Why is it ok to eat look-a-like meats made from soy, etc such as "garden burgers, veggie chicken, hotdogs, etc" Shouldnt a true vegan want to avoid foods that look, taste, and smell like real meats?
2007-09-21 10:53:07 · 23 answers · asked by M A 2 in Food & Drink ➔ Vegetarian & Vegan
umm no. they just don't want to kill animals. and look-a-like meats are not animal products. that's like saying people who don't believe in shooting and killing people shouldn't use squirt guns.
2007-09-21 10:57:19 · answer #1 · answered by whaddyaknow? 4 · 17⤊ 1⤋
Being a Vegetarian and being a Vegan are two way different things:
Vegan is a person that not just avoids meat but also avoids all dairy products, and animal products such as leather, hair, hooves, etc.
Vegetarian is a person that avoids meat (beef, chicken, fish for example) from their diets.
We are vegetarians because we simply cannot stand the slightest sight of meat... That's all. As many people cannot stand the sight of eggs or of vegetables for example, we are all the contrary.
We are made like that. We have a history. We didn't decide one day or just woke up and decided to be a vegetarian. We cannot stand the sight of meat.
I have friends, relatives and myself with the same experiences when just seeing meat. To us is revolting, make us nauseous (yes, no exageration, plain truth).
For example, when I was a little boy every time I was forced to eat meat "it always came back up". Why? Because when eating it I always saw a horrible carcass, as a human one, and no matter how hungry I was I didn't eat it. And my early experiences go on and on and on. So are the ones (the history I was telling you about) from close people I know.
I very much dislike it when a person becomes vegetarian for a short time or for "attention", or because is "theee in" thing to do.
You are a vegetarian or You-Are-Not, simple as that.
We do not eat -as you mentioned- "look-alike meats"... We simply eat the "meals available" made with no meat, that's all. No-Meat-At-All. And, to have the necessary nutrition such a protein, we replace it with other products such as tofu, soy, vegetables, etc...
Also, many of us love animals but is its a great myth thinking we do not eat meat because we want to safe the animal kingdom. No. Other people may have but, for total and different reasons than us. Vegetarians do not.
2007-09-21 11:30:24 · answer #2 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 3⤋
The eating of a boca burger is much different that eating a actual burger. No animal has to die in order for a boca burger to be produced. I am against the cruelty behind the production of the burger and the health concerns regarding the consumption of meat.
Since faux meat is healthier( in cholesterol, saturated fat, etc) and there is no cruelty involved, than the consumption of the product is no different that eating any other vegetarian food.
I myself, liken it to a person who is watching cholesterol who switches from regular bacon to turkey bacon. Should the person avoid turkey bacon because regular bacon is high in cholesterol... no, because what they are looking for is something healthier, just the same as vegetarians are looking for a cruelty free and healthier alternative so they choose boca burgers
2007-09-21 14:05:21 · answer #3 · answered by Prodigy556 7 · 3⤊ 0⤋
No, of course not! To be a hypocrite the vegetarian in question would have to eat real meat and then claim to be a vegetarian. Like someone else mentioned some of these products do contain eggs so no vegan and many vegetarians wouldn't eat those. It doesn't matter what you call your food it's the content that matters.
2007-09-21 11:36:57 · answer #4 · answered by Granny in KS 3 · 4⤊ 1⤋
I think those foods come in familiar presentations to make people more comfortable with the switch. Not only that, but it probably helps them more easily explain their life choice to those who are ignorant on the subject. People understand the familiar and are thus more apt to embrace slight differences. Additionally, it doesn't hurt any animals by consuming look-a-like meats. A large part of why people choose veganism is because it's an environmentally sustainable lifestyle that doesn't harm animals in any way. So who cares if the meatless meat looks like normal food - it's not harming anyone or anything.
2007-09-21 11:01:34 · answer #5 · answered by Anonymous · 8⤊ 0⤋
It's okay because it's not a dead animal part, and the money didn't go to an animal torturer. There's nothing hypocritical about it.
But yes, in my opinion, the general idea is to wean people from craving meat altogether. But fake meat is far healthier and more humane than real,
2007-09-23 19:59:45 · answer #6 · answered by Elizabeth J 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I eat meat replacements because I am a vegetarian for animal rights...my opinion of a hypocrite is saying that you're a vegetarian for animal rights and still eating only chicken or something like that.
2007-09-22 13:57:32 · answer #7 · answered by ♥ Animal Lover ♥ 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I would ask, what does real meat taste like? In other words, pretty much all cooked meats are seasoned with vegetables, fruits, and similar things (sugar, etc...). Why is BBQ commonly hickory smoked or mesquite smoked? Why use wood (a plant) to flavor meat if meat itself is good? I've had unseasoned ground beef cooked as a burger, and it really doesn't taste that good.
In other words, meat is typically cooked with vegetables/plants to get it's flavor (see the ingredients of A1 or other BBQ sauces). So these "fake meats" are really just vegetable foods with a certain taste. The meats are seasoned with vegetables/non-meat ingredients to get their taste.
2007-09-22 14:36:08 · answer #8 · answered by FM 4 · 2⤊ 0⤋
That's utterly absurd. Some people are vegetarian because they don't believe in killing animals for their gain and these products fit the bill because they are not dead animals. Some people are vegetarian because they want to avoid the saturated fat and cholesterol in meat and these products fit the bill because they are healthier. Some people are vegetarian because of the damage factory farming does to the environment and these products fit the bill because soybeans don't fart methane and poop out their own body weight every week.
If you ask me, meat eaters are the hypocrites. You all claim to love animals, but you eat their tortured carcasses every day.
2007-09-21 15:44:27 · answer #9 · answered by mockingbird 7 · 4⤊ 0⤋
It's not hypocrisy.
Many vegetarians and vegans grew up as meat eaters. Most of us go veg*an because of health, environmental, or animal rights issues. Analogues give us great flavor and texture without the attendant cruely, land they have less fat, and less cholesterol than meat. There's enough difference between the analogues and what they're meant to replace anyway.
Haven't we been asked this before?
2007-09-21 11:02:19 · answer #10 · answered by VeggieTart -- Let's Go Caps! 7 · 7⤊ 0⤋
I'm vegetarian. I like farfelle pasta, "Farfelle" means "butterfly." So I'm a hypocrite for eating something named after an insect? There's another pasta called vermicelli which is also a name for worms.
That's just silly and I don't see why it would be worth debating.
"Symbols are for the symbol-minded" (George Carlin)
2007-09-23 05:04:30 · answer #11 · answered by majnun99 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋