Meat replacements - good thing/bad thing

[Cheese on Toast]

Please help me settle an argument I'm having with my mate. I love meat replacements but my friend hates them - she says that she doesn't eat meat so why would she eat something that looks like meat? What do you guys think?

[Kitty15]

i'm with you!!! coudn't live without soy mince, quorn, veg hot dogs. have quorn ham sarnies every day for lunch. doesn't matter what it looks like if it tastes nice

[givepeasachance]

I agree too. Not sure why some people have such an issue with meat replacements. They make life a lot easier. When I have non-veggie visitors, I'll often make a soy mince lasagne or similar and I've always had lots of compliments, and noone goes home hungry either! on the other hand, I have had a few that were rather unpleasant, but all-in-all i think they're generally quite tasty. although I suppose if you gave up meat because you didn't like the taste, then they wouldn't be much good?
Peace and peas x

[juker]

I have had people who have argued that I am not a proper vegetarian because I eat pretend meat products

As far as I am concerned, most meat replacements are made for convenience rather than to replicate meat products. e.g. when you want to put some sort of tofu on a bread roll, it is easier if it is in a burger shape - if you are using a finger roll then it is easier if the meat replacement is in a sausage shape

The meat replacements are not taking the form of animals, e.g. chicken roasts are cylinders rather than shape of a chicken <- this would not be something I would purchase as I feel it would be wrong, but a convenient shape of quorn, I dont see the problem with that

[mkimmer]

I am not quite sure if a lot of people would oblige to the idea of meat replacements but personally, I think that they would be just right. Well, there are times that you would still like to get the real deal but in some cases that you would want something that would work just right, I think that it would be great to go with alternatives that would taste well.

And in some cases, there are even people who get used to eating alternatives above the usual options they go for.

[Rhys]

I can see some people's objections to products that mimic meat, but I think they have their place. To eliminate an entire type of foodstuff like that seems unnecessary, especially as the result of some sort of snobbery, because faux meats have been around since ancient China! People who give up on vegetarianism often say it's because they were hungry or lacked energy - maybe if they ate a few of these high-protein, low-fat foods they would be more satisfied and stronger too. Having said that, I think relying on them alone makes you less of a cook. Not having a meat substitute definitely exercises the little grey cells more...

[Rachel_murray]

I LOVE Quorn mince! As long as it' mixed in with something it's nice and I can't tell the difference! My husband and kids can't tell the difference either.

There are people who wont eat meat because they hate the taste so meat replacements wont be any good for them, but vegetarians who don't eat meat because of other reasons such as culling etc then I don't see why meat replacement would be a problem. Nothing was harmed in the making of Quorn etc lol

[Calamity Jen]

I personally like a lot of the meat replacements, although there is the issue of them being 'unnatural', i.e. I cant make them at home. But I always enjoyed the taste and texture of meat, I just felt hypocritical asking someone else to kill on my behalf, knowing that I couldn't do it.

My OH, on the other hand, hated the texture of meat, and in fact hates mushrooms for the same reason! So he won't eat quorn or anything like that.

[Jenni]

I think it is okay to eat meat replacement because why not? If you like the taste of it you should definitely eat them. I eat them a lot! Animals don't die from that right?

[Pipsqueak]

I think it is okay to eat meat replacement because why not? If you like the taste of it you should definitely eat them. I eat them a lot! Animals don't die from that right?

Absolutely, they make the transition far simpler for many people. While I accept that small minded non-veggies like to sneer about faux meats sometimes, I don't understand veggies who do so - there's no harm to critters in faux meats, so why not just enjoy them?

I don't tend to use stuff like veggie mince much these days as I prefer to cook with wholefoody staples, but we still have our 'fast food fix' of burgers, 'chicken' curry or hot dogs about once a week, usually on a friday. And there's no two ways about it, it's just great to eat that stuff sometimes!