NOT real meat

Gabriella they may be very nice vegan boots but they will be made of synthetic materials so have a high carbon footprint (pun intended).
Leather has a much lower environmental impact.
As we are discussing Vegan products, how environmentally friendly are they in reality.

I bought three pairs of M&S vegan boots last week.
Made in China and even the glue is vegan.
One pair are hiking boots, the other two pairs are faux suede and more 'dressy'.
£45 each and 20% off.
I'm not a vegan but these boots will last and last and can be washed.

I have a strong reaction to Quorn - linked to the fact that I have developed a violent allergy to mushrooms (& presumably other fungi) as I get older - so if the casserole hadn't been advertised as 'meat free' but looked as though it had sausages in it, I'd probably have asked whether it had mushrooms in it, and if not I would almost certainly have tried it... And if the 'pieces of sausage' had been Quorn, I'd have been very ill..

Of course they are crystaltipps

Are Cumberland sausages not “processed”?

The casserole was delicious because of all the vegetables in it. (The recipe is on the Tesco webpages for the contributor who asked) The small pieces of "sausage" tasted like stuffing, not unpleasant but when I make it with real Cumberland sausages I know I will enjoy it more.
Yes the ingredients were listed on the packaging on display and the lady who had cooked the dish did explain what was in it once she had finished speaking to other customers. More than half my meals are vegetarian, but I do object to artificial meat as it is processed and masquerading as something it is not. I feel Tesco has badly misjudged their customers from the comments I heard.

I don't object to anyone making a choice to be vegetarian or vegan or to be omnivorous. It's natural for some animals to be obligate carnivores, cats for example, and for some to be totally herbivorous. Humans evolved to be omnivores but we can exercise choice.

What I find hypocritical is when people criticise or mock others' choices but object to being criticised or mocked for their own choices. That applies to meat eaters and vegans alike. It's juvenile to comment with "Eew!" or, "Meat is dead and rotting!" or, " Get a good steak into you!" when looking at someone else's plate or shopping basket or to describe their food choices in any emotive terms.

Most of the foods we eat are dead (and therefore, one assumes, decaying) apart from whole grains and seeds or possibly very fresh roots, which can go on to produce new plants and seeds if we don't uproot and eat them. Most leaves and fruits are certainly not viable, nor are processed legumes like split peas and red lentils. Therefore, they are dead. Flour is definitely dead. Plants often protect themselves from predation by being poisonous or growing thorns and spines. We have learned to cook poisonous things like red kidney beans by vigorous boiling. That certainly kills them.

All plastic has a life of durability but what happens to it after it starts to break down?

My understanding is that any product - even vegetarian products - require ingredients to be listed on the packaging.

I don't care if people choose to eat meat or only vegetables. I try to stick to a vegetarian diet but occasionally eat meat. My primary reasons for trying to stick to vegetables are : 1. intensive "factory farming" is much more prevalent now, which is not good for the animals being farmed or the people eating the food, and 2. production of meat uses up far more resources.

I don't see why anyone would object to vegetarian produce looking like meat products. Some vegetarians and some meat eaters dislike vegetables being designed to look like meat products but why?

I can see it’s a minuscule amount in the grand scheme of things but like they say, if you’re not part of the solution.......

No I don’t think you can just pass over using plastic shoes as an alternative and say it doesn’t count.

We definitely need to go back to rubber. The restoration of rubber plantations might help the environment. Or would it? Would it be like palm oil destroying other plants?

How complicated it all is.

I have been vegan for over 30 years after reading a book by Frances Moore Lappe called Diet for a Small Planet. The first edition was written in 1971, I read it in 1985, and it is still in print in its 20th edition. Frances was ahead of her time.
As others have said the words that describe a the shape and style of mixture of ingredients have simply evolved to cover a wider range of food stuff and the 'fake' meat is a relative millenial thing - I rarely eat it, but its not new - 'mock duck' (seitan) has been eaten in China for thousands of years. My grandmother had a war time recipe for 'mock goose'. Meat does cost the earth in more ways than one.

I do not preach conversion nor do I go out of my way to mention that I am vegan unless invited or expected to eat away from home. Most people are willing to provide an alternative without animal products although occasionally 'just the vegetables' or declining the non vegan offer is the 'choice.', As far as the Planet is concerned, if the OP, having now discovered she enjoyed the Tesco vegan dish, even she does not want to eat vegan food every day, but thinks about abstaining from eating meat and/or dairy at every single meal then it would help the environment in a small way. Every little helps (excuse the marketing pun).

Its single use plastics that are the problem. Not all plastic.

Eglantine21

Plastic shoes are a very minuscule % of the amount of plastic we use on a daily basis.
If we stopped using them, the planet wouldn't feel the difference - plastic wise

Plastic shoes can’t be good for the planet though.

Stella McCartney makes vegan shoes which cost ££££s. You can get vegan Doc Martens which look the same as the leather ones, plus canvas, trainers etc

Totally agree

Perhaps vegan or vegetarian food is sometimes made to look like meat to encourage meat eaters to try it? Obviously worked on Espee

I use vegan shoes, bags, belts, etc.

Even major brands have vegan lines now- sketchers, jeep, i think Mike or rebook.

Honestly, no major quality change. Shoes only last for so long and vegan leather does not affect its durability.

Oh lots of things you can use. Perhaps the PVC etc isn’t a very good idea though.......

Bring back rubber?

Bluebelle, I don't think your posts are nonsense but I do think a few full stops would make them easier to follow. No offence!

Eglantine21

Items that qualify as vegan or faux leather can be produced from materials as varied as cork, barkcloth, glazed cotton, waxed cotton, paper, polyvinyl chloride (PVC), and polyurethane. It is those last two materials that are the most common materials used for synthetic leather.

They are also made of fabric.

What do vegans wear on their feet? Plastic? ?

Sorry you rarely understand my posts janeainsworthy I never realised I wrote nonsense
Must try better ???

I recently asked for alcohol free beer at a dance and was given gluten free. As it was quite dark I didn't realise until I had drunk some and started to feel odd. The alcohol content was the same as normal beer. I now always double check as this happens quite often. Non alcoholic is not the same as gluten free! Luckily I wasn't driving!

Lots of vegetarian/ vegan bashing here as per. I haven’t eaten meat for 50 years and no desire to eat anything resembling it. However, a sausage or a burger isn’t something made from any particular part of a dead animal and could easily be made from mushed up beans as mushed up fat, bones and gristle. I can’t think why something described as”excellent” would be dismissed out of hand because it doesn’t contain decaying animal flesh in it. A bit of weird logic. The pretend meat I guess is designed to appeal to meat eaters who want to cut down on meat, but don’t really know how to construct a non meat meal. Most people who are long term veggies aren’t the targets, over processed food is just yuck.