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Paul Graham on the Transition to Meat Substitutes

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Re: Paul Graham on the Transition to Meat Substitutes

#72
I'm looking forward to the cow/pig/sheep/chicken extinction event - no one will keep them around, except maybe in zoos, if the whole world is vegan.

Edit: a downvote? this is totally serious - what are they going to be - released back into the wild where they roam free? There won't be any more, except as I said in zoos, if the whole world goes vegan

Re: Paul Graham on the Transition to Meat Substitutes

#73

One thing i’d genuinely like to see more of in the US is easy and sanely priced access to wild game. Deer populations being what they are, and populations of environmentally troublesome species such as feral boars being what they are, it seems like a net win. i would love to be able to get my hands on venison or boar that’s been processed in a USDA-approved way, because the meat’s high quality, the animals had lives…

I live in New Zealand, and I recently switched basically entirely over to wild game for red meat. I can buy it in my local supermarket, it's more expensive than cheap meat but actually less than the high-welfare farmed meat that I bought previously. It's also very tasty. I'll probably start ordering directly from the provider (http://www.game-meats.co.nz/) soon since they offer a much wider range of products than the supermarket has.

Here in New Zealand there's an additional bonus that deer and boar are invasive introduced species which are considered noxious pests, so I like supporting an industry which controls them.

Re: Paul Graham on the Transition to Meat Substitutes

#74
post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Seitan is nice! A lot of americans who are in the demographic to be into substitute meat won't touch it because it is literally a blob of gluten with sauce.

I think where seitan excels is where the meat it is substituting is heavily seasoned and in smaller pieces. I’d never eat a seitan log as a Thanksgiving turkey substitute, but ironically one of the things you discover when you begin to substitute meat is that a lot of “classics” are flavorless. Chicken, turkey and most fish flesh can be bland and rubbery, which is why they are fried or smothered in sauces as a rule.…

> most fish flesh can be bland and rubbery

yikes. i think you will have a better experience eating in a seafaring culture - the british, french, norwegians, coastal china, japan, even new england? i think something is quite wrong if you think cod, haddock, sole, tuna, and salmon all taste the same.

Re: Paul Graham on the Transition to Meat Substitutes

#75
post #8

I think he's wrong about people not having loyalty to meat. There is a ton of literal hatred for veganism and vegetarians in this world. Think of the practically cult-like following bacon has. I recall a thread some years ago on Reddit's r/fitness with someone asking for vegan protein sources due to certain allergies or other health restrictions and it was spammed with dozens of comments along the lines of "bacon" an…

I definitely see a lot of mockery of vegans among my circle of friends/acquaintances. Not outright hatred, but definitely mockery and it's not directed solely at vegans. It's just that vegans tend to be rather vocal about their choices, and they tend to be very social media adept and like to arrange eye-catching demonstrations in public, at least around here. I think a lot of the mockery comes from insecurity, I know some guys who are very adamant about their Manly Personality, which has meat, booze, beer and cigars as mandatory elements.

There is a segment of vegans who are very enthusiastic about calling non-vegans "murderers" and shaming them for "eating corpses" and the like. It's a small fringe group, but they are very vocal, and are deliberately very attention-grabbing.

Since I sometimes move in the same or adjacent social circles, I do know quite a few people who are vegan, and they're pretty relaxed about it, outside of occasional activities in protests and the like. I like talking about recipes with them, stuff like finding the best egg substitute for Belgian waffles, always a great way to get a vegan very enthusiastically chatty about a subject they really care about :-)

I'm very open-minded about food, so while I do like dishes with meat, I'm also very enthusiastic about good veggie dishes, and I don't want to judge people for their dietary choices.

Re: Paul Graham on the Transition to Meat Substitutes

#77

I'm looking forward to the cow/pig/sheep/chicken extinction event - no one will keep them around, except maybe in zoos, if the whole world is vegan. Edit: a downvote? this is totally serious - what are they going to be - released back into the wild where they roam free? There won't be any more, except as I said in zoos, if the whole world goes vegan

We still need milk, eggs.

Re: Paul Graham on the Transition to Meat Substitutes

#78

I'm looking forward to the cow/pig/sheep/chicken extinction event - no one will keep them around, except maybe in zoos, if the whole world is vegan. Edit: a downvote? this is totally serious - what are they going to be - released back into the wild where they roam free? There won't be any more, except as I said in zoos, if the whole world goes vegan

Why are you looking forward to them becoming extinct, though? What's the benefit to anyone of that?

A vegan society could still keep sheep for example to keep grassland under control?

Just a bit odd to look forward to an innocent species _being wiped off the face of the Earth_.

Re: Paul Graham on the Transition to Meat Substitutes

#79
post #77

I'm looking forward to the cow/pig/sheep/chicken extinction event - no one will keep them around, except maybe in zoos, if the whole world is vegan. Edit: a downvote? this is totally serious - what are they going to be - released back into the wild where they roam free? There won't be any more, except as I said in zoos, if the whole world goes vegan

We still need milk, eggs.

I think the assumption is that we can grow substitutes for those too?

Re: Paul Graham on the Transition to Meat Substitutes

#80
post #77

I'm looking forward to the cow/pig/sheep/chicken extinction event - no one will keep them around, except maybe in zoos, if the whole world is vegan. Edit: a downvote? this is totally serious - what are they going to be - released back into the wild where they roam free? There won't be any more, except as I said in zoos, if the whole world goes vegan

We still need milk, eggs.

"need" is too strong a word here, especially as milk gets more expensive if you cannot sell excess meat (and not everyone wants milk from hormone-treated cows).
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