Yes to all this. I think folks that are vegetarian or vegan completely miss that meat eaters REALLY like the taste of meat. Therefore something that can replicate that taste even a little bit is a good stepping stone - and something that can help suffice when someone has a meat craving. The taste of meat is the one thing that can’t be replicated by ‘whole foods’ - no, mushrooms just don’t come close. So these type of things can help reduce environmental damage at the same time satisfying the craving for the meat taste.
someone already sued Burger King about cross-contamination
Yep, those reasons are why I (and some of my friends) will occasionally get an Impossible burger instead of a real meat one. We’re not under any impression that they are a healthier choice or anything like that. We’re just interested – for our own reasons – in reducing the meat intake in our diet. I’m actually really impressed with how well a properly cooked Impossible burger mimics a real hamburger. It’s a nice product for people who love the taste and mouthfeel of meat but, for whatever reasons, want to transition away from it. I personally don’t think it’s a gimmick or a fad – I think these will continue to sell well. This is the first “fake meat” product that I’ve bought somewhat regularly, and I’m not the only one like this that I know.
Who is suggesting this? They sound like a crank.
I haven’t heard the allergies thing, but soy estrogens are suspected of causing IIRC breast cancer rates to go up.
Supposedly, that’s been proven wrong or at least inconclusive. However, since my body no longer has the means to produce estrogen, I figured that I could start doing some good cooking experimentation with tofu, which I love. Nope. That idea fizzled fast as my estrogen receptors said “Look, it’s almost a perfect match!” and sucked those little isoflavones in resulting in zits, cramps, and gas just like PMS. So tofu remains a rare treat for me.
What amount of soy in the “Vegetarian diet”? You say that as if vegetarians all eat the same thing. They don’t and plenty of them don’t particularly eat soy. Meanwhile, millions of meat-eating Asians consume all kinds of soy.
A diet high in soy protein is associated with DECREASED cancer risks, lower heart disease risks, is completely safe for young boys, and does not make one susceptible to allergies later on. From one of MANY academic reviews:
There are always negative things that people suggest … like vaccines cause autism … but a diet relatively high in soy consumption is just fine. As always dietary moderation and variety is good sense for those without allergies that prevent such.
Thank you for being a voice of reason. I was going to post something very similar to this but probably with way less finesse.
I sometimes think there are people who mistake their own personal problems with a particular food for a general population problem.
Yes, if you have celiac anything with gluten is a problem. If you don’t have celiac it’s not.
If you are lactose intolerant dairy is a bad thing. If you’re a mutant who keeps producing lactase into adulthood (as many people are) it’s a fine food category.
But I seem to see books promoting this or that food or food category as Satan’s entree or something. I’m sure some of it is just people attempting to cash in on a fad, but some of it seems to be “I have this problem therefore everyone must have this problem”. Um… no, they don’t.
You’ve put my walls of text to shame. But I never once got the vibe that plant-based meat substitutes are significantly healthier than actual meat, with the notable exception of cholesterol content.
When friends tell you to switch just tell them you’re allergic. No need to take on the whole concept of fake meat - tell the truth, you don’t eat it because of your allergies.
~Max
I do know that is my situation, though I haven’t written a book about it. But I do caution other people because it is possible (not probable, but possible) they may have the same problem I do (or the problem any of you do). And I pay attention to the study results. But I’m not stupid enough to think that if most people don’t have a problem with soy, that means my problem is all in my head. If I took the approach that it was all in my head, I’d still have ovaries, and likely cancer.
I’m not a vegetarian, far from it and no intention to ever be one. But what you say makes sense to me. I also don’t get why there’s so much focus on fake meat when lots of non-meat dishes are appealing to meat eaters like me. Only perhaps if there was a really good reason everybody had to be strictly vegetarian, right away (not just want to be vegetarian, it’s 100% fine with me if other people want to). Maybe it’s appealing to cut down on meat* with fake meat to some people, so again let people decide and the market provide what they like. But it has little appeal to me. Also I notice so far in the fast foods places the fake meat alternatives are significantly more expensive, a head shaking non starter for me. My policy wrt to those places is just not to go to them often. I’m not going to stop entirely, nor eat fake meat there for a higher price.
*particularly beef where the issue of feed to meat conversion inefficiency is far bigger than with chicken and also greater than with pork. And the feed conversion issue is a 100% objective fact (how sustainable current meat production is, more a matter of opinion). But I mean in contrast to negative health issues with meat which assuming moderate consumption is significantly less than a 100% clear fact AFAIK. Although OTOH my favorite meal, burger and fries, has sodium and cooking oil health issues, and tends to go with soda, again issues. Which is why I make it a once in a while treat.
Isn’t most of this information available on their websites? I think they’re supposed to list the ingredients of their products nowadays.
I am a vegetarian and the reason for the focus is simple: there are many, I’d wager a majority of Americans, who will tell you they refuse to eat food that does not contain meat. IF asked, they will proudly tell you “food = meat and meat = food” and to them it’s a closed system. For instance: make vegetable lasagna for a potluck dinner and see if all the meat dishes aren’t gone while there’s still 75% of the lasagna untouched; I have seen this more times than I can count.
I wouldn’t go that far, but I do think that a meal without meat is a poor excuse for a meal.
Yes, but it’s not as straightforward as most assume.
For example - if “soy sauce” is listed as an ingredient most people are not going to realize that that means the item contains gluten. Because most people are unaware that soy sauce is traditionally brewed from soybeans and wheat. There is gluten-free soy sauce but it’s not real common. Some companies will say “made with soy sauce (contains soy, wheat)” but they are not required to do that.
Another example - a local coffee shop has a “wildberry smoothie” that the company say is colored with “natural vegetable juice”. That’s nice - WHICH vegetable? If it’s beets I’m fine. If it’s tomato I’m screwed. They aren’t required to list which vegetable they used, just that it’s “vegetable juice” which is sort of useless if you’re allergic to a vegetable (or a few of them, as I am).
Another example - sometimes you see “may contain Oil X, Oil Y, or Oil Z” That’s so when they’re making the stuff they can use whichever is cheaper that week but OK, which oil is in the serving you’re looking at? One of them? Two of them? All of them?
That’s where someone like me can run into trouble. And quite a few companies really don’t want to tell you what, exactly, is in their “natural vegetable juices”. I have found that contacting them and saying something like “I have an allergy to tomatoes. Very important - do your “natural vegetable juices” you use for coloring agents contain tomatoes in any form or quantity?”, which they can answer “yes” or “no” to without revealing their particular formula, tends to work best. But not always. I do occasionally get a hostile response.
OK but you’re just saying lots of people don’t want to be vegetarians. Yeah obviously, including me. 
My puzzlement is why there’s so much focus on fake meat as a way to get people to be (more) vegetarian. I mean 99% of the time the consumer knows it’s not actually meat, so if they really insist ‘food=meat’ they wouldn’t eat fake meat or any other non-meat dishes. My point, and what I took the earlier point to say, was that lots of non-meat dishes which aren’t fake meat can be appealing to meat eaters (things I have gradually eaten more of to somewhat reduce, I’ve no intention to stop, my meat consumption*) so puzzling to me why there’s so much emphasis on fake meat. Really puzzling when they try to sell it to me for more money than meat. Big no thanks to that, whereas I don’t reject non-meat dishes generally. Sure if there were burgers and vegetable lasagna at a get together I’d also be leaving the lasagna alone (unless maybe I saw you looking and didn’t want to hurt your feelings , actually I don’t like meat lasagna either), but there’s plenty of non meat dishes, and whole meals, I eat.
*I’m operating on a health oriented but not particularly vegetarian (not the same thing IMO) outlook of moderating beef consumption in particular, not as much trying to reduce chicken or fish consumption.
Those individuals who are gluten sensitive would, or at least should, know.
SBo, I’ll eat your lasagna!
I’ve cut back on meat to the point of 2-4 days a week without meat in them. Why? Well, because I only want to eat organically raised meat and that’s expensive. It probably helps a lot that I love most veg and pulses too. For a while, I was on a very limited diet so we could figure out my food sensitivities, during which time I switched to organic food where possible, and quit using chemicals on the lawn and to clean the house. I learned a lot about flavor at the time and seriously broadened my intake with the discovering of Indian and Peruvian cooking in order to make up for the lack of wheat, gluten, dairy, and fungi/yeast foods in my diet. But because of the cooking I learned, I’ve never felt the urge to buy fake meat, with the exception of black bean burgers and I eat those because they are convenient and tasty, not because I was looking for a substitute hamburger.
I know for others, it might be a way to get them to try eating meals without meet or in the case of a family I know, it means they can all go out to dinner together because there’s something on the menu for the vegans in the family as well as the meat eaters. It’s just not for me.