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?

I would make up a nut roast from leftover grains and tin of beans cheese and a bag of chopped nuts bound together with eggs then cook it in a loaf tin and cut up into about 8 portions which I then freeze individually .. if the whole family will eat veggie gravy it’s easy to reheat a slice alongside whatever meat product they are having .. I do also have a couple of quorn fillets in the freezer and I also freeze individual chicken breast fillets in case it’s the meat eater that’s odd one out

Vegan junk food is still junk food. They are only an alternative to meat in appearance, not nutritional value. The 3 main protein sources are soya, wheat gluten and peas, and the total protein content is under 20% but thats not all digestible protein.

Ingredients; Water, Rapeseed Oil, Wheat Protein (9%), Soya Protein Concentrate (5%), Pea Protein (4%), Stabiliser (Methyl Cellulose), Rice Flour, Flavouring, Pea Fibre, Maltodextrin, Salt, Onions, Dextrose, Bamboo Fibre, Sunflower Oil, Emulsifier (Mono- and Diglycerides of Fatty Acids), Yeast Extract, Caramelised Sugar Syrup, Sugar, Onion Powder, Colour (Paprika Extract)

Funny how people are so eager to jump on any vegan food which is even slightly unhealthy or not-ethically-perfect. Meat seems to get a free pass, despite being full of hydrogenated fat and responsible for a lot of climate change factors. (and I'm not even a vegetarian!)

These foods are helpful in the transition to becoming vegetarian. After a while, many vegetarians give them up. Rather like alcohol free drinks/vapes when giving up alcohol/smoking.

Also I don't know of many people who have gone vegetarian for health reasons.

I agree, it’s quite peculiar. Fake meat; beige mush. There simply have to be more appealing, healthy foods one could eat.

My vegetarian friend explains it as they miss the texture of eating met. (Understandable if you're brought up eating meat) But don't want to be eating dead animals anymore. Her husband and son's still eat meat. She still cook's for them. It's they're choice she wouldn't force it on them.

@VoluntaryWing Because many vegetarians were brought up eating meat / have eaten meat for decades. It is a very hard habit to shift, the meat substitutes provide a solution. As I said above, they are often only used during the transition period.

This has been a very interesting thread, lots of info and differing viewpoints.

I tend to want to avoid ultra processed food, whether meat based or non, but I will get some if I'm doing dinner for a mixed group. I wouldn’t say it was tasty, but it is easy when doing a roast, for example.

Far from an anti veggie/vegan swell of opinion, I can't help suspecting an agenda about land, farming and meat production - and it isn't about rewilding it and benefitting wildlife.

Makes no sense to me that a veggie/vegan would simultaneously both criticise the suffering of animals for meat, and mock meat-eaters for eating products that use up less popular parts of the animal.

Surely if people do eat animals, it's better that they eat all the edible parts, rather than killing even more animals so that everybody can eat just prime cuts?

I agree, it’s quite peculiar. Fake meat; beige mush. There simply have to be more appealing, healthy foods one could eat.

It isn't about being healthy. Some vegetarians and vegans still enjoy the taste and texture of meat and want something that replicates that as much as is currently possible. It's not that difficult a concept.

Christ imagine getting bent out of shape over some food someone else might like to eat, that has no bearing on your life whatsoever.

Meat does do something to the body especially for women and the menopause.
One thing a non meat and more soya based diet does is to curb hot flashes.

I got a little warm a couple of times but that was it.

I'm a vegetarian and I buy things like this because they taste good (better than healthier options such as tofu/chickpeas etc), they are easy to just throw in the oven or a pan when I don't want to cook properly and they go well with foods that you would normally pair with meat, so they don't look or taste out of place

I refrain from eating meat because I think its wrong to kill other living things for food. But I still like the idea of tasty, quick, convenience foods. I don't claim that they're healthy.

A lot of meat products are processed and unhealthy. People eat them occasionally as a treat or when they don't want to cook. There's no difference.

I agree.
I was brought up in an Irish meat at every meal household. And gave up at age 14….over 50 years ago
But I still find the smell of kippers amazing. Smoked anything really.
Luckily we have smoked paprika to ease the desire.

People with good intentions but poor education probably.

because they're often trying to sell you 4 sausages made of mushrooms for friggin £4/5

I went vegetarian because I can’t digest meat.

Dh still eats meat and I hate the smell. The house smells like an old peoples home after he had been cooking.

Some funny responses here. Meat is natural so it's veggies who have to supplement their diet. Also amusing how people don't understand nature, it's not kind to say you won't eat meat. No doubt some nutters make their dogs and cats eat veggie fake food too.

Where on earth so you shop?

Factory farming isn't natural I'm afraid. Most vegetarians aren't opposed to the basic concept of eating meat, but there is a lot more to it than that these days.

I'm a vegetarian and have been for 25 years... recently I've had to go dairy free because of an intolerance so I mainly just stay vegan to be on the safe side. I also like cooking. Options like this open up a world of possibilities ( like when DH has spiced chicken I can have the same, just plant based!).

I get it doesn't make sense to meat eaters or even dairy eaters but we vegans do also enjoy a bit of protein that isn't tofu!

Surely it is no different from lots of the crappy processed meat that lots of people eat...sausages, burgers, nuggets etc. Certainly not healthy and - from my perspective - not remotely appealing, but plenty of people still choose to eat them apparently.

People like processed junk. What's new?

Vegan is the most unhealthy diet by miles. Children have died because their parents only fed them fake vegan food. Meat and dairy are essential as well as cards. Veganism is leading to rainforest destruction too. Really really bad for your body and the environment but it makes them feel superior and they can tell others off for eating meat which they should be as mammals. Veganism specifically is unethical because its marketed as healthy when it is the opposite.

I am all for eating less meat and eating vegetarian and vegan food but that is grains, legumes, fruits and vegetables.

All this plant based stuff is just hyper processed crap which will no doubt cause all the same health issues as other processed foods and all the low fat sugar free crap they sold from the 80s under the guise of being healthier which is it was not.