Arggh, a pitch by a company making meat substitutes got me mad (even as a veggie) in how it panders to misconceptions.
What is the appeal of meat eating? I say it is irrelevant as a protein source, rather it is a comfort food. Not only do lentils have a higher density by weight of protein than meat, but EVERY veggie food other than fruits has all the protein you can use... per unit of calories. Even a lettuce diet crams you full of proteins because you have to eat so much of it to get the calories you need for survival. Some might argue about getting the "right" kind of protein, but your body reconstructs it anyway.
Besides fatty oils, meat has certain savory and addictive elements that I hear is shared by olives, mushrooms, and cooked tomato sauce. I forgot the name of those... can anyone say? If a company wants to make a healthy meat substitute, I think it should target those rather than the "mouthfeel" of gristle, veins, muscle (yuck). I think people like meat not for protein or gruesome mouthfeel that they THINK they are appreciating, but for those magic elements with they associate with the former.
Meat is not an ideal that should be approximated in mock health products. Rather the ideal is attainable without meat, and meat is the crude approximation. It's like ice cream vs real gelato. Ice cream is a crude, pathetic shadow of real gelato. Gelato uses high density, fine crystallization, and higher temperature to give richness instead of the neanderthal butterfat of ice cream. Don't judge on the basis of ersatz gelato which cannot be manufactured right here due to prissy health laws, or the crap gelato from tourist traps.
We should free ourselves from second rate but comfortable habits. Make your own gelato! Make your own meat alternative that transcends meat! However if this involves mushrooms, ignore the common myth that they shouldn't be washed. They're often grown in horse crap for goodness sakes, and it is a proveable falsehood that they get soggy if you wash them. Just some ideas that may hit home for do it yourselfers.
What is the appeal of meat eating? I say it is irrelevant as a protein source, rather it is a comfort food. Not only do lentils have a higher density by weight of protein than meat, but EVERY veggie food other than fruits has all the protein you can use... per unit of calories. Even a lettuce diet crams you full of proteins because you have to eat so much of it to get the calories you need for survival. Some might argue about getting the "right" kind of protein, but your body reconstructs it anyway.
Besides fatty oils, meat has certain savory and addictive elements that I hear is shared by olives, mushrooms, and cooked tomato sauce. I forgot the name of those... can anyone say? If a company wants to make a healthy meat substitute, I think it should target those rather than the "mouthfeel" of gristle, veins, muscle (yuck). I think people like meat not for protein or gruesome mouthfeel that they THINK they are appreciating, but for those magic elements with they associate with the former.
Meat is not an ideal that should be approximated in mock health products. Rather the ideal is attainable without meat, and meat is the crude approximation. It's like ice cream vs real gelato. Ice cream is a crude, pathetic shadow of real gelato. Gelato uses high density, fine crystallization, and higher temperature to give richness instead of the neanderthal butterfat of ice cream. Don't judge on the basis of ersatz gelato which cannot be manufactured right here due to prissy health laws, or the crap gelato from tourist traps.
We should free ourselves from second rate but comfortable habits. Make your own gelato! Make your own meat alternative that transcends meat! However if this involves mushrooms, ignore the common myth that they shouldn't be washed. They're often grown in horse crap for goodness sakes, and it is a proveable falsehood that they get soggy if you wash them. Just some ideas that may hit home for do it yourselfers.
by explaining what triggered my rant. The head of a fast growing mock-meat company is working to get meat departments eliminated from supermarkets in favor of "protein departments" which of course gives them equal billing. I would hate to see this done in my or vegetarians name. I suppose it starts in Whole Foods, then western states may mandate this for all markets along with a cola ban?
