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.

I love meat and don't think I could ever be veggie, let alone vegan, but I do want to look after my body better and be ethical so I try to eat vegan every so often but I don't really enjoy it. Vegan meat is not like actual meat but I'd take it over a lot of vegan options any day

I really don't like the bean-burgers so i'm happy that McD (in Germany at least) have introduced a vegan burger that is meat-like. But I'm not vegan and i find it too dry so i ask for sauce and cheese - which confuses them.

I'm a vegetarian who isn't vegan and never likely to be (unless they can make a really good vegan Wensleydale or camembert) and I'm getting a bit cross that the vegetarian options in restaurants are all going vegan and are all so bloody boring.

What i really really detest about meat eating above all other things about meat eating (i quite like a good steak, or some nice roast goose) is gristle. It makes me gag. So being able to tuck into a "steak slice" is bliss. Sort of meat-adjacent-flavour and texture but no gristle. Win-win.

You can't make a real difference with a tiny number of people doing things perfectly, only with the majority of people trying.

Exactly.......and I'm stealing that

@gamerwidow sorry if I phrased it the wrong way. I know they wouldn't be marketed to long-term vegans/veggies, I was just curious if it was something that they would buy.

@motherheroic in America, burgers are usually cooked medium/medium-well. I couldn't eat them if you paid me....even the meat-free ones!

Another thought I had is, would any of you who are meat-free for ethical reasons ever eat lab grown meat? So none of the environmental damage or cruelty, but high iron and b12 content?

Who feeds quorn to their kids? That shit is diabolical. Even the quorn website has to make a vague admission of how bad it is and "some" people react to it.

That's what I do have an issue with, you want to be healthy, ethical that is very commendable. Ending up eating rubbish over-processed fake food and pretending it's a positive thing is just wrong.

@Brefugee I have the same reaction with gristle! I actually buy a steak bake and eat it with a knife and fork so I can inspect the meat

I won't be queuing overnight for one, but I will be trying a veggie bake next time I'm passing a Gregg's

YABVU. I’m not even vegan and this argument always winds me up. It’s really not that hard to understand why someone might want a decent meat substitute while giving up meat for ethical/environmental reasons.

Another thought I had is, would any of you who are meat-free for ethical reasons ever eat lab grown meat? So none of the environmental damage or cruelty, but high iron and b12 content?

I would definitely

I became vegetarian due to the way animals are treated and how I would feel if I was about to be slaughtered. I don't eat stuff that is meant to taste like meat. I love beetroot and roasted pepper burgers, halloumi products, bakes with cheese and spinach in them etc. I admit to using a few quorn products at times but they taste nothing like meat!

me too, if it tasted good.

@BoxOfBabyCheeses - i tried the vegan sausage roll while i was in the UK last year. Yum!

What's amusing me at the moment with the vegan thing is how many firms are able to suddenly jump on the vegan bandwagon and their sales are rocketing. For eg: I buy frozen puff pastry. I'm usually careful to buy the all butter type, but have been known to buy my supermarket own brand which tastes fine.

At Christmas wanted to make a vegetable wellington and was wondering how to do it for VeganDC when I realised that cheap-o brand is all made with oil (prob the worst time of cheap crap) and is vegan and now has that displayed proudly on the packaging. Apparently they're selling loads more of that now than the really good all-butter stuff.

Certainly it's a lot easier to be vegetarian/vegan here (Germany) than it was in the 80s when I had to order everything "without ham" as a precaution (and then used to get served food with bits of ham in "you can pick it out/it's not very much")

its not about the taste. It could be ethical, dietary or health reasons. I personally love the taste of bacon but I don't want to eat flesh. Much the same as why does someone eat ready salted crisps instead of eating salted chips. Its basically the same thing.

I admit to using a few quorn products at times but they taste nothing like meat!

I think quorn mince is about the best one for closeness to the real thing, especially if it's in saucy things like Spaghetti bolognese, Lasagne or shepards pie

Oooh the lab grown is interesting when it comes to ethics. It was on Food unwrapped I think. They had lab grown chicken meat. The original cell came from 1 chicken who was still well and running around. Now is it ok or not was the question. No animal died for it and the chicken, I forgot his name, was not harmed except little prick. Further nuggets were made from the made cells, not the chicken himself.
So 1 animal provides unlimited amount of meat.
But is it ethically ok or not?

Another thought I had is, would any of you who are meat-free for ethical reasons ever eat lab grown meat? So none of the environmental damage or cruelty, but high iron and b12 content?

No. If they did it with human meat would you eat it then for the nutrition value? I actually don't do it purely for ethical reasons its also health reasons but iron and vit b12 are not that hard to get without meat.

I love quorn chicken nuggets, especially the southern fried ones.
Also Linda McCarteny burgers and sausages. It’s all good.
Dc eat them too.

Been veggie for well over 30 years, although do eat fish. Combination of ethical and taste for me. We try out lots of meat free stuff. Personally, I don’t like stuff that tastes of meat, such as Greggs vegan sausage roll, but I do like most meat free stuff, and cook regularly with Quorn, etc.

yabu
they are good meat alternatives for those who want to eat more sustainably but don't want to change their diet too much (yet).

Who feeds quorn to their kids? That shit is diabolical. Even the quorn website has to make a vague admission of how bad it is and "some" people react to it.
My DN is allergic to nuts and yet some people feed their children nuts. Madness.

@BoxOfBabyCheeses I will definitely be trying lab meat if/when it becomes available.

Been veggie for well over 30 years, although do eat fish.

Wouldn't that make you pescatarian rather than vegetarian?

gamerwidow
hardly the same thing is it...

Wouldn't that make you pescatarian rather than vegetarian?

Yes. Vegetarians don't eat fish.

Been veggie for well over 30 years, although do eat fish.

I can relate. I’ve been a vegan for 35 years, although I eat eggs and peppered steak.

I can relate. I’ve been a vegan for 35 years, although I eat eggs and peppered steak.

Yes pescatarian.