To wonder who eats this food and why?

[BingoBonus]

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?

Bamboo fibre?? The only animals that can digest that properly are fucking pandas. Why is that in there?

I was a vegetarian for 20 years (I'm not anymore but I do still eat mostly veg food). The meat alternatives don't necessarily appeal to me loads, but they are an easy replacement when you need to make a vegetarian portion for a meal when everyone else is eating meat.

So yes, I like lentils more than I like fake meat. But if dh and dc were having sausages and mash, it's easier to just bung some vegetarian sausages in the oven than to make something totally different (like curried lentils) for myself.

That said, some meat is really gross looking and puts me off frankly (ultra-processed chicken, for example), but people still enjoy eating it even if I don't personally find it appealing to look at. But as long as they enjoy it, I'm not really bothered about what other people eat.

I mean, given that Quorn is made from mould, I don’t think oil and water sounds too bad!

I've always wondered about the difference between, say, fake ham and fake chicken and fake beef. Do they taste different and how? Or is it something else?

Today I saw a Heinz advert promoting their famous tins of Tomato Soup.

Proudly labelled "|Plant-based, vegan".

Perhaps it's for customers whose poor diet impaired their brain function.

I don't understand the boom in plant-based ultra-processed foods...........do people actually buy these as a healthy option?

Where do you get that they are buying them as a healthy option?

And if you are vegetarian why would you want something that looked like meat?

Why do people always ask this ridiculous question? Lots of vegetarians or vegans like meat, but don't want to eat it for reasons other than the taste. Why wouldn't they want to recreate their favourite foods without meat?

I hate the way the gluten free frozen options are slowly becoming vegan. Kirstys pizza I'm looking at you - gluten free pizza has vegan cheese on it. Vegan cheese is disgusting. Not all people who need a gluten free diet are bloody vegan!!

It's got good amounts of protein so obviously got more than water and oil.
I don't eat meat, fish or dairy and sometimes need a quick meal that doesn't include beans nuts and large quantities of vegetables.

Almost life long vegetarian and I wouldn’t touch ready meals, processed food with a barge pole.

Their standard cream of tomato soup which contains dairy isn't suitable for vegans, they have brought out a plant based creamy tomato soup as well, which is what they are advertising.

I’ve never tried that but the vegan “bacon”
always looks absolutely horrible

Admittedly not the best food in the world, but these are a cheap own brand so never going to be the most nutritionally balanced food item in the world.

No idea. I wouldn't have it in the house.

tasty though.

the original is cream of tomato soup therefore they have made a plant based version for vegans and people with dairy allergies and the like. We'll forgive your impaired brain function 😉

It's quick and easy. That one in particular doesn't look very nice, but plenty of 'fake meat' products are tasty and quick to cook. I hate cooking and don't have time or any desire to stand over a hot stove every day after work - I just want something that will be cooked in 20 minutes and fill me up.

Yes I could eat more healthily. I could also eat less healthily. As could everyone, to some degree.

I buy this one from What the Cluck. It's 88% soy, so not too different to tofu, and tastes great in a Thai green curry.

And I'm very happy to avoid killing innocent birds. I'm sure future generations will look back in horror at the way we treated animals.

I don't eat meat and personally dislike the meat alternatives. Like you say, they're processed foods and I don't think they're very healthy. I generally use lentils and beans in place of meat. The only exception to this is vegetarian sausages! I do love toad in the hole, sausage casserole and sausage pasta so I will use them here. I just want to be able to enjoy eating some of my favourite dishes without having to eat meat (for many reasons - cruelty, environmental etc).

I avoid anything that calls itself 'plant based'. Vegetarian food - made of recognisable vegetables - fine, but not these awful meat substitutes made out of fungi. I'm an omnivore and probably eat more meat now as a result of decent vegetarian food having become scarce in favour of 'plant based'.

Even vegans need a quick tea some nights 🤷‍♀️

I agree with you OP.

Most of these non-animal subs are terribly unhealthy.

I can't understand the logic of a vegan or vegetarian not wanting to eat meat or fish but still want to 'taste' the same food made from other things.

Surely if someone finds meat or fish distasteful, they wouldn't want to eat something that pretends to be that?

What's wrong with vegetables, pulses, etc without resorting to fake animal products? It seems rather bonkers.

Yes!

anything dietary is now catered for under “free from”.

so my dairy allergic child has to also eat gluten free, meat free, egg free, wheat free…

especially eating out. I’m veggie and the veggie options are now vegan and gluten free.

it’s an utter pita. Also because the “vegan” option usually includes fake meat, which neither of us like. Don’t get me started on the fake egg either. Even trusty old waga’s where you could at least get a decent veggie noodle dish is now all fake duck and egg.

and yes to pp. margarine/olive oil spread etc, which was once a cheap alternative to butter, is now “plant based” and 3 times the price.

If everyone were vegetarian, then those animals would no longer exist, except possibly as pets on a small scale.

I find it quite hard to imagine our landscapes without the green hillsides with sheep grazing (I love the sound of sheep) and without farms with cows, pigs etc. Presumably, everything would be ploughed up to grow rapeseed, soy etc. so we would have more monoculture agriculture and consequently less biodiversity.

@KimberleyClark , I am a vegetarian and most 'vegetarian' dishes when eating out are unimaginative and boring, with the same sort of dishes on offer. If the restaurant has an imaginative and tasty vegetarian range, I'll go there.
The plant-based stuff is a bit hit-and-miss. I find some of it hard to digest.