To not get the vegan meat thing.

[Katzia]

I just don't get it. Surely if you're vegan/ vegetarian you don't want things to taste of meat which you have foresworn, so why want a fake meat taste. I just don't get the fake steak, fake bacon etc thing. Be vegan/ vegetarian or just eat meat. It's one or the other.

My son and his partners are both vegan and recently left home . They were back for Christmas and I had a great time finding vegan Christmas dinner bits for them ! Meat free stuffing balls no pigs in blanket cauliflower with vegan cheese . It was great their dinners looked hardly and different from our and they did sppricate the effort . It does make it easier to shop for non vegans when shopping for vegan friends. Also meat free mince is great .

What's the real issue here ? Meat eaters eat onion flavour gravy, curry flavour noodles etc can a vegan not eat meat flavoured plant food ?
Vegan diets have colossal benefits over meat diets but they can lack in texture so a meat style plant food adds a little texture back.
Plus if a meat eater is in transition to veganism it makes the products familiar.

@CBsDad but I'm NOT an animal FFS!? It's called the food chain.

@lets ... I don't feel victimised, I was merely pointing out I want to eat meat.

Again, the vegans are SO touchy and sensitive.

@bulletjournalbilly I'm not being sensitive, I literally do not care what you do at all. You're the person that's making yourself sound like vegans are out to victimise you, so...

YANBU.

I'm a lifelong vegetarian, I loathe meat, and I can't eat anything that tastes like it, especially if it has a similar texture.

I certainly wouldn't eat quorn or similar.

The thing which I don't understand, is that some of my "vegan" friends wear leather soled shoes and absolutely love silk undies/nightwear. I know that they are eating a vegan diet however I believe a that unless they are refusing any and all animal products and byproducts, then you can't claim to be vegan.

I mainly follow a vegetarian/vegan diet, although I do eat meat due to health problems, and some people even try to tell me that I can get everything I need from plant based, however I can't, and my medical records back that up. Because I only eat a "little" amount of animal, I still need tablets and injections regularly, but I eat enough to avoid more hospital admissions.

@DreamsAboutSummer I disagree about the leather. I still wear leather and will be purchasing second hand leather shoes/trainers/boots once mine wear out. Leather will last decades if looked after and it's more useful to the environment to use whatever is already in circulation rather than adding more by buying new.

The thing which I don't understand, is that some of my "vegan" friends wear leather soled shoes and absolutely love silk undies/nightwear. I know that they are eating a vegan diet however I believe a that unless they are refusing any and all animal products and byproducts, then you can't claim to be vegan.*

^^
Why don't you ask them?*

Lots of people want to cut down on meat for health reasons but still miss the taste/texture or find vegan meals that are balance nutrition wise complicated to make - hence vegan meat alternatives.

In the '60s & '70s when the hippies were becoming vegan (and the amazing The Farm vegan cookbook was written), and even in the 80s/90s when I became vegan, there were no (or very few) vegan processed foods - I remember living on beans, lentils, chickpeas, nuts, veg, fruit, grains etc - honestly it was absolutely fine! You can make an amazing variety of foods out of these things - stews, burgers, spreads, dips, curries, pastas etc

Exactly. I don't much care what salt and additive-laden processed vegan crap people choose to buy and cook for themselves, but when I eat out I resent having these procesed vegan burgers or sausages or similar as the default vegan/vegetarian alternative.

Also, the main 'taste' of meat is umami - and this is easy enough to replicate in many vegetarian or vegan foods without processed foods. Take the chemicals and additives out of these and they would be tasteless.

Surely the problem is factory farming, and solution is to eat ethically sourced meat and to reduce meat consumption?

Vegetable crops are mono-crops - ecologically, they are deserts. Have ethical vegans ever walked a field of crops? Our few acres from the insects in the cow pats to the wild flowers to the wild animals and birds, is a full ecosystem. There is an important place for animals and meat in our world.

cushion I’m changing over to non leather etc but I don’t think throwing away stuff I’ve already got is worthwhile.

Sorry, I didn’t mean you cushion. Meant the poster you’d quoted.

Vegetable crops are mono-crops - ecologically, they are deserts

The issue here is modern agricultural techniques needed to feed the world's growing population. This is a different but related issue - simply, there are too many people for the planet and veganism will not solve the issues caused by this.

@DreamsAboutSummer

There’s difference between someone following a plant-based diet and ethical veganism, as I found out in the news this week

Well said @YetAnotherSpartacus

Thank you ScreamingLady!

I'm not anti-veganism. I'm a vegetarian for ethical reasons and also because I stopped liking meat in my 20s. I do eat a lot of vegan food, but veganism alone will not save the planet and it is a dangerous fallacy to think that it will.

The world has miles upon square miles of fields just growing crops to sustain animals over winter when the snow is covering the fields. Or the grass isn’t growing.

simply, there are too many people for the planet and veganism will not solve the issues caused by this
The global birth rate is dropping rapidly though. The global population is rising because we are living too long. We can't do anything about that ( Well obviously we can, but it's highly unethical!) The population is predicted to peak at 10bn but then drop. Eating less meat can solve the problem of scarcity of resources because we will have no choice but to feed people that already exist who will live for on average 70 years as opposed to the 30-40 years they lived a relatively short time ago.

Of course veganism alone won't solve the climate crisis but it is the single most important thing individuals can do to reduce their carbon footprint. People in the West need to consume less overall. That means buying less stuff rather than blaming China for their emissions when they are producing crap to sell to us.

We should all be eating less processed food.

I love the taste of meat. I just don't think a living creature should lose its life just for me to have a full stomach.
If everyone had to kill the animal to get their food there would be more vegetarians. Whereas I am happy to pull up a few carrots and potatoes.

Meat gives me diarrhoea. Quorn etc doesn't.

But what I really don't get is this need to criticise what other peoples food choices are. If they want meat substitutes, how does it affect your life? I mean, how over invested are people in defending their own choices that they need to complain bitterly about vegan or vegetarian items being a bit like meat, or being called burgers/sausages/steak etc.

It's just so odd, I don't understand.

The thing which I don't understand, is that some of my "vegan" friends wear leather soled shoes and absolutely love silk undies/nightwear. I know that they are eating a vegan diet however I believe a that unless they are refusing any and all animal products and byproducts, then you can't claim to be vegan.

You could just accept they are eating a vegan diet but not following a vegan lifestyle. Noone throws gotchas at meat eaters like that.