Why I Love Fake Meat

Okay, I know a lot of people go vegan or eat vegan food for their health, and that’s wonderful. I really do admire the health aspects of veganism. But a lot of people also choose to go vegan and eat animal-free foods because they care enough animals and simply don’t want to contribute to the suffering on factory farms. These vegans care less about the health and nutrition aspects of eating vegan, in fact, any health benefits may be purely incidental to them. Their main motivation is reducing animal suffering – not necessarily eating super-healthy, green and leafy plant-based dishes at every single meal for the rest of their lives. Many, if the majority, of these vegans still dream about and crave bacon cheeseburgers, philly steaks, BBQ ribs, fried chicken, sausages, wings, pepperoni, ham, shish kabobs and all the other thousands of popular meat dishes the rest of civilization enjoys.

 The problem is we occupy a strange, nebulous  space – we’re against the killing and suffering of animals for meat, but we’re actually not against meat. Not at all! After thinking on this subject for a while, I realized that I really enjoyed eating meat – I just don't want any animals to die for my meat enjoyment. It sounds strange, but it’s true. Most people identify meat solely as a disembodied food on their plate with no connection to an animal.
 When we sit down to a burger, or a plate of ribs or baon or a chicken fillet, it presents itself as just that – food. We don’t need to and don’t want to think that it used to be part of a living, breathing animal. And the truth is, most people don’t. They just eat and enjoy meat, and push any unpleasant thoughts about where it might have come from out of their minds.

                        

Well, with animal-motivated, ethical vegans, we similarly separate meat “the food” from meat “stuff that came from a suffering slaughtered animal” and simply want to enjoy the first one without worries or guilt. If you think about it, this is not all that strange a concept. Many meat-eaters I know (almost all my sisters for example) will only eat meat if it’s completely dissociated from a living animal. They can only stand to eat meat if it looks like “meat” – ground up beef, or steaks or ribs or fillets or cutlets or strips. They won’t touch anything strange like organ meats, tails, feet, heads or even whole fish. They want the origins of meat to remain murky and out of sight, and when they make the connection between meat and a living animal, it has profound effects.

So meat-loving vegans are not against the consumption of meat or even dairy or eggs for that matter – we’re against the standard cruelty that goes into making these products, not against the end products themselves. It’s kind of a complicated subject that I don’t think people talk enough about. But it badly needs clarification and better understanding in the vegan community, because I see so many internecine fights break out over the “healthiness” or "appropriateness" of consuming meat alternatives. A lot of health-motivated vegans are against it because it tends to be processed and/or fatty and salty, so they demonize and declare it unfit for true vegans to consume. I understand this point of view, but I have to respectfully disagree. And ultimately these intra-vegan arguments are self-destructive, ridiculous and completely unnecessary. 

I hear a lot of people say that fake meats are good for helping new vegans/vegetarians in the“transition” to a meatless diet, but I disagree on that point also. I think fake meats are eaten because that’s what people want to eat – not to help them along their way to 100% green leafy plant-based foods all the time. Whenever I go to Whole Foods, there’s a reason that Boca Burgers, FieldRoast Sausages, and other popular meat alternatives are always low or completely out of stock. Because that’s what they – both vegans and non-vegans – want to eat. Period.

Speaking of Boca Burgers, why are they most popular kind of veggie burger, since like, ever? Because they're the veggie burger that tastes the most like a real backyard BBQ burger! Why was Field Roast made the official veggie sausage of the 2014 Superbowl? Because it tastes good and tastes like real, animal-based meaty sausage! Whether you find that offensive or not, the truth is most people like the taste of meat. The problem remains the inherent violence and cruelty involved in producing meat.
But if we can create meat alternatives that delivery the texture, appearance and (most important) taste of real meat, then we get to have our cake and eat it too. And that’s a win-win for both people and animals, and that’s why I love fake meat and unashamedly consume it and encourage its dissemination and popularization. 

So, I hope the issue of fake meat and why vegans and vegetarians choose to eat meatless meat stands better clarified. It sounds complicated, but it's actually not complicated at all. Vegans and vegetarians like meat, just like almost everyone else. But we want it without cruelty or any moral compunctions, and as you can see, we'll go to great lengths to do that!

 Stay tuned for Part 2 of this post - The Case for a New Vegan Dictionary - where I'll discuss the need to create new names for fake meat, because the words we use now are inadequate and generally suck. 

Thanks for listening! Yours truly, Janay