Are you still consider a vegetarian if you eat "meatless" items?!
Are you still consider a vegetarian if you eat "meatless" items?
My girlfriend and I have this on going debate about what a vegetarian really is. I say it's ok to eat veggie burgers and so forth - but she states that if you eat those then you are not being a true committed vegetarian. To her it's one step closer to eating meat.
My arguement is that there is nothing wrong with eating veggie burgers and other meatless items because they have the nutritional value you need from real meat - but you get less fat and no choloestrol and you are still not hurting any animals. Plus vitamin B and iron which is hard to achieve on just fruits and veggies alone.
I was just wondering what your opinion on this matter would be?
Answers:
Most veggie burgers, if they are in fact veggie burgers, will contain no animal proteins/products whatsoever, so I don't really see how your friend thinks it a step closer to eating meat.
I have to side with you on this one, as a vegetarian who absolutely adores veggie burgers. They pack so much protein and a lot of the nutrients that one wouldn't be able to get in meat products or simply living only on fruits and veggies (which is also very difficult to do unless you're prepared to invest a lot of time effort, and money into vegan foods that some places sopratically offer). Plus, as you said, they contain far less fat (animal fat actually stays inside the body and makes a person put on more weight). And unless you get your veggie burgers from restaurants that fry their foods in pork fat, you are actually being a comitted vegetarian and not harming animals in any way.
Kirk eats veggie burgers and he is a vegetarian.
The reason they even bothered to invent the veggie burger was for vegetarians, so I'm sure it would be all right
Yes. Veggie burgers are made FOR vegetarians.
If it isn't meat, it isn't meat, no matter what it is shaped like.
No, because you are not eating meat
Meatless=vegetarian
Vegetarian means you do not eat the flesh of any animal. Veggie burgers contain no red meat, poultry, fish, shellfish, etc so if you eat veggie burgers you are not eating meat.
In conclusion: animals didn't have to die for meat substitues, so if you eat them you are still vegetarian.
Vegetarianism, like beauty, is in the eye of the beholder. Your definition is what counts for you and your friends' definition is what counts for her. Personally I don't buy it, there is too great a chance of not getting the nutrition you need to make a lifetime commitment to it.
no its not'' unless every second thing in your life you pick about veggies''mushroom is like a beef yet ground it and you make yourself a veggie burger,same as soya bean curd these are the best veggie burgers''you will love it''youll get protein same as beef'
You are right, she is wrong. lol
I completly agree with you.
I don't think there is anything wrong with Veggie burgers and other meat-like alternatives.
In fact, the reason I think people eat them is because it tastes simalar to meat(I personally don't think so but some people do) And I think that it is wrong to look down on a vegetarian for eating meat- like products. It is hard for people to give up meat, and I think that vegetarians should be applauded for making the decision to live Healthy compasionate lives, not told they are not real vegetarians because they like meat alternatives. It is just a dumb way of thinking.
No offense meant to your girlfriend at all. I am just saying that you have every right to go out and eat fake chicken or fake beef :)
Of course you are still a vegetarian. Veggie-burgers are made of vegetables, and there are many other foods that taste like meat, but actually made of vegetable produce (like tofu, etc.). Those may be an excellent sourse of protein when you are not eating any animal products.
You are right but I can also see where she is coming from. I don't really eat the fake meat unless I really feel like I need the vitamins in it. But sometimes I feel like, if someone's not eating it for the vitamins, then they must be craving the real thing.
If you eat it though, you are still a vegetarian. It's basically just a shape and a texture that settles your craving and gives you a decent amount of vitamins.
Nothing wrong with it.
Vegetarians do not eat animals. If you are not eating animals, then you are a vegetarian.
:)
Vegans are the ones who don't do that i believe but they just don't eat any animal products. Eating a veggie burger is very good for you and without any meat substitutes or anything of the sort then you could die i believe.
uh, they don't have *meat* in them so why are they bad to begin with, let alone 'one step closer to eating meat'? what's up with your girlfriend?
VeggieTale, there's nothing wrong with craving meat, especially when you decide not to eat it afterall. 1-You can't control your cravings. 2-When you've been eating meat your whole life, it's a hard habit to break, so of course you're going to crave meat. But, the reason I don't eat meat when craving it, is because I realize that it's wrong.
Of course it is okay to eat veggie "burgers." Just because you grind up beans, grains and veggies and pat it into a disc shape does not mean you are eating a flesh-burger. That's like saying if you mold hamburger meat into the shape of a human head you are a cannibal. Your girlfriend needs a reality check. You actually get more nutrition from vegetable matter and our bodies absorb the nutrients much easier from soy and veggies and grains than they do from the meat of animals.
Now, if you add eggs or milk to that veggie burger, then you are NOT a true vegetarian, you're what they call an ovo-lacto-vegetarian. If you eat any flesh at all, then you are not a vegetarian at all. Perhaps your girlfriend is actually trying to be VEGAN or fruitarian (one who only eats fruits and nuts).
ok my brother is a vegitaria and all he eats is veggie burgers, so i say that it is still being a veggitarin!!! i mean, it is veggie and no meat
Being a vegetarian means not eating meat. Veggie burgers are made of veggies, not meat. Get your girlfriend a dictionary.
you can eat vegg burger, you win
but shes' right also
I agree with Mariposa Moon. I think your girlfriend is being silly.
WOW! This is a real blast from the past! I used to hear her argument back when Miles Labs first went 'open public' with their analogs (the products now know as MS Farms and Worthington) way back in the '70s! The debate was essentially won by 'our' side. That they are vegetarian and use of them doesn't mean you aren't committed to being veggie.
I haven't thought about this in years but I'm remembering that what set off the debate originally was the similarity in taste and texture. I'm trying to remeber the argument lines that won most of the 'old school' vegheads over. Use whatever of this you like but keep in mind the old adage about rule #1 being the woman is always right and #2 is when she's wrong see rule #1
It's not the form that matters but the content. Would she object to eggplant slices? Those are the same form as a meat patty. Would she object to a "Mud Pie" (that was a patty made of crushed grains and veggies that was around back then and was *wildly* popular amongst vegheads). Then what's wrong with a mushroom flavored patty made of soybean and grain (most veggie burgers get their flavoring from mushrooms). Come to think of it you could use a Portabello mushroom instead of the Mud Pie. I don't think those were around back then (at the very least they were very, very rare!).
These products make it easier for folks to transition away from meat. By vegetarians supporting their use (by buying and using them) we make these products more common and more acceptable for the meat eaters to use instead of meat (it took a long time but I think we've reached that point
The simple fact is that most of these products are today eaten by meat eaters looking for a healthy replacement for meat! By vegetarians supporting these products we've not only saved the lives of the animals we don't eat but have saved the lives of all the animals that meat eaters didn't eat when they use 'our' products! Sales of these products have reached the point that they have scared the p__p out of the meat industry! That's why they're sponsoring anti-soy research and groups like weston price to spread lies and half-truths about these products.
If vegheads had decided in favor of her arguments and not supported these products as acceptable for us, there is every chance that analogs wouldn't be commonplace today. How many more animals would be dying? How much more pollution would there be? How much more land would be used for animal husbandry and feed crops? How much smaller would the total number of vegetarians be without these products easing folks into our lifestyle?
These products aren't one step closer to eating meat. They're a giant leap forward in stopping the eating of meat!
I Just wanted to second Greenghost ..he put it so eloquently............. anyway , I am vegan and I do not care what you name it or compare it to ... if it is Vegan and tastes good ..I am eating it ...lol...
It doesn't matter what anyone calls you. Just eat what you want to eat.