A rise in vegetarian options leads customers to embrace meat-free meals • Hacker News Board

Re: A rise in vegetarian options leads customers to embrace meat-free meals

#121

Post by socksy » Thu, Oct 03, 2019, 3:28 PM UTC

geggam wrote: post #106

seanwilson wrote: post #101

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Not only do they have to die, they also have to live. If everyone went vegan, those animals would never have existed. In the same way, you could justify birthing a human into slavery, birthing a dog for dog fighting, birthing a bull for bullfighting etc. - it's not a good reason. There's animals related to farm bred cows, pigs and chickens in the wild as well. You could use the land that's used for animal agricultu…

I would argue that you haven't ever really spent much time in nature. Example : Wolves and coyotes thrive on killing babies, nature is much more harsh than any farm I have seen.

So because nature does it, we should do it too?

Re: A rise in vegetarian options leads customers to embrace meat-free meals

#122

Post by hombre_fatal » Thu, Oct 03, 2019, 3:29 PM UTC

gridlockd wrote: post #77

superpermutat0r wrote: post #45

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I like the taste of meat, I like the taste of eggs, texture of yogurt, I like the taste of practically all foods. I do not like the fact that cow, chicken, pig, dog, have to die for my tastebuds to feel nice. Given that I like the tastes I like and do not want to give them up, I'll rather be calm and eat something that tastes like meat but there's no death of an animal. That's it. Could I live without veggie sausages…

> I do not like the fact that cow, chicken, pig, dog, have to die for my tastebuds to feel nice. Not only do they have to die, they also have to live . If everyone went vegan, those animals would never have existed. If the standards of living for the average farm animal were really good, would that be worse than them having never existed?

Could ask the same about humans. Do you really think it's better to give a kid a good life and then off them at age 10 because something else thinks they taste good? Seems like a pretty simple ethical question: no.

You could extend this anywhere. Pussy feels great. Rape doesn't kill anyone. We could keep some women around and give them great lives as sex slaves. Surely nonexistance is be worse than that! I could even give my harem a much better life than any animal can experience.

Re: A rise in vegetarian options leads customers to embrace meat-free meals

#123

Post by bootlooped » Thu, Oct 03, 2019, 3:29 PM UTC

jedimastert wrote: post #91

_Microft wrote: post #8

The dish mentioned sounds far better than what is usually served as vegetarian food at canteens and restaurants. Quite often they offer just a compilation of side-dishes to have something vegetarian on their menu. (Dumblings with red cabbage and - wait for it - gravy from roasting meat is a widespread menu offer for vegetarians in southern Germany. Not sure if it counts as vegetarian option though). Once people notic…

POV: Omnivore with a (previously) vegetarian spouse. We generally ate veg @ home One of my biggest issues with modern veg diets is all of the veg food trying to masquerade as other food. Soy bacon does not taste like, or taste as good as, real bacon. Tofu and Boca burgers do not taste like actual meat. But tofu and the like can taste amazing on its own merit . It's an ingredient with it's own flavors and textures, so…

Mock meat foods are a great way for restaurants to easily serve vegetarian or vegan plates with a simple substitution. They also make a massive number of recipes accessible to vegetarians or vegans. They also lower the barrier to entry for meat eaters to convert to eating less meat. I think they're really great in many ways.

Downsides: they are highly processed, currently expensive, and of questionable nutritional value.

Re: A rise in vegetarian options leads customers to embrace meat-free meals

#124

Post by wavefunction » Thu, Oct 03, 2019, 3:30 PM UTC

belorn wrote: post #113

_Microft wrote: post #8

The dish mentioned sounds far better than what is usually served as vegetarian food at canteens and restaurants. Quite often they offer just a compilation of side-dishes to have something vegetarian on their menu. (Dumblings with red cabbage and - wait for it - gravy from roasting meat is a widespread menu offer for vegetarians in southern Germany. Not sure if it counts as vegetarian option though). Once people notic…

In my experience, and in particular with conference food, vegetarian dishes has its own food culture and tastes. To be specific they usually do not include any pepper, garlic, chili, or herbs like parsley, sage, rosemary, thyme and cumin. Salt and umami is also often missing. Instead the cooks tries to create tastes through using different grains, seeds, fruits, salads and vegetables. Food without meat does not have…

I am assuming you mean some sort of Western vegetarian food culture. Vegetarian food cultures that have lasted thousands of years feature everything you've mentioned as lacking.

Re: A rise in vegetarian options leads customers to embrace meat-free meals

#125

Post by moate » Thu, Oct 03, 2019, 3:30 PM UTC

keiferski wrote: post #70

coldpie wrote: post #46

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I travel to Europe about once a year and I've noticed they're far behind the US in terms of vegetarian options. In the US it's been easy to get a high quality, vegetarian meal at almost any restaurant for at least a decade (edit: at least in metro areas; perhaps rural areas are different, although I haven't noticed this personally). Meanwhile in Europe it's almost impossible to get anything resembling a full meal. Li…

Where is “Europe”? London? Athens? Budapest? Kyiv? The availability of vegetarian-friendly food varies drastically from city to city. Half of the cities in this list of “Top Vegan Cities” are in Europe: London, Berlin, Warsaw, Paris, and Prague. https://www.happycow.net/vegtopics/travel/top-vegan-friendly...

I agree with your "Where is Europe" sentiment, but lists like this aren't super helpful.

The fact that western site somehow doesn't have a single Asian city, despite veganism tracing it's roots to India, in their top 10 feels less like an objective analysis and more of a list of places the editors have visited.

Re: A rise in vegetarian options leads customers to embrace meat-free meals

#126

Post by boyotbh » Thu, Oct 03, 2019, 3:30 PM UTC

geggam wrote: post #87

ohlookabird wrote: post #67

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I am curious, and also don't mean any offense by it: why is this surprising or even silly to you? Has it been your believe so far that a major driver behind avoiding meet is the taste or texture?

The thing I find silly is if you dont like eating animals or causing their death why eat fake animal meat ? It's like abstaining from sex by using a sex doll in my mind.

i'm not sure this argument holds up either - if you believed having sex is inherently cruel to the person you're having sex with, but you still enjoy sex, why is using a sex doll not a reasonable solution?

Re: A rise in vegetarian options leads customers to embrace meat-free meals

#127

Post by ip26 » Thu, Oct 03, 2019, 3:30 PM UTC

puranjay wrote: post #104

_Microft wrote: post #8

The dish mentioned sounds far better than what is usually served as vegetarian food at canteens and restaurants. Quite often they offer just a compilation of side-dishes to have something vegetarian on their menu. (Dumblings with red cabbage and - wait for it - gravy from roasting meat is a widespread menu offer for vegetarians in southern Germany. Not sure if it counts as vegetarian option though). Once people notic…

Western cuisine seems to fundamentally misunderstand vegetables. Methinks it was partly the unavailability of spices, and partly the easy availability of meat. Meat is like a cheat code when you're cooking. A good cut of meat needs a little more than some salt and fat to taste good. With vegetables, you're forced to be more inventive. Take okra for instance. In India, its a favorite vegetable. Saute it with some Indi…

I'm not an authority on the matter but I figure it's due to the heavy germanic influences in modern Western dining. It seems like that's where the idea that a "meal" is "meat plus a side of X" came from.

Re: A rise in vegetarian options leads customers to embrace meat-free meals

#128

Post by okmokmz » Thu, Oct 03, 2019, 3:31 PM UTC

chousuke wrote: post #7

I am not vegetarian, but I still sometimes choose the vegetarian option because it tastes good . I'm not very surprised by more people finding tasty vegetarian options when more are made available.

Yes, I always find it funny that when veganism/vegetarianism is discussed on this site there are always people that say they hate vegan/vegetarian food because it is bland, flavorless, tastes worse than food with meats, or otherwise complain about flavor.

There are just as many good and bad vegan and vegetarian dishes as there are good and bad dishes with meat. In Seattle there are 20+ vegan restaurants that serve some absolutely awesome dishes. It seems people try a slice of some shitty veggie bacon or something else they dislike, and then immediately write off all vegan/vegetarian food as bad

Re: A rise in vegetarian options leads customers to embrace meat-free meals

#129

Post by bootlooped » Thu, Oct 03, 2019, 3:31 PM UTC

benj111 wrote: post #115

jedimastert wrote: post #91

Earlier quoted context omitted.

POV: Omnivore with a (previously) vegetarian spouse. We generally ate veg @ home One of my biggest issues with modern veg diets is all of the veg food trying to masquerade as other food. Soy bacon does not taste like, or taste as good as, real bacon. Tofu and Boca burgers do not taste like actual meat. But tofu and the like can taste amazing on its own merit . It's an ingredient with it's own flavors and textures, so…

Agreed. The vegetarian things I eat, taste nice, and just happen to be vegetarian, they're not meat replaced with Quorn. Additionally, one thing I don't understand, up until recently animal rights seems to have been the main driver behind vegetarianism. If you're morally against eating pig, why would you want to eat something that pretends to be pig?

Because it tastes good.

It's not a contradiction to enjoy the taste of an animal, while also believing that the harvesting of that animal is unethical.

Re: A rise in vegetarian options leads customers to embrace meat-free meals

#130

Post by wavefunction » Thu, Oct 03, 2019, 3:32 PM UTC

screye wrote: post #80

_Microft wrote: post #8

The dish mentioned sounds far better than what is usually served as vegetarian food at canteens and restaurants. Quite often they offer just a compilation of side-dishes to have something vegetarian on their menu. (Dumblings with red cabbage and - wait for it - gravy from roasting meat is a widespread menu offer for vegetarians in southern Germany. Not sure if it counts as vegetarian option though). Once people notic…

Even vegan restaurants hardly sell good food. In their attempt to make a shoddy substitute for meat dishes, they completely butcher the innate capabilities of the vegetables. I know that sounds a bit snooty, but western cuisines simply do not lend themselves well to vegetarian ingredients. India is obviously the most familiar with good veg food, but most cuisines in Asia have good vegetarian offerings. Everything fro…

The vegan/veg restaurants I've tried even in the US focused on fresh vegetables and grains in interesting and delicious ways. I've never gone to one of those places and seen fake meat though I have to admit the number of vegan/veg restaurants I've gone to in the US can be counted on one hand. I'm omnivorous by practice.