Eating heirloom raw organic vegan is the ultimate FUCK YOU to corporate America.

[StrayKat]

251. Because

1. Most of the US is made up of carnists (people who chose to eat meat) who use the absence of a 'meaty' texture as an excuse for not going veg. Creating simulation products is a way of tamping down some of the objection and at least getting more people to try it.

2. Most people have very limited diets (even if they think they don't) and are squeamish about new foods. This is part of the reason so many young children have very limited diets of 4 or 5 staple foods that have to be coaxed into expanding. Although the list may have expanded to 10 or 15 different foods in adulthood, some still have a rather narrow diet they don't stray too far from. So, some products aim to make foods that still look, taste, or feel similar to more familiar foods for the new food phobic.

3. Vegans and their food choices are frequently bashed and therefore some vegans try to prove to everybody else that their food is good too. Often, the only way to do that is on terms that are familiar to the bashers, which means comparing meat burgers to bean burgers as opposed to aloo palak or ratatouille.

4. There is often a period of transition for vegetarians and vegans where they haven't fully adjusted to eating all the 'new' food. The simulated products can serve as crutches (or transitional foods) until new veg-eaters fully adjust. People who are long-time (for several years or more) vegetarians and vegans often don't consume transitional foods or only rarely. Once the taste buds really adjust to the new diet, these transitional foods and simulation products don't appeal quite the same way they did before.

5. Processed foods (vegan or not) are a money maker for the food industry. A small amount of labor can turn into a large amount of profit.

6. Just as with non-vegans, there are plenty of people who don't or won't cook or like the odd help from the grocery store. Convenience food finds its way into every diet (especially if you have kids).

7. Vegans get cravings, too. The same way people trying to eat any other diet do. Cheese/milk seems to be most common (although I and many others don't miss it at all). It may be due to the opioid effect of the casomorphins, which we may have found soothing as babies and probably still do today.