VeggieTart -- Let's Go Caps!
Most vegetarians grew up eating meat. For most of us it's not that we don't like the taste but that we don't like the cruelty involved in producing meat, dairy, and eggs. So if we can find something that replicates taste and texture, but without the cruelty, why not? I mean, what's the difference between shaping animal flesh and other fillers into a hot dog and shaping vegetable foods into a hot dog? What's so different about creating a chop from, say, cows' flesh and creating a chop from soy or wheat gluten? We vegans like good food as well and want to be able to enjoy eating. Plus, bringing a veggie burger to a cookout where there are meat eaters makes our diet a bit less "weird" to them.
Molly
As a vegetarian that used to eat meat, I like those type of substitutes because I miss the taste of meat. Although I've had many that taste nothing like meat, but they give a similar texture if you are cooking it in a recipe that would have called for meat, which makes swapping recipes for vegetarian easy.
Anonymous
If it's a meat substitute, of course it's going to look smell and taste like meat. If it didn't taste like meat, it'd just be a flavor-neutral slice of tempeh/seitan/tofu.
Would you expect a substitute teacher to be a police officer?
imrt70
most people that make the switch from eating meat to being vegetarian, do so for reasons that involves health or fitness or something like that. I don't think there's one reported case where the reason was because of me. So, as with all the changes in lifestyle, they try to make it as seamless and smooth as possible and still giving you the taste that your used to but also gaining benefits that made you switch in the first place
M'aiq The liar
That's not true at all. Ever have a good black bean burger? It doesn't even look like meat. Good veggie burgers don't taste like beef, they taste like veggies. How many people have *really* been fooled? And why does it matter?
And when was the last time you had a veggie burger that smelled like meat? xD