Vegetarian Chicken Pieces

I’ve been doing a bit of (Internet) research and it’s a very complex subject.

In terms of CO2 emissions (ie good for the planet) there’s no doubt that processing makes more than unprocessed. But then you have to take into account that the food waste is lower with processed foods.

It’s also true that a vegan/vegetarian diet that relies almost exclusively on imported fresh fruit and vegetables can produce more emissions than locally produced meat such as chicken and their eggs.

So, if you’re thinking good for the planet (not any other reasons) it’s got to be locally produced stuff, as much as possible or processed.

It’s changed my mind about using some of the processed stuff.
I just have to watch out for the nuts?

If I make a vegetarian chilli I use lentils, it wouldn’t have crossed my mind to use something like Quorn. My dil’s don’t give their dc substitute meats as they don’t like the ultra-processed aspect of it. The GC eat a little good quality meat, cheese and home prepared vegetarian foods

vegansrock only if you eat industrialised meat grown in American stockyards. Cattle reared the natural way, contribute as much to preserving our environment as anything else.

If everyone goes vegan, it is going o require the growth of huge acreages of soya, especially as people get richer in poorer countries and eat more.

The other thing no-one has been able to satisfy me about is allergies. So many allergies are plant based.

Since she developed an autot immune disease, a relative has become allergic to both soya, nuts and fresh fruit and nobody has been able t o convince me that someone with such extensive plant and nut allergies can eat a good, nutritious and varied diet if it does not include meat and dairy products.

Most of the soya grown on deforested land is for animal feed, not humans. Plant based diets are much more environmentally friendly than meat production in terms of water use, land use and carbon emissions.

I buy only Pasture for Life beef, and lamb, when I can get it. This is beef and lamb which has spent its whole life grazing on unimproved pasture, only supplemented with hay from the same farm or local ones. It is low input and low emission meat, where it has been argued that these methods actually help to support wild flora and fauna in this country, because unimproved pasture attracts and supports the right environment for both, flora and insects and birds.

Not eating meat is not necessarily good for the planet, over 10,00s of thousands of years man has domesticated, and grazed cattle and sheep and much of the diversity of our plants and insects flourish and have adapted to living in pasture land. Reduce this drastically could lead to the extinction of 100s of plants and insects.

It could be argued that a vegetarian or vegan diet with its high reliance on field crops is far more damaging to the environment that cattle grazing on permanent grassland.

Growing crops means clearing land and planting huge acreages of identical crops, then keeping it weed free while these crops grow. This means removing all traditional field weeds. Cornflowers and corn cockle have become rare plants as a result of this weed elimination, whether by the use of biocides or cultivation.

Vegan diets, in particular are high reliant on soya products, mostly incorporated into what are known as Ultra processed foods (UPFs) . All these fake meats would be included in this group of foods, which are major contributors to obesity and also contribute to the illegal clearing of rain forests to increase the cultivation of soya.

i have not seen the product but does it say "chicken" or "chick'n" ?
however it is spelt - the less meat eaten is good as better for the planet

I haven't looked this up, but free range meat is less likely to have traces of growth promoter etc, and usually the animal welfare is significantly better ( UK beef and lamb are probably free range wherever you buy them from) but the problem for me is that I want to eat much less meat to help the environment & world food resources, and free range pork & poultry do have a higher carbon footprint than more intensively reared - it just take more grain / plant protein to produce the same food value. So if environment's your main concern, free range really isn't an answer - unless you eat plant-based most the time & have free range top quality meat as an occasional treat.

Like many other people, I eat what I fancy. The idea that I might fancy something, but not eat it because a carnivore has told me they don't think veggies should eat veggie sausages, is weird.

My DD went vegi at 8, mostly eating 'fake meat'. She's been vegi for 25 years now. That's a lot of animals saved.

We all make our own food choices. Free range meat is surely the next best alternative to vegetarian. Not supermarket meat.

Exactly, MissAdventure - if these kind of products encourage people to try veggie alternatives in the first place, who knows, they may go on to become more adventurous and make their own veggie meals from scratch in the future? I don't see the problem - there are committed vegetarians who wouldn't touch these products with the proverbial bargepole, but there are others who enjoy them on a regular or occasional basis. At the end of the day, no-one is being forced to eat them, so what's the problem?

Gosh, aren't carnivores critical of vegetarian foods! I eat the quorn chicken burgers when I fancy one with lots of salad and such, and I also use quorn mince to make chilli ( with beans and chopped veg) and spaghetti bolognaise and as I am vegetarian for ethical reasons rather than any other, I am happy with this occasional compromise if it means some poor young animal hasn't been slaughtered for my dinner. I do not criticise carnivores, but do get really fed up when the same courtesy is not extended to me.

For some people that's a positive.
My boy is strictly and resolutely a meat eater, but will at least try veggie alternatives that look similar, so that's a positive, as far as I'm concerned.
Today, a veggie sausage, maybe in the future, a chickpea curry.

It would be the association of eating something that looks like something I do not want to eat anymore - and tasting like it as well, that would turn my stomach.

At a time when we are all being encouraged to eat less meat, is it such a bad thing to try to tempt hardened carnivores to try something like these?
I was surprised to see that a Beet Wellington on the menu as an alternative to Christmas dinner etc was the same price as the meat dishes.
A beetroot doesn't cost as much as a fillet steak and surely should be priced accordingly? It might encourage more people to eat it.

MissAdventure

But you're still not eating meat.
There are no extra points scored by having the right shaped alternative, and no animals are harmed in the making of ones that are meat shaped.
Not that there are any animals in the shape of sausages or burgers..

My friend had two dachshunds .....
Just saying
They smelt quite ripe too (hope she's not on GN)

There can be any number of reasons why someone does not eat meat. I'm not particularly keen on processed meals, but I have to admit I did find some of the meat substitutes really handy when my son's girlfriend, who is a vegetarian, was living with us. For instance, if we were all having steak pie, she could have the same meal as the rest of us, with a Linda McCartney pie instead of the 'real' steak one, or at xmas, she just had a veggie wellington instead of the turkey.
At a time when we are all being encouraged to eat less meat, is it such a bad thing to try to tempt hardened carnivores to try something like these?

But you're still not eating meat.
There are no extra points scored by having the right shaped alternative, and no animals are harmed in the making of ones that are meat shaped.
Not that there are any animals in the shape of sausages or burgers..

Actually, since the OP is about Vegetarian Chicken Pieces, it depends which ones you buy:

Seasoned Vegetarian Chicken-Style Pieces Made with Rehydrated Textured Soya Protein.

www.waitrose.com/ecom/products/linda-mccartneys-vegetarian-chicken-pieces/666467-762444-762445?utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=PPCGShopping&gclid=432279b4e1cf1ae7d6ff186087b64cf8&gclsrc=3p.ds

If you are vegtarian or vegan why on earth would you want to eat something pretending to be meat? The logic eludes me.

I saw a cookery programme over Christmas where someone mad a vegetarian alternative to a turkey. It was the right size, the right shape, the right colour, inside and out and even had sticks in critical places to stand in for bones.

All I could think was 'Why?'

If you do not eat meat, you do not eat meat. End of.

Alegrias1

I don't think these things are artificial meat, I think they are soya based.

So textured soya protein masquerading as chicken. Whatever floats your boat, I suppose. This vegetarian wouldn't touch it with a barge pole

Actually, the main ingredient of Quorn products is mycoprotein, not soya

Quorn’s mycoprotein is a source of protein that is high in fibre and low in saturated fat. To make Quorn’s mycoprotein, we don’t start with livestock, we take a natural, nutritious fungus that grows in the soil. This fungus is known as Fusarium venenatum.
We then use the age-old process of fermentation – the same process used to create bread, beer and yoghurt – to grow Quorn’s mycoprotein.

www.quorn.co.uk/mycoprotein

Anyway, it sounds like some of you have never even tried them
I've used Quorn for chilli, bolognese etc for a vegetarian DD and friends but probably wouldn't buy it normally.

Glamorgan sausages are lovely and are traditional, I suppose they are called sausages because of the shape.
Not suitable for vegans.

Oh Lord, I can't begin to think what they're like, or made from.

I'm not vegetarian but try to eat far less meat than I used too.

I actually really like the Quorn Southern fried bites, and the burgers, and find them a great substitute for the 'real thing' if I'm in the mood for something like that.

Would those of you who are sneering at these things actually prefer me to go back to the real meat versions?

In case you are wondering, I do make a lot of meals that are based purely on vegetables, but I that doesn't mean that I have stopped liking the taste of meat.

Anyway, it sounds like some of you have never even tried them. As the saying goes, 'if you ain't tried it, don't knock it!'