Substituting Meat is a wrong Approach to Vegetarianism

Recently I stumbled upon an article online that had a headline similar to this ‘The 10 best Substitutes for Meat’. As you could expect with such a title, the author described ten food items that you could use instead of meat. I hate this kind of articles. Wait, no, it is not the ’10 best…’ theme that I dislike. It is the subject of this article. The idea that going vegetarian could mean that you need to substitute meat!

I believe it is the wrong approach to vegetarianism. Why do you turn from meat-eater to vegetarian? There are so many possibilities: because you love animals and want to stop animal cruelty, because you are sensitive enough to know that it is wrong to raise a duck in order to eat it, because you have read and actually feel that your body is not made for it…

All of these reasons mean that you consciously decide that you don’t want to have meat on your plate anymore. So why do you act like you are missing it and need to replace it?

That’s the reason why I don’t like all those alternative products in shape of popular meat forms – tofu-sausages, seitan-bacon and vegetarian chicken or vegan turkey! Do you really want to imagine eating a turkey? Do you miss eating dead animals and regret your decision each time you have to say ‘without bacon’ while ordering breakfast?

I can just say it again: you have made a conscious decision!

It’s not like you have a meat-intolerance that deprives you of the joys of biting into the thigh flesh of a killed and cooked pig! If you have lactose-intolerance and have to give up on yoghurt or substitute it with soy products, I understand that you sometimes look at a yoghurt made of milk and think how easy life could be if you could eat it like everybody else.

If you have such feelings about your vegetarian diet, you are on the wrong path. You won’t succeed keeping a diet while feeling guilty about it and longing to eat something else!

You don’t need substitutes. Make normal, regular vegetarian dishes. Eat tofu and seitan and whatever you like – but buy it in its normal form without the label of some kind of animal on it! Take care to eat a balanced diet without thinking you are lacking anything by not eating meat – eating a proper vegetarian diet is healthier than eating meat!

Be confident about your decision and stop searching for substitutes!