I don't fully understand the concept behind the veggie burger, or how it got remotely popular. Now in my campus cafe, there are "vegetarian options" under the "On the Grill Specials" menu...so at the one part of the cafetaria where it's designed for the grilling and preparation of meat...vegetarians can order veggie food. I've been to a few steakhouses where, on the dinner/lunch menu, there is a vegetarian section...for those who come to this house of meat...to not eat meat.

So I ask you, Massassi, why? Why? Either I have a case of the :saddowns: or I'm not fully seeing through some ever-so-unique perspective on food. I know there are somewhat clear distinctions between the dinning habits of a vegetarian and a non-vegetarian. But why are there even options of veggie-substituted plates at meat-focused vendors? There are some people who are offended by a hamburger's use of meat yet crave it's taste? There are people who vow to not engage in the disgusting consumption of animal-killing hotdogs yet want something that, minus the meat, mimics it perfectly? Or is it just saying to us meat-eaters, "well, I have found a lifestyle that eats the same food as you do but protects the innocent lives of critters everywhere at the same time!"

Vegetarians are pimple upon the bacon-grease covered face of the earth.

I think veggie burgers that try to mimic hamburgers taste are icky. Gardenburgers are awesome though.

Time for the invasion...

I agree with Greenboy, Veggieburgers aren't all that bad unless they are trying to be meat. It's better for you. And they're great for people who have moral objections to eating meat. (by beating them with frozen patties)

But you're eating it off of a grill that kills animals. You're contributing to their income, thus allowing them to buy more animals to slaughter.

It's like getting your anti-war t-shirts from the US Gov.

Veggie burgers are okay as long as you aren't pretending they are real hamburgers.

The reason meat restaurants have veggie menus is because sometimes you don't have a choice where you go eat 'cause sometimes you're part of a group, and you don't want to cause a fuss and get everyone pissed off and call you names by suggesting Sweet Tomatoes instead of Outback.

I like how these people handle it.

This matter is so neutral to me so I can't really care properly. If vegetarians want to eat veggieburgers (whatever they are), fine, I'll eat a tasty MEATY hamburger though.

Stupid fad of late 1990s still thriving... bleh.

"I'm not a vegetarian because I love animals. I'm a vegetarian because I hate plants."

That quote is awesome, though.

i would have to agree. i am absolutely not a vegetarian, but that sounds about right...

What Vinny said.

For years, one of some of my friends' favorite restaurants was Chili's, which until fairly recently had not a single entree that I could actually eat. Now they offer black bean patties instead of burger patties.

A friend of mine is a vegeterian. He's made vegeterian chicken patties and hamburgers for me before. Both were quite tasty.

He's vegeterian because of the health aspect. And he's kind of a hippy.

MEAT IS MURDER!

...Tasty, tasty murder...


[Edit: Explain to me a vegetarian chicken pattie. That's surely a paradox.]

Since we're on the subject. What on Earth is vegetarian meatloaf? Is it basically bread?

Vegeterians are evil and bad for the environment! We normal humans eat all those animals that are breathing in our good oxigen and breath out the evil carbon dioxide. But vegeterians live of all the good plants that produce our oxigen and destroy the evil carbon dioxide.
SAVE THE PLANTS!

Veggieburgers are good when prepared correctly

I don't care. I don't eat animals because they taste bad. Not because I care if a stupid cow dies.

First of all, almost all vendors are meat-focused. Second of all, it's simple economics. They make more money by serving vegetarians than not serving them. If you have 100 customers each day and 10 of them are vegetarians, it would be ignorant to turn them away (you'll lose their money and they'll tell all of their friends that your cafe sucks ***). They may also want to at least give the appearance that they're respectful of beliefs that they may not necessarily agree with. Also, see Vincent's post above.


Sure, some vegetarians are "offended" by the taste yet they probably crave it. However, there are also those of us that prefer vegetarian foods and no longer crave meat.


What better way to bring people over to vegetarianism than having meat substitutes that look and taste similar to meat? It's not rocket science. These are obviously statements and not actual questions. Also, not all "meat substitutes" are actually "mimicking" meat. For instance, if you want to make Falafel the size of a slice of bread so that you can have a sandwich, some ******* will of course accuse you of eating something that's mimicking meat, when you're simply taking the shape of something that easily fits between 2 slices of bread.


Bingo. You hit the jackpot. Sort of. Not all vegetarians are interested in publicizing the fact that they don't eat meat. In real life, I'm quite irritated when people find out, simply because 90% of the retards on this planet are offended by philosophical view and I don't feel like having to explain myself because of 60% of the vegetarian retards out there that have ruined it for the rest of us (yes, I'm referring to high school and college students that follow vegetarian trends).


That depends on where you're eating. Many cafes offer vegetarian-only grills. This is becoming more and more common these days. As a matter of fact, I know that my local Burger King keeps one grill reserved for vegetarians (I know someone that works there). Real vegetarians wouldn't eat at places where their meal is being cooked on grills that are shared with meat.


I think that you should re-think your point of view. It doesn't make much sense. Oh, and grills don't kill animals...at least not in a normal cafe.


That's definitely one of the major reasons.


Dad? You remind me of my father. You're one of those people that like to poke fun at things that you can't relate to or comprehend.


I'm not quite sure as to what you're calling a fad. If you're referring to vegetarians, they go back thousands of years, in many cultures. If you're referring to vegetarian burgers, I think they're well beyond "fad" status at this point (every major grocery store carries them, and usually in at least 2-3 different brands).


My girlfriend and I were in the same situtation with Chili's. Their black bean burgers are actually quite good and we spoke to the manager at ours and he assured me that they use separate grills, at least at ours.


I can make mock-chicken nuggets that would fool anyone on this forum.


See the rest of the thread.


I believe that it's generally made out of vegetarian ground beef. I'm sure that a simple Google search would reveal more details if you're actually interested.

What's with the flood of anti-vegetarian threads on Massassi lately? Are we still this backwards of a society? Isn't it enough just to know that people sometimes make choices that you may never relate to or understand? I don't sit around all day wondering why people eat meat. Been there...done that.

That was a long reply

Oxymoron ahoy!

Wow, talk about a whiner. You eat vegies instead of meat, it's not a lifestyle. Nothing to be offended by.

Funny, I don't recall being offended or whining. Excuse me for attempting to take a minority point of view and actually represent it instead of bowing down to the Massassi masses. To many vegetarians, especially vegans, it becomes a way of life, simply because it actually takes a decent amount of effort to do it and stay healthy. However, the way of life side of things comes in the philosophies that many vegetarians subscribe to. You could compare it to the organic movement in many senses.

I'm not wanting to get into an argument, but just to be fair your tone in that post gives that general impression.

I cook my bacon and eat it to.

If vegitarians choose to have veggies over good food, I respect their opinions and lifestyle choices.

MentatMM was actually quite calm for someone who actually has a right to be offended. The blanket insults directed towards vegetarians in this thread are completely uncalled for.

I'll admit I might have come off with an annoyed attitude. I'm not totally anti-vegetarian, I'm anti-our-veggie-life-is-better-than-yours people that I have to be around. I'm just really grumpier than usual today.



Ah, valid point. But there is a vegetarian section at our cafe. People really need to push vegetarian options over the every aspect of the place to specifically suit a relatively smaller group of people?



I wasn't trying to say all vegetarians crave hamburgers. I just don't understand all the promotion over the "veggie burger" and why it got this popular. I assume there are numorous different plates one can have on a vagetarian diet, yet some how a veggie hamburger-facsimile countinues to be ordered? If one doesn't like the taste of meat, that's alright, but if you became a vetetarian due to your stance that animal meat is disgusting, why eat something that tries to have the same taste and flavor?



When I meant meat substitutes, I meant the certain ones that try to have the same taste.

A lot of vegetarians like the taste of hamburgers, but dislike the product used in it. Just because I don't like buying Nike shoes because I disagree with child labor does not mean that I'm not going to buy a similar looking product from a different brand that doesn't use child labor.

I actually like both Gardenburgers and Veggieburgers (imitation soy).

BOTH ARE MAGICALLY DELICIOUS

Anyways, I think restaurants want to make more money due to the increase in vegetarianism. Everytime I go out to eat to celebrate something such as my grandparent's birthday, or some kinda of anniversary, I don't order anything besides a salad. The waitress/waiters ask me why, and I tell them it's because they have no vegetarian items on their menu.

That's why every time I go to someplace that I know has no vegetarian items, I eat a meal beforehand. Ol' trick of the trade Especially since I live in Missouri, which has outdoor parties, cookoffs, BBQ's, etc.

EDIT: Oh, and Boca Burgers is an acquired taste. You'll probably hate it until you eat it a few times. I know a lot of vegetarians (like greenboy) that hates it.

Boca blows.

Morningstar farms is the best out there. wide variety of products which all taste great. also very high in fat, but they taste great. except imitation bacon. mediocre at best.

i was a veggie for like 5 years, then i forgot why i decided to stop eating meat. i mean, the usual "meat is murder", generally healthier lifestyle, etc etc occurred to me, but i couldn't remember the specific reason i stopped.

then i went to McDonald's and had a quarter pounder with cheese. now i choose a low meat diet over a meat free diet because i like meat, enjoy the taste, and the vitamins and such i get from them really have made me healthier. (i was a bad vegetarian, i didn't get enough iron and other things plentiful in meat. and was too absent minded to take a vitamin every day.)

i still respect the lifestyle, and wont condemn someone for it. i chose to give it up. i'll poke fun at it, cause i've been there, hell i poked fun at it when i was a vegetarian. vegetarian jokes are funny.

also, MentatMM has very similar life views to me i think. most of the serious discussion threads like this i always seem to agree with him.

also, also, mmmmmmmm Falafel.

Damn those vegetarians!

Ok. Once upon a time I worked at the Burger King. We would get some green packages of the veggie burger. They would be grilled in the same grease-hole as the rest of the beef (except for chicken).

I think they are just tofu or some %&#! but I would never order something like that ever.

To me, a veggie burger is a regular hamburger loaded with veggies. I like that kind of veggie burger.

Raw meat, to me, is entirely disgusting. With the exception of poultry and fish, it's all bloody and gross and I refuse to even touch it.

So I decided if I can't handle cooking it, I don't eat it. The only meat I eat is chicken and tuna.

But to be honest, I still feel bad about eating chicken. But it tastes good so...

Just out of interest, is a "Veggieburger" in America a burger that is made out of imitation meat? Because I've only ever heard the term used to refer to a big mash up of vegetables in a burger shape. It's not trying to have the same taste and flavour as a meat burger.

Also, I don't get people that are against vegetarian meals on the basis that it doesn't contain meat. I love meat, but if the taste of meat isn't present, well, lucky for me that I like the taste of some things that aren't meat as well. Dislike something because it contains a taste you don't like, not because it doesn't contain a taste you do like. Which would mean you'd have to be against veggie meals on a meal-by-meal basis, and you couldn't say you disliked all veggie meals unless you'd tried every single one possible.

Nothing tastes as awesome as a bloody steak. Blood is like nature's ketchup.

Agreed, those are lovely.

I like the taste of my blood.

It's like money.

Yech.

Is there a viggie form of Spam?