To wonder who eats this food and why?

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https://groceries.asda.com/product/plant-based-meat-alternatives/plant-based-by-asda-chicken-style-fillets/1000383161908

Plant-based chicken-style breaded fillet. The main two ingredients are water and oil!

I don't understand the boom in plant-based ultra-processed foods...........do people actually buy these as a healthy option? And if you are vegetarian why would you want something that looked like meat?

I've been vegetarian since I was 8 and I'm now 44

I don't eat fake meat it's ultra processed crap , full of salt and other pointless ingredients.

But I try to be healthy and also avoid other ultra processed foods.

But some people are happy eating rubbish, and to me this falls in to same category as sausages, McDonald burgers, etc

Allergies, choice, because they want to

Op are you that small minded you can't understand that people have their own genuine reasons. Sorry if they don't fit into your kind of thinking.

It’s easy to swap out meat for that

• so for a new veggie or if you want to eat the same as everyone else.

because you fancy some junk stuff

because you like the taste

I'd agree that it's marketed to claim health before, so from the POV it's a worry that vegetarians are exposed to so much ultra high processed food. I hope they know that stuff is not healthy, which is the point I think you're making

I didn't even notice it because my brain stopped processing double negatives some years ago.

ive Not eaten pork for 10+ years now. Occasionally I still fancy a sausage sandwich or toad in the hole so use quorn sausages.

I eat plant based burgers, nuggets, fillets etc. when I fancy some junk food. I've been vegetarian for 15 years and love the taste and texture of meat but don't want to eat a dead animal for it.

If you are not vegetarian go look into the eyes of a lamb or piglet witness their intelligence and beauty and ask yourself why do I want to facilitate torture and murder so I can eat you beautiful creatures?

Take a look in the mirror mate

@3littlebeans - for a veggie, an egg.

I'm veggie and I never buy fake meat and I wouldn't put that into my body. I also wouldn't put jelly beans, bacon or Fanta into my body because it does more damage than good.

I'd cook some very well-pressed and maybe flavoured tofu in that scenario.
DH is an omnivore, I'm plant-based.
I always have tins of chickpeas, kidney beans, lentils here which can be roasted or thrown into a sauce of some kind and as I'm veggie rather than vegan, sometimes have a boiled or poached egg as a meat protein alternative.

I don't. I avoid ultra processed rubbish like this.

Except in restaurants. They all seem to have decided that this is a perfectly adequate "food" to offer to Veggies and vegans alike with no choice for those of us who wish to eat healthy real food without meat.

I mean the alternative doesn't have to be eating ultra processed junk shite.

Some of these sorts of things are really good. I prefer Linda McCartney sausage rolls to meat sausage rolls. Quite often the no-meat lardons are much nicer in a carbonara. And I think Quorn mince makes a better bolognaise and shepherd's pie. Sadly, and I don't understand why, it doesn't work for lasagne - it ends up losing its flavour.

I work in a supermarket and it sells very well. But it could be the area we are situated in. We are kind of in the middle of a rough area, a normal area, and a regenerated (very expensive) trendy area full of organic eating, craft beer drinking, vegans who happily pay £4+ for a small loaf from the local bakery.

I’ll try anything, but that’s just tasteless slop.

Unless it’s the blood of newborn babies I don’t give a shit what anyone else eats or why.

There's loads of reasons people choose meat-like foods that aren't made of meat. And supermarket chicken has lots of water added to it too.
If you don't fancy it, don't buy it.

Dd became veggi 8 years ago, we have found the rest of our diet has just slowly shifted that way. DH became vegetarian 2 years ago. I would suggest you flip your thinking so rather cook vegetarian food and add some meat for those that eat it.

Examples of regular meals here are:
Bean Chilli wraps (with separate steak strips for carnovores)
Stir fry with chicken on the side
Rissotto or pealla again with chicken cooked separately
Quorn bolongaise with beef ragu for the meat eaters
Then TBH we have a couple of nights which are only veggi, often soup in the winter, home made pizza.
Burgers and home made wedges

Have you tried them? I’ve not tried these but some veggie/ vegan products are nice and, as others have said, this sort of thing is quite good for people who are vegan for purely ethical reasons but who quite like the taste/ feel of meat. This sort of thing is especially good often in dishes like curries, stews, fajitas etc and can be great where you’ve got say 4 meat eaters and 1 vegan or something.

Unfortunately they don't consider the fact that the palm oil that is used for a lot of this crap is responsible for the deaths of many animals. Even the so-called sustainable stuff.

I eat veggie sausages because they're a good way to add protein to an easy meal. Don't bother with most meat substitutes, but when I do it's for that reason: the meal needs to be higher in protein.

And I am not a vegan or veggi currently myself but I daresay if you saw some of the conditions that chickens are kept in and how the meat is prepared then the seasoned oil/ soya/ tofu substitute may well seem pretty good!

Some people like the texture of meat but for various reasons, can't or won't eat meat, so it's probably as close as they will get.

I'm pescetarian, but I loathe most meat substitute products, especially TVP, because they are bland and to me tastes mostly like sponge and water.

Each to their own though.

I am not fully vegetarian - I eat eggs and dairy and a small amount of meat - but usually do have a vegetarian option when eating out. I am finding more and more in restaurants that the “vegetarian” option is vegan and so often shit. I am not saying all vegan food is shit, it can be delicious, but it needs to be prepared by someone with a passion for it I think.