Why are some vegetarians ethically against mock meats?

I like real food more. Nothing against it and do use it sometimes but the stuff is not super healthy. It is like being a junk food vegan. That is not what eating healthy is to me.

I imagine it's the same reason some people are against fake fur: they think if something looks like real meat it may make others think it's real meat, and that would be like condoning meat consumption.

For me there is no big deal. Either that coat is dead animal skin or not. Either that patty is dead animal ground up and pressed into a flat round shape or not. In both cases, if it is not dead animal I am fine with using or eating it. I have some very realistic looking and tasting vegetarian shrimp in my freezer right now, and nobody is going to stop me from enjoying them.

PS I have actually never personally met vegetarians who were ethically against mock meat, but last summer I DID meet a non-vegetarian couple who both claimed to be morally opposed to mock meat. Something about mock meat constituting a 'lie'. They both worked in food technology.

I could not get a coherent explanation out of them though about what made mock meat ethically wrong: they just got VERY emotional about the subject and started shouting (yes SHOUTING) things like how hamburgers were supposed to be made of ham, not vegetables.

That was the point I decided to let it go, I did not want to escalate matters by informing these people that hamburgers were named after the German city Hamburg and have never traditionally been made of ham. We were literally in the middle of nowhere on a jungle trip with nowhere else to go, and would have to enjoy each other's company for several more days, so not a good time for a confrontation.

Don't say all do.

Not all do.

There will always be the dumb people who mock others.

There's nothing wrong for comparing it, though.

I eat mock meats, and I like some!

I am a vegetarian as well!

I'm a vegetarian and I'm not against mock meats. I think some people don't like them because.... well what's the point of being vegetarian if your going to eat fake meat. I think some vegetarians think a proper vegetarian surely sees no need for fake meat because he or she finds meat so repellent.

For vegans they strive to live a humane lifestyle by eliminating all animal products from our diet and that sometimes comes with the price of feeling alienated at social or family gatherings. That’s where faux meat comes in, for many vegans it has served as a lifeline and a way to fit in.

Mock meat is heavily processed which obviously isn’t all that healthy. Additionally, if you plan to eat soy-based faux meats it is advised to purchase organic products since organic foods are not permitted to be genetically modified.

You also might want to consider the company behind mock meat production. Although you might be eating a faux meat your overall purchase could be supporting cruelty. For example, Morning Star Foods is owned by Kellogg’s and Boca Burger is owned by Kraft.

Company behind mock meat production is a valid point: Although you might be eating a faux meat your overall purchase could be supporting cruelty, that is, buying mock meat from a company that is involved in meat industry and thus making profit at the cost of animal suffering.

So there you go but not all vegis are against it!

I'm not against mock meat. All I tell people is that mock meat cannot form a part of your staple diet. Mock meat is just vegan junk food. I want people to eat healthy rather than eating mock meat which is just vegan junk food. All they're doing is shifting from non-vegan junk food to vegan junk food and that isn't good. They need to eat naturally occurring fruits,vegetables,pulses,nuts, seeds,dry fruits, and grains. Pulses and vegetables should form a part of staple diet. Mock meat is something that you can have on occasions or just once in a way like may be once in 2 weeks or something like that. Also most mock meat is SOY based(so if you have it everyday,you'll end up having an excess of soy in your diet and too much of anything ain't good) and has too much sodium which isn't required by the body.

What's wrong with soy?

Soy beans are naturally toxic to humans, but they're harmless when they go through a fermentation process, which is how we get tofu.

But soy is being used in more and more things these days. Just look through your cabinet. You'll be surprised.

Anyway, most companies aren't putting their soy beans through this process because it takes too much time, and time = money.

Instead, they put it through a chemical process, but this rarely gets rid of the soy's toxicity completely.

Symptoms of a high soy diet are thyroid problems, breast cancer, and other complications.

People get these symptoms because the soy they eat isn't fermented.

So,I'm not ethically against it. I'm just against it acting as a staple diet(the food which you eat everyday). Its fine if its just a weekend thing or a party thing. Even I would love to have one of em soy burgers on a weekend or two to enjoy a tasty bite. I just won't have it everyday for breakfast lunch or dinner.

I think you may be referring to vegans who would ethically be against mock meats because they use milk/egg which indirectly results in the deaths of animals via sexing/slaughter when production yield drops/old age etc.

Whether they look down on them however is largely based on the individual, if they werent vegans looking down on others they'd be some politcal party looking down on others.

I don't look down on others for consuming it, per se, nor do I consider it an ethical issue.

I'm just vegetarian for moral reasons, so the thought of trying to emulate dead animal flesh at every meal is kind of beyond me.

It's usually people who are vegetarian for health reasons or newbies who consume fake meat.

I don't like them but I'm not ethically against them. Many are way too "meaty" for me. I advise people here not to eat them as the only replacement for meat - they are highly processed, full of fats and salt, over packaged, but I do say they are OK for occasional treats and convenience. To me, mock meats don't include traditional meat replacements -- tempeh, tofu and seitan.

Some vegetarians aren't against the killing of animals, some are just don't like meat. Some people don't like sweets, some people don't like fruit and some people don't like meat or fish.

i have never heard anyone in here or anywhere else be ethically against them let alone compare them to real meat.

i don't like them because they are unhealthy and i don't want to eat anything that looks like flesh.