• MrMobius @sh.itjust.works
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    1 year ago

    Yeah I don’t get the whole “replace meat with a vegan steak” idea. Just prepare a delicious Dahl, the recipe of which has been around for hundreds of years!

    • NuPNuA@lemm.ee
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      1 year ago

      They’re not made for people like us who have been veggie or vegan for years and have learned to cook with pulses, legumes, etc. They’re designed for people who want to cut back or give up meat but have to break the cultural training that every meal needs meat. Also they allow casual food places that don’t have professional chefs like pubs, cafes, etc to have quick and easy veggie options on the menu.

      • Smirk@sh.itjust.works
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        1 year ago

        Hmm I was 27 years a meat eater, advocating for meat consumption in the face of a vegan mate. Saying things like “we need a little bit of meat in our diets…they’re killed humanely…etc”

        Took me one moment of realisation, then I dunno, I just tried, not even that hard, vegan 7 years now.

        I can see that the transitional foods are a good stepping stone, but imo, the second you see inside the animal agriculture industry without any blinders on (biases), you’ll choose to act within your life, if you have the compassion/empathy to.

        If someone sees the reality of what goes on behind closed doors and continues to consume animals in much the same way, it says more about that persons internal morality than anything else.

      • TWeaK@lemm.ee
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        1 year ago

        I think there’s a more commercial aspect to it. It’s cheap processed food, and in fact it’s often cheaper than meat-based processed foods. The real offense is that they charge more for it.

        • abraxas@sh.itjust.works
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          1 year ago

          As someone who has seen both made, I think the prices are what you’d expect against materials and work involed. Plant-based meats require more ingredients, with more sourcing, and more processing. And then fewer are made and sold overall (economics of scale).

          And people don’t realize, the subsidies hurt a lot of the manufacturing chains that are pricemakers for the meat. Ranchers have to pay the infamous feed tax when they sell their meat, which funds one of the biggest subsidies in the farming world, only paid out to the largest factory farms. Because mega-factory-farms can’t actually afford to charge the prices that ranchers charge, what after all those massive bonuses the top couple people make.

          • RenownedBalloonThief@lemmy.ml
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            1 year ago

            Plant-based meats require more ingredients, with more sourcing, and more processing.

            You’re just using an animal to perform the processing instead. I wonder why poultry or beef isn’t required to list all of the antibiotics or growth horomones that those animals were fed as included ingredients.

            • abraxas@sh.itjust.works
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              1 year ago

              You’re just using an animal to perform the processing instead

              Which they do efficiently. There’s no grass in the resulting meat, or feed, or sunlight. That’s why they’re not on the ingredient list. And water is in everything.

              I wonder why poultry or beef isn’t required to list all of the antibiotics or growth horomones that those animals were fed as included ingredients.

              Per the Iowa Farm Bureau, because there ARE NO antibiotics or residue in the resultant meat. An ingredient is something actually in the product. Nobody says there’s gasoline in your food vegetables because of the harvester, or insects in your vegetables because… well there actually are!

              As for growth hormones… nobody has to say there’s growth hormones in it because they’re everywhere. Beef from a hormone-treated cow has thousands (to millions) of times less growth hormonesthan many plant-based products like peanuts or soy flour. Nobody has to list Estrogen on soy milk.

              • Floey@lemm.ee
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                1 year ago

                Animals do not produce food efficiently. It’s not like everything put into an animal is converted into edible flesh, not even a tenth of it is.

                • abraxas@sh.itjust.works
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                  1 year ago

                  They produce meat more efficiently than any artifical process, especially any process line using nuclear medicine (what businesses are trying now).

                  And for what it’s worth, there is no other mechanism that converts indigestible starches into highly digestible proteins efficiently.

                  It’s not like everything put into an animal is converted into edible flesh, not even a tenth of it is.

                  The typical chicken caloric conversion rate is 2-5x. That means 10000 calories of feed produces 5000 total calories that are higher quality than the feed was, about 2000 of those calories is meat, where the remaining 3000 is used for other purposes, like creating broths. This is incredibly, miraculously efficient.

                  Real-world numbers seem a bit better. 100-320kcal/day (more in winter and as they grow) per day in feed, and produce 2500 of straight meat after 40 days. That looks like more like 4x conversion than 5x.

                  Egg-laying chickens have a ramp up (where you feed them but they don’t produce eggs), but then produce an egg almost daily. That’s 80 calories in eggs for 260-340 calories in feed. (so almost 100% return on the extra cals). And yes, you can still eat the chicken when she’s too old to lay eggs. She’ll just be a bit more tough.

                  So if you’re comparing the production of meat to burning gasoline, then no chicken is not as efficient. If you’re comparing it to any food-related process (or hell, many mechanical processes), it’s downright jawdroppingly good.

                  Compare to corn. Only 10% of the calories in a typical grain crop are edible by humans. You’ll never guess what we use most of the other 90% for.

  • ImplyingImplications@lemmy.ca
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    1 year ago

    I’m vegetarian. Western food is so focused on meat that people often have no idea how to make a meal that doesn’t contain it. My mother once asked me how to make a vegetarian version of Chicken Parmesan. So keep the tomato sauce, cheese, and spices, but swap out the chicken with pasta. Congrats you’ve made vegetarian Chicken Parmesan. I like to call it Spaghetti.

    • _number8_@lemmy.world
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      1 year ago

      and people get so pissy about like ‘where is muh serving of protein??’ like just because you saw an infograph as a child doesn’t mean you have to have a hunk of a living creature every meal

        • Floey@lemm.ee
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          1 year ago

          You know what has protein? Every whole plant food. You don’t need a dedicated part of a meal that is high in protein when the whole meal contains protein.

    • starman2112@sh.itjust.works
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      1 year ago

      90% of “vegetarian versions” of dishes are just the dish without meat. 9% of the remainder are the dish with black beans and/or mushrooms

    • Fades@lemmy.world
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      1 year ago

      That’s because this meme isn’t about veganism at all, it’s about anti west narratives

    • jaybone@lemmy.world
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      1 year ago

      It’s not enough to be vegan, or enough to tell people you are vegan. You have to be a better vegan than them.

      • pascal@lemm.ee
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        1 year ago

        You have to be a better vegan than them.

        Didn’t you know? Todd’s vegan!

  • Maoo [none/use name]@hexbear.net
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    1 year ago

    Most veg Indian food has dairy added tho. Avoiding ghee is like going through an obstacle course of nice aunties and uncles trying to feed you. And don’t even get me started on curd.

    Indian vegans also often use substitutes. I’m for vegan food unity: don’t harm and exploit animals and I support you.

    • BoxedFenders [any, comrade/them]@hexbear.net
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      1 year ago

      How is the dairy industry in India? I would assume it is nowhere near as cruel as it is in the West, where sadistic practices are incorporated at every stage of the process in the name of efficiency.

      • Maoo [none/use name]@hexbear.net
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        1 year ago

        CW: how the dairy/meat industry works.

        It’s basically the same. The driving factor of mass death in the dairy industry is that to make cows produce milk they’ve gotta get pregnant and calf, so you end up with a bunch of cows that are too old to produce enough milk for market and a big of calves that won’t produce milk, ever.

        In the West, those “extra”, “non-productive” animals get killed (the dairy industry is the meat industry). In India, this is still often the case as not everyone is veg and not everyone who’s non-veg avoids beef. But there are enough people that refuse beef for there to be an impetus to follow a “traditional” alternative: you kick the animal out of the dairy for it to fend for itself. In reality, they tend to just starve to death over a long period of time.

        For there to be dairy without a culling there would need to be like 30 pet cows for every 1 dairy cow. Assuming the cost of raising the cow is what people pay for, that would mean milk costing 10X more.

        • BoxedFenders [any, comrade/them]@hexbear.net
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          1 year ago

          sadness My dumb ass assuming India’s culture of reverence for cows would lead to slightly better treatment for them but forgetting that capitalism will always demand the most profitable option.

      • emergencyfood@sh.itjust.works
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        1 year ago

        It depends. India does have some factory farms, mainly for beef. But many dairy cattle are kept by small farmers for whom the milk and meat are a supplement to whatever plants they grow. And these farmers usually belong to dairy co-operative societies like Amul, which do quality control and ensure that the animals are not abused too much. Also some Indian states ban or heavily restrict the slaughter of cattle (although in practise this just leads to them being abandoned or disappearing into the black market).

  • db2@sopuli.xyz
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    1 year ago

    Vegans are great, especially with garlic in a nice butter sauce.

    Edit: also you’re literally made out of chemicals.

  • CarbonIceDragon@pawb.social
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    1 year ago

    I mean, the United States has, to be fair, developed a food culture that emphasizes using a lot of meat, especially over the past century or so. It’s not surprising that people from an area that eats so much meat, who go vegan, are going to want to look for ways to still make dishes familiar to them

    • lemillionsocks@beehaw.org
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      1 year ago

      I think it is also a reason why a lot of vegetarian food options or certain ingredients like tofu in the US are seen as lesser.

      Like this isnt a meatless example but how tofu is presented in the west is a good showcase of this disconnect. There are people who dont care for tofu because tofu has been presented to them as a meat fill in. Tofurkey instead of turkey, tofu dog instead of hot dog, tofu nuggest, and etc. And tofu is not meat. It’s tofu. So yeah when you replace a Turkey dinner with tofu and are told its just as good or good enough you start associating it as an inferior tasting meat substitute.

      But tofu isnt a meat fill in and in fact many traditional recipes use it in conjunction with meat. Tofu is tofu. It is its own ingredient and recipe,and if you use it as such instead of trying to pretend it’s something else you can do good things.

      Like the same goes for a lot of western vegetarian dishes. Instead of leaning into the flavor profile of the dish or digging up some old traditional meatless recipe(of which many exist even western dishes when you consider lent and meatless fridays were a thing traditionally). And dont get me wrong I understand that someone who went vegetarian or vegan may want to emulate a spicy chicken wing, or a burger, but it feels like a lot of the mainstream western options are all just drop in replacements.

      • Alien Nathan Edward@lemm.ee
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        1 year ago

        Absolutely this. I eat meat, but I really like veg* cooking. I feel like it challenges me in the kitchen and there’s a whole world of veg* dishes especially in mediterranean/middle eastern, south asian and east asian cooking that are just amazing. But the number of wide-eyed vegans who have handed me a lump of some sort of isolated vegetable protein and insisted repeatedly that “it tastes just like meat, you’ll never know” makes me wonder if vegans can actually taste food. I’m sorry, Kaiyleigh, nothing you do to that tofu is gonna make it taste “just like a hot dog”. How about you press it, cube it, roll it in some seasoned corn starch and fry it until it’s a delicious golden brown crunchy little nugget of tofu instead? Let it be what it is rather than trying to force it to be something that it’s not. Either you’re lying to yourself, you’re lying to me or you physically cannot detect flavor compounds with your tongue.

        tldr - fuck a vegan, but I’d love another bowl of that lentil dal

    • Neato@kbin.social
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      1 year ago

      Yep. It’s all about helping people transition. So much of American food culture is centered around burgers, steak, BBQ, etc. It’s really hard to just drop all of that on a dime, even if you want to. These products help people with that mental itch.

      • Tak@lemmy.ml
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        1 year ago

        Not just the meat, there is cheese and milk involved in a lot of it as well.

      • pascal@lemm.ee
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        1 year ago

        It’s not just culture, or itch, or whatever.

        I just love the taste of meat! My body craves for it. But if I can keep that delicious flavour in my plate without killing an animal, that’s great!

    • agitatedpotato@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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      1 year ago

      If its any indication into other factors, every time I try to make butter chicken it ends up tasting like a British persons home made curry recipe so there’s that. Jokes aside as someone who likes cooking, a lot of traditional recipes, of any culture are simply much more labor intensive than slapping a bean patty on a pan then furnishing it. I’d wager the pace of a lot of western lifestyles, the choice gets weighted quickly.

        • agitatedpotato@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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          Depends on if they’re capitol E English or not, then I’d imagine you’d probably have South Asian and Jamaican styles being dominant. I was referring to the englishmans home cooked take on it. If you want the story, years ago I was in Australia and my neighbors there were UK English, I don’t know how to describe it other than it tasted like my early attempts at traditional recipes. If it helps I remember “Man I did all that and mine still just tastes like someone used a strange ramen flavoring packet.” So that’s probably how I’d describe it.

      • CarbonIceDragon@pawb.social
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        1 year ago

        To be fair, a patty sandwich of any type (be it hamburgers, chicken sandwich, beans, or any kind of imitation meat) is going to be similarly labor intensive and time consuming if one had to make the patty and bread oneself rather than being able to just buy them. I’m sure traditional recipes for most cultures can be made similarly convenient if probably somewhat different from their original form, if demand exists for them to be premade and sold that way. There’s a specialty grocery store very close to my home that specializes in Indian food, tho also has some international foods from other places too, and it’s freezer section has all sorts of Indian dishes done up as tv dinners, or premade frozen samosas of various flavors one just has to fry in a pan for a few minutes, among other things.

        • agitatedpotato@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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          I mean comparing a frozen vegetable patty to a whole frozen meal is a bit of a stretch in quality and affordability imo. Honestly a lot of it has to do with things like how many pans and utensils you use too. Even if I make a burger from ground beef its still only one pan, two cutting boards (one for meat one for veg) and all the fresh produce just needs to be washed and cut, if you wanna grill the onions, same pan no problem, all you need is a knife and a spatula. When I tried to make butter chicken the tastiest recipe called for two different marinades and a sauce you make in stages. I can go over the video and look at the kitchen hardware necessary but I think it’s easy to imagine its a lot more. I’ve found quite a few Indian recipes in particular are similar that way so it seemed topical.

        • Imgonnatrythis@sh.itjust.works
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          1 year ago

          Yup. I love a good microwaved samosa or Chana masala and it’s easier than grilling a frozen chemical burger frankly. I don’t think convenience is a fair argument here. Microwaved Chana is nowhere as good as a freshly made 3hour dish, don’t get me wrong, but there are convenience options that aren’t vegan chicken nuggets.

  • qjkxbmwvz@lemmy.sdf.org
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    1 year ago

    I get that it’s a meme, but what’s the problem? I’m vegetarian/flirt with veganism; it’s purely for moral/ethical/environmental reasons.

    Indian food is delicious. An Impossible burger on a pretzel bun dripping with grilled onions, avocado, vegan aioli and mustard with a side of steak fries? That’s also delicious, in my opinion.

    Meat is delicious, and that’s not at all incompatible with my reasoning for being vegetarian.

    • Cyclohexane@lemmy.mlOP
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      1 year ago

      Nothing against people who prefer meat substitutes. But I do think they should be brave and just abandon meat altogether. If you keep relying on meat substitutes, you haven’t let go of meat entirely, I found it easy to get back to meat eating.

      • apotheotic (she/her)@beehaw.org
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        1 year ago

        Right so, I have literally never eaten meat in my life. I was raised vegetarian. I still think plant based burger patties or sausages or whatever are delicious. Its literally just food. You gonna think that I’m “relying” on meat substitutes or “haven’t let go of meat entirely” when I haven’t even eaten meat before? :P

        Just let people enjoy things! Plant based “meat” doesn’t hurt anyone and its a great option to add to your choices of meals.

      • Vegasimov@reddthat.com
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        1 year ago

        You’re chatting out your ass, this is like saying lesbians shouldn’t use dildos in case they go back to fucking men

        Complete ignorance of the thing you’re talking about

        • muddi [he/him]@hexbear.net
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          1 year ago

          That is not at all what this is like, completely ignorant metaphor

          Imagine someone addicted to eating their poop. Perhaps they are reforming their ways, and for some time they take half measures like eating smelly chili. Eventually they realize their unhealthy fixation isn’t really overcome by this, so they move onto food that doesn’t resemble poop, like a salad maybe

          • TheCaconym [any]@hexbear.net
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            1 year ago

            No, their metaphor was not ignorant at all.

            Animal products have good taste for most people. The issue with them is not their taste, or the actual act of consumption of them, it’s the fact that their production necessarily involves the torture and killing of sapient beings.

            If you can have “meat” without such effects (so, those fake vegan “meats”), then there is nothing wrong with it at all (I still prefer most of the time my rice, beans, tofu and TSP if only due to the cost but again, nothing wrong with it, quite the contrary).

            • muddi [he/him]@hexbear.net
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              1 year ago

              No, their metaphor was not ignorant at all.

              I was half-joking, but yes it was ignorant? Lesbians don’t choose their sexuality, but people do choose to be vegan. There is an ignorance of sexuality and diet there. Also, people do try going vegan, eat some fake meat and cheese, and eventually go back to eating meat because they still crave meat in itself. This does happen. This is also related to those people who sneak in or revert to eating meat because of some cultural or family tradition, or peer pressure from friends. One vegan I knew who was going on for 25 years ate a steak to impress his business friends instead of speaking up to say he didn’t want to eat at a meat-only restaurant. Take a look at my other comments here, I am speaking about this topic at the social level, not how individuals like the taste of meat or fake meat.

              there is nothing wrong with it at all

              Yeah I know, I have been saying that. This is not a moral argument. This is a rational one, and one perhaps from a medical or public health perspective: the cultural desire to obtain “meat” as a thing in itself is the cause for the demand of meat or meat alternatives. It’s great that under capitalism that solutions can be provided via the market and supply-and-demand, whatever, but it doesn’t address the reason why there is a demand in the first place.

              How I know it’s a cultivated desire: it doesn’t exist across cultures. Hell it doesn’t exist within the western fake meat market itself: how much fake seafood do you see engineered out there? Or exotic meats ie objects perfectly engineered to mimic dog, cat, or even human meat? I’m sure human taste buds can enjoy long pork, real or fake. Yet basically no one is asking for this right?

              • how much fake seafood do you see engineered out there?

                Crab sticks are usually fake, but generally, fish is harder to immigrate accurately than other meats, and there’s less demand for it since people in the west don’t generally eat tons of fish anyway.

                Less demand for real fish means less demand for imitation fish, though there is apparently a company somewhere making lab grown salmon and tuna.

      • seitanic@lemmy.sdf.org
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        1 year ago

        Bravery has nothing to do with it. It tastes good, and there’s no harm to any animals. So why not eat it? Denial for the sake of denial is not a virtue.

        If you keep relying on meat substitutes, you haven’t let go of meat entirely, and it would be easy to get back to meat eating.

        That’s like saying that if you enjoy shooting people in video games, then you’re one step away from shooting people in real life. I’ve been eating fake meats for almost a decade now, and I’ve never been tempted to eat real meat.

        I know how horrible and senseless factory farming is, and I have images of the slaughtered seared into my memory from vegan documentaries. Why would I go back to that when I can have substitutes that are just as good, if not better?

        • Emma_Gold_Man@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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          1 year ago

          I can’t really answer the question of why, but the sample set of people I know who switch to vegetarianism and veganism bears out that the ones who rely in fake meats much more frequently switch back than those who focus on learning to cook foods that don’t imitate meat.

          On the counterargument, I did miss cheese quite a bit, and learning to culture my own vegan cheeses hasn’t led to buying animal milk cheeses again, so ymmv

          • Fades@lemmy.world
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            1 year ago

            Your anecdote is meaningless as your sample size is not statistically significant.

            • Emma_Gold_Man@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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              It wasn’t meaningless, and I went out of my way to make clear the sample size wasn’t statistically significant.

              The point was that the parent comment implied there was no reason to start eating meat again after making a moral choice not to. My anecdote shows that some people do anyway, therefore there must be a reason.

              That in my experience they tended to be the people who relied on meat substitutes was presented as an observation of interest, not as hard evidence of universal truth.

        • muddi [he/him]@hexbear.net
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          Good job but not everyone has the mental fortitude you have displayed. I know plenty of people who tried going vegan, ate the fake meat and egg stuff, and just went back to the real stuff for the taste

          Anyways it’s not about the individual level, it’s more the social ie the social ingraining to have the form and experience of meat contributes to the “culture” and demand of meat

          • seitanic@lemmy.sdf.org
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            Do you think that you could’ve gotten those people converted to an Indian diet, and they would’ve remained vegan? Getting people to go vegan in the first place is extremely difficult. Try getting them to go vegan and replace their diet with Indian food.

            • muddi [he/him]@hexbear.net
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              Yeah, if they were Indian. The culture around meat is different than in the West eg. some people only eat meat on a certain day or weekend. Even then, the approach is that meat is disgusting and needs to be cooked and spiced thoroughly before consuming anyhow. And there is already a long and popular tradition of simple alternatives to meat dishes like using potatoes or paneer (or “soy paneer” aka tofu to make it vegan)

              Again, my point is that it is not about the individual but the social ingraining and pressure around meat as a category in itself for individuals

              • Meat is generally spiced more heavily in warm climates because it spoils faster and hot spices both preserves meat by killing bacteria and disguise a certain degree of spoilage.

                I would be surprised if the trend towards hot spices in a country that is generally both warm and humid is because of a difference in palette rather than the reasons above.

          • The fake stuff (and cultivated meat for that matter) are getting closer to parity every year. You don’t go back to something “for the taste”, if the alternative you switched to offers a near identical experience.

      • pascal@lemm.ee
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        1 year ago

        Nothing against people who prefer meat substitutes

        That’s good.

        I do think they should be brave and just abandon meat altogether

        That’s bad.

        Now, firstly, thank you for defining a lot of people cowards.

        Secondly, while I like indian food, I like meat more. And I liked it since forever. If I can have the delicious taste of meat in my plate without killing an animal, that’s great. Fantastic! I’m eagerly waiting for lab crafted meat any day. I’m willing to pay it more than real meat, because I’m not fond of killing living beings to eat them. But if that’s not yet possible, I’d still have my steak and my hamburger.

      • Catoblepas@lemmy.blahaj.zone
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        Nothing against people who prefer meat substitutes. But I do think they should be brave and just abandon meat altogether.

        Looking at someone not eating meat: you should stop eating meat.

      • TheCaconym [any]@hexbear.net
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        1 year ago

        it would be easy to get back to meat eating

        If it would “be easy” for you to get back to consuming animal products, it’s hard to imagine you’re vegan at all.

      • Wage_slave@lemmy.ml
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        1 year ago

        Being called stupid and criticizing my decisions kept me from “being brave”

        Like “You’re not good enough until you are this much” bullshit. If that’s the attitude, then fuck no. Why do I wanna go even further into things if y’all are assholes right off the bat. Like, no. fuck you. If it’s this complicated then I am going to do what has been a life of hassle free eating. My guilt is very easily wiped away like that.

        • jope@lemmy.world
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          1 year ago

          I’m vegan and I eat plenty of fake meat. I’m vegan because I think it’s right, not because I dislike meat. Don’t listen to OP. You are good enough, and any reduction in the consumption of animal products is better than no reduction.

          I went through a long period of transition before cutting out animal produce entirely, but have now been vegan for a good few years.

          • Wage_slave@lemmy.ml
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            1 year ago

            I’ve been talking a bunch of shit out of annoyance. And there’s a bunch of posts echoing exactly what I was complaining about.

            Even getting called a liar.

            This is the only reasonable or polite response I’ve seen. Missed one maybe?

            So thanks. I really shouldn’t be painting the entire lifestyle with the same brush, because well here we are.

            So I’ll shut up, and say thanks. And for the record, my kid still makes me get the impossible patties. She’s not veg anything, so ita just cause they’re good and that on its own should be good enough. Not all is lost in my removed.

          • Karyoplasma@discuss.tchncs.de
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            1 year ago

            I went through a long period of transition before cutting out animal produce entirely, but have now been vegan for a good few years.

            This is the way. It’s like a relationship: if you have to force it, it’s gonna be shit.

            I cut down on meat significantly in the past 3 years. I eat mostly vegetarian, fish once a week and meat every once in a while. Overall, my meat consumption decreased by about 90% which I call good enough and I don’t really have the intention to change that.

          • AnonStoleMyPants@sopuli.xyz
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            1 year ago

            Yeah same here. I like fake meat. I mean, if it tastes good and has no animal parts in it, it goes into my mouth. It’s not that complicated.

      • marx2k@beehaw.org
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        1 year ago

        If I’m at a barbecue and someone is grilling up impossible burgers, I’m not going to request they instead make a bowl of curry for me. Likewise when I grill for people.

    • BelieveRevolt [he/him]@hexbear.net
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      1 year ago

      I’d argue that the fake meat stuff has hurt veganism to at least some extent because it’s marketed so heavily and people think it’s the only way to eat vegan. You can see how prominent the ”all vegan food is processed” and ”it’s too expensive to be vegan” arguments have become, even in this thread.

    • muddi [he/him]@hexbear.net
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      1 year ago

      The problem is that you’re still fixated on the form and experience of meat. A full mindset change is more robust.

      It’s like how fake leather can help replace and reduce real leather usage, but if the trend of desiring leather died out in the first place, the whole problem is dropped altogether

      • pascal@lemm.ee
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        1 year ago

        You think leather is a desire?

        You think people kill animals to obtain leather because it’s cool?

        Leather has many purposes and advantages, it’s economically and practically sane to use it or mimick its features, even with fake leather.

        A desire, he said… Sometimes I don’t get people anymore.

      • Saeculum [he/him, comrade/them]@hexbear.net
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        1 year ago

        I don’t want to stop eating meat, I want to stop the exploitation and suffering of animals.

        While I want to stop the exploitation of animals more than I want to eat meat, if there is a path that allows me to do both, I will have a preference for that path.

        The same goes for leather. It’s use isn’t worth what has to be done to create it, but it is a fantastic material with a lot of versatility that’s better than near all alternatives in plenty of applications. Fake leather and synthetic leather are wonderful innovations because we can enjoy the benefits without the negatives, and that’s something to be encouraged rather than avoided.

        • muddi [he/him]@hexbear.net
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          1 year ago

          I get it but this is an emotional appeal. I’m just trying to explain the logic of what was being said here

          I like the fake meat stuff too, and often try to make it myself even though I’ve never had meat on purpose in my life and actually throw up if I do accidentally. I just like the kitchen chemistry aspect of it I guess

          I’m not saying we should stop making vegan alternatives to meat. I’m saying people should stop desiring meat or meat alternatives. Because logically that desire of meat is the cause of both meat and meat alternatives. Like how the cure to nicotine addiction isn’t nicotine patches alone

      • GreenTeaRedFlag [any]@hexbear.net
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        1 year ago

        not entirely, as leather is still a wildly useful fabric and material for many uses which synthetic leather can serve(to a greater or lesser extent, granted), but only in specific cases can meat not be replaced/not replaced effectively

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      1 year ago

      For real. I was raised on slop, now that I’m a vegetarian, it doesn’t mean I don’t like the foods I grew up eating.

      I guess the point is that we don’t need to rely on expensive substitutes made by the same corps that own slaughterhouses to make tasty, nutritious vegan food

      • qjkxbmwvz@lemmy.sdf.org
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        1 year ago

        Yeah, it seems that “your meme is kinda gatekeepy” is a pretty good way to start some “spirited discussions.”

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    1 year ago

    With the power of spices… I lived in an apartment with Indians as neighbours 2 floors beneath.

    There wasn’t a single day when you couldn’t smell all spices combined when you walked past their apartment. It was … an interesting smell…😮‍💨 I don’t believe they could smell/taste the original flavours of their food

    Nice neighbours though

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        1 year ago

        I see the seasoning police has arrived. It’s funny and also sad that you think normal food flavors are “bland.” Better drown everything in Lawry’s seasoned salt and Dr Buttblast.

      • pascal@lemm.ee
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        1 year ago

        Yeah, tell him.

        I like that all my different vegetables taste like cinnamon and curry.

      • Muhr@lemmy.world
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        1 year ago

        Probably. The spices must have been worth more than the actual food though (:

    • TWeaK@lemm.ee
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      1 year ago

      I used to work with a guy from Pakistan, my car would smell of curry for a week after a couple days of driving about with him. I could tell that he’d been back to his hotel room by the lingering smell in the hallway.

    • Surp@lemmy.world
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      1 year ago

      The smell of all the spices is too much for me at times but I am super sensitive to smells. Gives me headaches.

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    1 year ago

    Most vegans in the US do not eat food that mimics meat.

    Most Western butt holes cannot handle Indian food that well. The couple times I went to Indian weddings, I was clamoring for anything that would not burn my butthole. The good combined with the ridiculous amount of alcohol made the toilets cry.

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        1 year ago

        The fiber is not the issue. I’m good on that. It was the spiciness that was the problem. I can handle a little bit of spice but there was pretty much no reprieve.

        • TWeaK@lemm.ee
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          1 year ago

          You need to focus on the creamy, typically lighter colored curries. Butter chicken, korma, things like that.

        • RaoulDook@lemmy.world
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          1 year ago

          The anus has taste buds in it, so when it’s spicy enough going down it can be spicy again coming out haha.

          But why the fuck are there taste buds in there?

        • kameecoding@lemmy.world
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          there are plenty of Indian recipes that’s not spicy.

          but also it’s a good idea to just build a bit of spicy food tolerance.

    • AA5B@lemmy.world
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      I don’t know, that’s a stereotype that may not be true. I mean, I’ll also make fun of my culture’s lack of spice and spice tolerance, but I’m the opposite data point. I love spicy food, prepare very spicy food for my kids, and on my one trip to India had at least the spice tolerance of my Indian co-workers. We’re not all white bread and mayonnaise

    • craftyindividual@lemm.ee
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      1 year ago

      I’ll have you know our British digestive systems can handle almost anything from over 60 years of Indian, Pakistani, Carribbean and Mexican food. When Taco Bell arrived on our shores it was bland disappointment compared to existing burrito outlets, especially given all the hype that it apparently puts an American in the toilet for hours :(

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    1 year ago

    Ah man, if I see one more west coast white lady in a YT short explaining their 5min superfood meal prep when we all know there is 0% chance she swallows a single bite of food with that much exotic pepper and ginger…

    I’m gonna fry rice and quinoa in Pineapple pulp out of SPITE.

  • jameshariosn@lemy.lol
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    5 months ago

    One culture has embraced veganism and vegetarianism as a longstanding norm, while another is working to shift a population deeply attached to meat. These approaches are fundamentally different and have distinct needs to achieve their respective objectives. For instance, while McDonald’s UK breakfast menu offers options to cater to varying dietary preferences, including vegetarian choices, the challenges of integrating plant-based options into different cultural contexts can vary significantly.

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    1 year ago

    I don’t eat a lot of meat, but after hearing arguments like these from vegetarians and vegans, I gave up on not eating meat.

    Too expensive to eat vegan and I got really fucking tired of being called fucking stupid for buying meat free alternatives. It’s not worth the effort in the end.

    • Queen HawlSera@lemm.ee
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      1 year ago

      You dodged a bullet, the average vegan eventually goes back to me when their body starts crapping out on them to do lack of protein

          • hiddengoat@kbin.social
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            1 year ago

            Which is utterly fucking irrelevant to the idiot-tier statement that somehow vegans/vegetarians don’t get enough protein.

            Only absolute morons who tie their entire identity to eating meat think that, usually losers that hang out in the comments sections of YouTube channels with names like “Carnivoracious” or “BeardMeat” or “Beardivore” or “MeatyBeardMan.” “I eat meat, I have beard, this is my personality, I have nine pounds of undigested meat in my colon and I haven’t shit in a week.”

            • emergencyfood@sh.itjust.works
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              1 year ago

              Of course vegans can get enough protein from lentils, pulses etc. But it is easier for vegetarians because they can also consume dairy products.

              • hiddengoat@kbin.social
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                1 year ago

                https://vegan.com/health/protein/

                “Diet For a Small Planet, however, unfortunately helped create a persistent myth that vegetarians and vegans faced severe challenges when it comes to getting enough protein. Over the next few decades, multiple studies coupled with the lack of vegans dropping dead from acute protein deficiency extinguished that hysteria.”

                It takes like .2 seconds to verify if your sincerely held religious belief is utter nonsense or not.

                Maybe that’s why so few people bother learning.

      • SnipingNinja@slrpnk.net
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        1 year ago

        Aren’t almonds also bad for the environment? Not the person you’re replying to, just curious if almond dahi or paneer substitute are worth the expense

        • LalSalaamComrade@lemmy.ml
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          1 year ago

          Oh yes, you’re right. I’m actually not aware of the various vegan products that are offered. I’m assuming that coconut and lentil substitutes are probably cheaper.

    • SeaJ@lemm.ee
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      1 year ago

      How many people called you stupid for buying meat free alternatives? I largely do not eat meat and I can count on one hand the number of times it has been mentioned in the past decade. It’s also only comparatively expensive because meat is so subsidized.

      I mostly do not eat meat because it is fucking terrible for the environment.

      • Wage_slave@lemmy.ml
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        1 year ago

        Middle of a Safeway once, in line at McDonald’s my ex was called a poser for ordering the veggie burger by someone in line at a fucking McDonald’s (dont care if youre just there for the fries), online community of course adds to it because, well yeah, here we are.

        Entitled people have a way of announcing and decrying those below them. Like morons who think Android phones are for the poor.

    • DarthFrodo@lemmy.world
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      I got really fucking tired of being called fucking stupid for buying meat free alternatives.

      Sorry that you met condescending assholes. Some people just have the urge to feel superior over others for absolutely silly reasons. The rise of meat alternatives is one of the few things that make me optimistic for the future, along with renewable energy, electric cars and heat pumps. Factory farms are so much worse for the environment and animals, of course we should embrace alternatives to the worst option.

      Prices also go down with more competition. There basically wasn’t any market for meat alternatives 10 years ago, now it’s growing quite fast. In 5 years, many of them will likely be cheaper than meat.

    • Alien Nathan Edward@lemm.ee
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      vegan food isn’t expensive. artificial meat replacements are expensive, because you’re paying someone to chemically torture plants until they vaguely remind you of animals. lentils, beans, and other awesome-tasting protein sources are dirt cheap. vegan-first dishes are great and really cheap.

      • Wage_slave@lemmy.ml
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        1 year ago

        See, it’s arrogant, and stupid shit like this that makes me wanna go get a burger just to spite ya.

        “Oh fucking no!! I am torturing plants and shit blah blah blah”

        No fucking wonder.

        • dualmindblade [he/him]@hexbear.net
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          1 year ago

          This is not arrogance it’s playful language for humorous effect. The real reason to not eat fake meat is that it usually doesn’t taste very good no matter how you prepare it, whereas traditional vegan food can be amazing

        • ᚲᛇᛚ᛫ᛞᚨᛞᛁ@reddthat.com
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          1 year ago

          Ignoring the obvious joke you missed. If someone being a little rude is enough to make you completely give up on your ethical/moral stance, you need to grow a spine dude .

          If a gay person is an ass to me i dont decide to become homophobic and blame it on them.

          • Wage_slave@lemmy.ml
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            1 year ago

            I won’t go near the comparison to one’s sexual preference, to another voluntary dietary habits.

            But, you’re not wrong. If this was something that was super important to me and life affecting, then you are completely right.

            Now, as someone who is just trying to not eat meat for personal and whatever reasons, that’s not how you get people into your cause. I am not bound to it, and the perception of the community is something i get to have liberty with.

            How about “well, it’s not an animal. not bad”. Not being me with my kid hearing that her favorite burger patty (the impossible one) is a waste of money and an embarrassment to the real vegans in the middle of the safeway by a random asshole stranger, who had the after thought to explain how tofu is better totally not noticing that his very life is in danger.