Whoops, my bad. Provocative word choices seems to go hand in hand when carnivores and herbivores sit down together.
I should have said: You are welcome to dine on your fillet, chosen from an animal that had a great life at a rotating crop farm/ranch; where chickens and cattle provide fertilizer to a fallow lot and then move to the next lot so veggies can be planted in their wake. (There are such CSA’s in the Willamette Valley). And butchered by an artisan (of which there are dozens in PDX). Accompanied by a prize winning Oregon pinot noir.
I will still use organic wheat from Dufur, Oregon to make my seitan “steak” with a gravy of fresh morels.
Having been a vegetarian for 15 years, the idea of being able to have a savory, substantial burger of some type to grill alongside my friends – something that’s not, say, a portobello mushroom cap or a mushy patty made of frozen vegetables – is very appealing.
It has nothing to do with ‘addiction’ or ‘pretending’. It’s just another option to add to a palette of flavors, and I’ve no idea why it would anger people.
The Impossible Burger does get the point. It’s healthier, avoids industrial meat production, is easier on the environment, uses fewer resources, is well suited for places that can’t irrigate for animal feed, and involves zero animals. For people whom those things are important, it’s a great option.
Not sure what @Grey_Devil’s point actually is; vegan food is “crap” and “overprocessed”? It doesn’t make sense to me, it’s like talking about reality with an US Republican.
If the plant materials in the impossible burger are raised organically, there may be animals in the stream to create the organic fertilizer. With “conventional” fertilizer, it could certainly be 100% animal-free. They claim it uses zero animals so I guess we can take them at their word. I’m all for it!
As a lover of food (it’s why I went to culinary school), including meat, I will be first in line to eat meat alternatives when they are finally 1) economically viable and 2) a close approximation of the taste and texture of actual meat.
That may be veggie or other approximation, or it may be “lab grown” actual meat.
Right now I’m lucky enough to be able to afford, and live in an area with an abundance of, small-scale traditional livestock farms that do their best to produce ethically raised products for purchase.
But they are 1) incredibly expensive, meaning most folks can’t make that choice, and 2) still slaughtering animals.
I will choose instead to support the approximation of meat (or meat from new sources) when available to remove the reliance on animals and, hopefully, assist in allowing economies of scale to make these products affordable to everyone.
Is that a common association? Do you associate the words vegan and colon? Do most people?
That’s the first time I’ve even heard that connection.
As for me, I do associate “meat consumption” with “unhealthy colon,” among other unpleasantries (but yeah, I don’t run around verbalizing that association to meat-lovers).
