Why do Vegans look for Substitutes for meats like Chicken & Beef?

I love how people here are telling us vegetarians what to do. Do we tell you what to do? Are we forcing our lifestyle one you? And then that one guy saying vegetarians are stupid when he can't even use the right "their" to call us stupid. It's "they're" stupid, as in "they are."

Not all Vegetarians want faux beef or faux chicken. It's just a choice. Yeah, we like to make things like tofu into familiar things. But we want to better ourselves. Visible vegetarians are the ones who are vegetarian in public but not in private, are the people who are people just doing it because its popular or whatever.

I do it for my health. It helped me lose 20 pounds. And I have way more energy with this diet than with an omnivorous diet. It's a persons own choice to eat what they want to. So why are we being the snobs? Because we eat healthy to take care of ourselves? Because we care about animals? Because we don't call people who eat meat snobs? We don't care. We do us and don't give a ****.

Vegans aren't vegan just because they dislike the taste of meat (some do and some have since had their tastes change so that they no longer like the taste). There's nothing wrong with that.

Vegans are usually vegan because they disagree with the need to use animals for food. Sometimes they stop eating meat for health reasons.

The desire is more to do with being able to eat the dishes that they grew up with, without the saturated fat and cruelty. Food can be a very emotional thing. The idea of eating actual eggs repulses me now (They smell of feet to me) but I still get a craving for mashed soft-boiled eggs when I'm not well because that is what my grandmother always gave me when I was unwell. I just settle for the glass of 7up she also used to give me, instead. :)

These meat substitutes also help new vegans maintain a balanced diet while they are still learning how be completely plant based. They aren't ideal for a permanent everyday thing.

I personally find the ones that try too hard to look like actual meat a little creepy.

Plenty of people don't eat meat analogues. And you do know that most vegetarians, even vegans, grew up eating meat, right? It could be simply because they taste good. Maybe they have a "meat and potatoes" person in the family and they want to show them that you can eat delicious substitutes on a vegan diet. Not everyone eats the same things for the same reasons.

I'm 34 and have been a vegetarian since the day I was born. My whole family are vegetarians. I have never had any kind of meat in my entire life nor do I wish to. I do, however, eat the fake "meats" and see no problem doing so. I'm not doing it because I wish I ate meat and I highly doubt they even taste like real meat. When I was growing up there weren't all the options there are now. I love eating "burgers" and "chicken" tacos and "turkey" sandwiches because they just taste good to me, not because I want the meat flavor.

Not all vegans eat fake meats. The ones that do probably gave up eating meat because the way the animals are treated is wrong and disgusting, but that doesn't mean the don't like the taste of meat. So instead they choose the cruelty free option and substitute real meat with fake meats. However, some vegans are repulsed by meat and don't want fake meats in their diet. It all varies on the person.

The umami taste of saltysweet and ricly flavoured dense chewy food isn't a right of meat eaters alone.

A roasted soysauce drenched portobello mushroom with ketchup and walnuts is a really really lovely thing to eat and satisfies many taste buds, and some would say that's a substitute for meat. It isn't for me, but it does have a similar texture and mouthfeel.

The juice is another thing- when fat pours out of a food item in your mouth, it's pretty interesting what your body does.

Almost sexual on occasions......

People new to vegetarian diets may well ask "whats a good substitute?"

I'd never call a soyburger a "substitute", but everyone calls it what they can.

Some new vegetarians actually do miss the taste of something they're familiar with- if I can't get marmite I usually spend days racing around chinese markets looking at miso paste....

They just ask for substitute to give them something they know- it's only normal.

So what if a vegetarian does miss meat?

If you're committed to healthy eating and crave a piece of cake, it doesn't mean you have to have it. If you're angry and feel like beating someone up, it doesn't mean you have to do it. Person A might choose a piece of fruit or diet dessert to satisfy their sweet tooth, and person B might punch a pillow to let out their emotion. So if a vegetarian chooses a substitute that doesn't harm any animal, so what? They're not going against their convictions.

And of course, not all veg*ans even use meat substitutes. I actually don't even care for most of them.

Well, for someone who is accustomed to these types of foods, it can help with the transition towards a vegan diet. Why are you suggesting that it's hypocritical for someone to boycott the meat industry and consume faux-meat products? I'm not making the connection.

If you've had skinless chicken, with no spices, you would know that the taste is really bland. Likewise with tofu - it will taste like a rubbery mushroom if you don't do anything with it. It's the spices, smoke flavoring, herbs that make all the difference and give all the flavor. You're not really mimicking the meat taste so much as you are the spices, etc.

If you want to try delicious, healthy veg*an recipes, I recommend you visit this website: http://www.your-vegetarian-kitchen.com/ And I can guarantee you that most of them don't require tofu. It will give you a better idea of what people on this diet eat. Don't mock. Just read, and learn.

Ben Carr, you might want to research proper usage of the word "their" before you call other people stupid, because your illiterate post suggests YOU are the stupid one.

In answer to the OP, not all of us do. Often these products are used more to transition to a wholefood diet. I relied on them a lot my first few months before I learned to cook. Tofu in itself is not necessarily a "meat replacer" as it soaks up the flavour or whatever you cook it in, it can be used to make everything from cakes to yoghurt depending on the type. Also, lots of vegans "veganize" meat based recipes which may call for some sort of replacement.

Quinoa and tofu and the like are pretty good for you so vegans will eat quite a bit of them, but the more processed "TVP" products are not as healthy for you, so I try and avoid those.

And in short, no, I don't miss or desire meat in any way, shape or form.

Not all do, only some. Some vegetarians like to eat junk, just the same as some meat-eaters do. Alot of vegetarians are perfectly happy with just fruits and veggies.

Im a vegan and i ask the same thing... I dont like meat substitutes and i have no desire to eat them. But some people find them helpful when they are transitioning into veganism to fight the cravings of real meat.