Redveg993
May 8th, 2008, 04:05 PM
It would be really good to get people's opinions on the consumption by vegans of so-called 'mock meats' made from soya and/or wheat gluten.
I have been a vegetarian for over 30 years and a vegan for nearly three and I must admit that I do like the taste and texture of these foods. Sometimes this leaves me feeling that I am not a 'good enough' vegan and that my choice of food implies that I am paying homage to meat even though I do not eat it. (Am I paying homage to dairy by drinking plant milks and eating vegetable spreads, soya yoghurts and custard and tofu cream cheese?)
I would take issue with the description 'mock meats' as none of the foods in any way resembles a piece of animal corpse, e.g. they are usually sausages, burgers, etc. Wheat gluten (seitan) in particular is a vegan food of great antiquity and may be even older than bread, and is arguably produced by a completely natural process when flavoured with miso/tamari, herbs/spices and inactive yeast.
Like every other vegan I am saving animals, people and the planet and feel that soya and gluten foods could be the key to saving the biosphere for future generations because Mother Earth cannot take much more in terms of mass meat consumption (and mass motorised transport). Although I do not accept that their taste duplicates that of animal flesh to the extent that I remember it after such a long time, they resemble traditional savoury foods well enough to enable many more people to become vegan than would be likely to become so if these choices are excluded.
All the same, I do have nagging doubts about the issue and am not sure if I would feel justified in introducing 'mock turkey' for instance to a young grandchild (my own children are adults). I'd be glad to know what other people think about this, but maybe I'm shooting at a straw person, after all these foods are vegan and as long as our food choices avoid pain, exploitation, hunger and loss of habitat for human and non-human animals, this is OK. Over to you......
I have been a vegetarian for over 30 years and a vegan for nearly three and I must admit that I do like the taste and texture of these foods. Sometimes this leaves me feeling that I am not a 'good enough' vegan and that my choice of food implies that I am paying homage to meat even though I do not eat it. (Am I paying homage to dairy by drinking plant milks and eating vegetable spreads, soya yoghurts and custard and tofu cream cheese?)
I would take issue with the description 'mock meats' as none of the foods in any way resembles a piece of animal corpse, e.g. they are usually sausages, burgers, etc. Wheat gluten (seitan) in particular is a vegan food of great antiquity and may be even older than bread, and is arguably produced by a completely natural process when flavoured with miso/tamari, herbs/spices and inactive yeast.
Like every other vegan I am saving animals, people and the planet and feel that soya and gluten foods could be the key to saving the biosphere for future generations because Mother Earth cannot take much more in terms of mass meat consumption (and mass motorised transport). Although I do not accept that their taste duplicates that of animal flesh to the extent that I remember it after such a long time, they resemble traditional savoury foods well enough to enable many more people to become vegan than would be likely to become so if these choices are excluded.
All the same, I do have nagging doubts about the issue and am not sure if I would feel justified in introducing 'mock turkey' for instance to a young grandchild (my own children are adults). I'd be glad to know what other people think about this, but maybe I'm shooting at a straw person, after all these foods are vegan and as long as our food choices avoid pain, exploitation, hunger and loss of habitat for human and non-human animals, this is OK. Over to you......