Vegetarian Chicken Pieces

Burger/sausage describes the shape, as far as I'm concerned.
You don't cut open an animal and a pile of sausages come out, all neatly shaped and tied off at each end.

Why does everyone go on and on about ‘pretend meat’ I don’t eat quorn because it looks like mince, I eat it because some poor little lamb hasn’t been shredded to make it
I m sure there’s no more additional crap in a plant based sausage than there is in your average meat sausage same goes for a burger or any other meat products that people freely eat
Why can’t a burger be called a burger whether it’s meat or vegetable why do we have to search for a different name
The name burger or sausage doesn’t have to imply meat or vegetable it’s just a name, it could be called a roundy or a log it’s just a name which surely can be used by both…. it no more ‘belongs’ to meat eaters than to vegi s.
I m not a burger fan at all but the other evening at a restaurant I choose the only vegi option that didn’t have garlic in the title ( I hate garlic) I had a lentil burger and it tasted blooming lovely my grandson had a huge (dozens of different meat) burger I bet there was a lot more rubbish in his than in mine

Not a fan. I’ve tried several so far. I’d rather not eat meat at all than some of these substitutes.

So Quorn have Quorn Vegetarian Chicken Style Pieces. Is this horrifying too? Or is the addition of the word Style enough?

I’m not sure that it’s even an issue. Why would anyone be outraged that a vegetarian product that tastes like chicken is called vegetarian chicken? Does it even make a difference to our lives?

It’s none of my business what they choose to eat.

I agree. But it is our business what foods are called, which is what this thread is really about, not people's food choices.

We still eat fish, but very little meat these days, and what we do eat at home is local/free range. Other than that we cook with loads of veg and pulses, but have also tried quorn, tempeh, tofu. And we do like some of the ready made quorn products for a quick meal.

Apart from hoping that the move to a more plant based diet continues, I couldn’t get worked up about how others go about it. It’s none of my business what they choose to eat.

MissAdventure

Richmond veggie sausages are very nice.
It means I can cook a dinner for both of us easily, too.

On a taste test with Matt Tebbit, new series, which is very good, they won hands down. Keep meaning to give them a try.

Ali08

Germanshepherdsmum

I would think that someone would have to be pretty stupid not to understand that ‘vegetarian chicken pieces’ aren’t made from meat.

So why call it vegetarian chicken?
Just call it what it is, whatever IT actually IS!! lol

Yes, ali08. Just so.

I recently came across a recipe for a mixture of mushrooms and ground almonds that I thought I'd try because I had some ground almonds that needed using up. I added it to some minced beef (or ground beef as Americans call it) that I was making up to have with mash or spaghetti or whatever, which made the meat go further.

The name the recipe gave it was "vegetarian ground beef". In its immediately made state it did bear a passing resemblance to mince but the water content of the mushrooms and its general greyness (no blood!) soon gave it away.

Why not just call it a mushroom and ground almond meat substitute? I had to look up what it was made of in any case, as I would with anything that's called a vegetarian version of meat, not least because I don't want to eat unfermented soy.

I can never understand people who need to understand why other people can’t understand that they don’t understand their dietary choices.

Live and let live . Why worry about what other people are doing unless it impacts on your life in some way? Calling a soy product a Vegetarian Chicken Burger is highly unlikely to make a material difference to anyone.

Even the chicken who wasn’t killed to produce it won’t care what the Marketing team decide to call it - he’ll just be glad he’s not on the (compulsory) list of ingredients that anyone thinking of buying it can check before deciding for themselves whether to eat it.

I am a lifelong vegetarian, nearer to vegan for the past 20 years. Apart from a brief experiment with Textured Vegetable Protein in the 80s as a student I have never eaten meat substitutes.

I much prefer to treat fruit and vegetables as themselves rather han pretend to be something I am avoiding.

It would be different for a new vegetarian who is missing the taste or texture though.

If people don't want to eat meat that's fair enough, but WHY do manufacturers etc insist on making this meat-free stuff either shaped like or sounding like real meat products?
Vegetarian bacon? If it isn't from the pig it isn't bacon!!
Vegetarian chicken pieces? They don't want to eat the real chicken pieces, so why eat something that looks like chicken pieces?
It makes no sense!!

Germanshepherdsmum

I would think that someone would have to be pretty stupid not to understand that ‘vegetarian chicken pieces’ aren’t made from meat.

So why call it vegetarian chicken?
Just call it what it is, whatever IT actually IS!! lol

It feels like another sleepless night coming up.

Sorry, that was after Alegrias' and MissAdventure's posts yesterday.

I quite fancy trying vegan fish and chips.
I've not managed the real deal yet.

After I read that I just had to go and make a bacon sandwich....I can resist anything except temptation ...

Can’t tolerate soya but I’ll do my best with eating less meat. I just don’t like manufactured stuff that announces it as a ‘meat’ like vegetarian scampi or ‘*no-chicken kiev* or Quorn vegan chicken free slices (on sale in Tesco.)

I do not agree with everything in this polemic, but it makes an interesting read.
unherd.com/2022/01/what-vegan-propaganda-ignores/?tl_inbound=1&tl_groups[0]=18743&tl_period_type=3&mc_cid=af220f32de&mc_eid=be97ec1684

I do not think Pasture for Life animals are the norm. But I do know that it is a small movement but growing fast.

In this country and in others there are large acreages of land that are not suitable for growing arable crops but have developed complex ecosystems as the results of 1,000s of years of grazing. There is no reason why animals should not continue to be grazed there and pass into the food chain. I recently heard James Rebank, the sheep framer, author and environmentalist argue that animals reared this way contribute to sequestering carbon and thus make a cntribution toward ameliorating climate change

What I object to the all or nothing approach of some people. You do not need to stop eating meat. We just need to eat less and farm it sustainably.

This is what I have been doing for a considerable number of years and our meat consumption is well below the national average. All the meat we eat is raised within 20 miles of our home and as far as possible as much of our other food is as well.

I have asked you before about the problems facing those with soya and nut allergies, you avoided it then. You seem to be avoiding it again.

vegansrock

MOnica - The “huge acreage to soya” currently feeding cattle and pigs could feed far more humans. The dairy industry is far more damaging to the environment and crueller to animals than your idea that naturally grazed organic cattle are somehow the norm. 99% of meat consumed in the U.K. is industrially produced. It’s not only vegans who eat imported food btw, we import 60% of all food- including meat from Australia and the far east-why? The U.K. can grow peas, lentils, soy, oats and quinoa- and farmers are beginning to increase production of these foods, if only for economic reasons. If people halved their meat and dairy consumption carbon emissions would fall by about 40%. - but governments are scared to let this be part of the climate change strategy. Many people are choosing to eat less meat and dairy and it’s good there are more choices available.

Hear, hear Vegansrock!

valdali, if you want to help the environment, bear in mind that beef and lamb are the worst offenders, so the first things to give up.

I can't see anything wrong with 'vegetarian chicken pieces', though, although I wouldn't buy them. Anything that tempts habitual carnivores to, at least, try something meat-free is welcome.

I don't see a problem with it - it is basically saying that this is a plant-based product that tastes of chicken. If you like chicken but are trying to go veggie, or simply eat less meat, then this is the product for you.

MOnica - The “huge acreage to soya” currently feeding cattle and pigs could feed far more humans. The dairy industry is far more damaging to the environment and crueller to animals than your idea that naturally grazed organic cattle are somehow the norm. 99% of meat consumed in the U.K. is industrially produced. It’s not only vegans who eat imported food btw, we import 60% of all food- including meat from Australia and the far east-why? The U.K. can grow peas, lentils, soy, oats and quinoa- and farmers are beginning to increase production of these foods, if only for economic reasons. If people halved their meat and dairy consumption carbon emissions would fall by about 40%. - but governments are scared to let this be part of the climate change strategy. Many people are choosing to eat less meat and dairy and it’s good there are more choices available.

A lot of the newer fake meat products aren't actually soya anymore. Pea protein is a big thing now. I don't eat it, but DD says it's great.