Meat Yuckstitutes.

Hello Hello!

Last post, I talked a little about vegan/vegetarian diets. This time, I would like to share my opinion on vegetarian imitation meats, or any vegetarian/vegan product that is sold to imitate something that isn't veg-friendly. As you can probably already tell, I am not a fan.

First, there is the problem that no matter how hard you try, you're never going to be able to reproduce meat with vegetables. Not gon' happen. This is instantly problematic because people who are used to eating meat are not going to like the alternative, discouraging a meat-free diet.

There is also the fact that a lot of these products commonly found in your grocery store are not that healthy anyway. Many of them are high in fat, sodium, and are extremely refined, even though they have a vegetarian label on them. They are also commonly made with soy, a product that has gained a notorious reputation as of late, for a plethora of health and environmental reasons. For information on the problems associated with soy - check this out.

Another problem that I have with the imitation of meat products and the tendency to utilize meat-free ingredients to make meat dishes, is that it places limitations on the creativity of the chef. Vegetarian ingredients open up a whole new world of possibilities, they don't simply exist to imitate meat. It's really difficult to find good vegetarian recipes that aren't simply vegetarian burgers, steaks, etc. A really good resource for innovative, fresh recipes are raw food recipes. I recently bought a cookbook called Eat Raw, Eat Well. Every recipe I have tried so far has been so completely different than anything else I have cooked, and really tasty.

A final, disturbing fact for vegetarians is that choosing to purchase imitation meat or cooking veggie meats is basically admitting that they really need meat. It is saying that you are suffering so hard through your vegetarianism that you can't live without a burger.

I can't emphasize enough how rewarding it is to make your own food rather than buying it premade from a grocery store!

-Brett