts easier to be a part of. They also help new vegetarians make that transition while they learn to be creative in their own realm. You don't have to understand it, just recognize there are two sides to every story and you don't have to eat it if you don't want to- but that doesn't make it wrong.