Why eat fake meat if you don’t like meat?

“If you hate meat, why eat fake meat? Just stick to eating your plants!”

Before going vegan, I used to wonder why vegans kept dressing up and transforming their plant things to look and taste like meat. Why are they creating tofu bacon, chick’n nuggets, seitan steaks with beetroot colouring, and plant-based burgers? If they hate meat, why don’t they just stick to their plants?

Ultimate form of flattery

Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, and fake meat exists because meat tastes good. Some vegans aren’t vegan because they suddenly got the ick towards meat. Some vegans stop eating meat but still enjoy the taste and texture of it. Personally, I fall into this category. Some vegan fake processed meats are pretty dang good and close to the real deal. My own opinion, but I feel that the Tesco plant-based vegan sausage rolls taste super close to the original!

Fake meats can also be helpful in other regards. Here are some of the reasons fake meat exists (this post covers a few more):

• Reduce Social Friction: If I’m at a BBQ, I can kinda blend in by eating a plant-based burger or sausage that looks and tastes like meat, instead of grilling up a raw block of tofu or just veggies.
• Familiarity: Before learning to cook tofu and tempeh properly, buying some “mince” or “chicken-style” pieces made it easier to do a 1:1 swap in my normal recipes.
• Ease: Vegan cooking does take a little bit more prep for some items like tofu or tempeh, so having these ready made “sausages” or “bacon” pieces can save time and effort.

Note: These aren’t magically healthier than their meat counterparts. After all, they are still processed. However, vegan diets, like any diets, are optimal when including a variety of whole foods. I take a closer look at the health aspects of fake meat in another article if you’re interested.

Tastes like dirt

“If you’re eating fake meat, maybe you’re not that serious about being vegan.”

I think the idea behind this argument is the assumption that vegans should just eat lettuce and kale to prove they really mean it. But if vegan food tasted like gravel, I’m not sure I could have done it as easily as I did. Luckily, vegan food can taste amazing, and fake meat plays a big role in that.

As a vegan, I can enjoy all the cuisines and dishes that I used to love, just with plant-based alternatives. Follow my insta if you wanna see.

If I can enjoy great food without causing harm to animals, why wouldn’t I?

Meat though

Have you seen the name of the website? It’s “Help me eat meat”. I love the taste of meat! I wasn’t all of a sudden disgusted by it or the smell or anything like that.

I stopped eating meat because I evaluated my beliefs against my actions and realised that my taste preference doesn’t justify causing someone to suffer. I still love the taste of meat, I’ve just found ways to enjoy it without the suffering. It obviously doesn’t taste exactly the same, so please debunk the vegan logic and help me eat meat!