The Quest for / Question of Meat Substitutes (part 1)

I’ve been talking about being a vegetarian and how sometimes I miss the taste of meat.  That being said, I did stop eating meat for many reasons.  One of them is that it bothers me to be aware of the reality of eating an actual animal’s actual flesh.  That’s oogy to me when I think about it. I know other people feel that way, and I know there are a few vegetarians, vegans, herbivores, and part-timers who simply do not like the taste or texture of meat.

Here's a lovely spread.

With all that in mind, why is there such an overwhelming array of options for fake meat?  Why do so many people wish to eat something that reminds them of what they have chosen not to eat?  I have never fully understood it.  Sometimes, I get that urge to eat something that resembles a chicken nugget without the guilt.  I will admit to that.  They are very available, but there are a combination of factors that keep me from going out and buying them.  I’ll discuss some of the other ones in a minute, but one of those reasons is that I forsake meat, completely.  I have little desire to trick myself into thinking that I’m eating it.  I chose not to ingest animals, which means that my grounds for that choice won out over my appetite for them.  I don’t want to pretend to myself that I’m still eating them.  It just seems weird to me.

Now I want to get into the issue of soy.  I have a big problem with soy, I’ll just say that right out – so if you exalt the stuff, consider yourself warned.  I’m already prejudiced and my research has only made me more so.  Leave if you want to, but you may learn something if you stick around.

I will freely disclose the fact that the main reason I began to avoid soy is that I don’t digest it well.  You’re aware of lactose intolerance, I will assume, so apply that concept to me eating soy.  It’s not a nice thing to think about, so let’s leave it at that.  I am self-aware enough to realize when a particular food is declaring war on me from the inside, so I try not to give it the opportunity and I keep the good old alimentary canal on lock-down when I see tofu or “soy milk” lurking about.  (One exception – the Japanese restaurant that C’s family goes to twice a year or so.  I want a hibachi meal, and the choices are either tofu, meat, or half a plate full of zucchini and bean sprouts; so I take about 5 digestive enzyme pills, order the tofu hibachi, and go into battle.)

there are so many ways to get it into you.

Since I began working at my first job at a health food store, I started questioning the holy status that the health foodies seemed to bestow upon all that is soy.  Soy milk, tofu, tempeh, soy ice cream, soy nuts, soy isoflavone supplements, soy nut butter; the list is seemingly endless.  Generally, the idea seems to be that it’s a nice source of protein for those who eschew meat, especially for a completely meat, dairy, and egg-free diet.  I can get behind the idea of adding a little extra protein into the diet if you’re worried about it, but again that’s a questionable issue, one that I plan on delving into eventually.  The concern for me is the sheer amount of soy people seem to be consuming.

Now here are some burning questions and issues I think about when soy is the topic:

Are the phytoestrogens in soy a problem?  Does that worry anyone else?  Is it safe to be eating this much of it?

Much (most) of the soy grown for human consumption is genetically modified, unless you’re specifically buying organic and non-GMO items.

I’ve heard that large chunks of rain forest have been cleared to make room for enormous soy plantations – in order to accommodate the stupendous American consumption of the stuff.  Is that true?

The government subsidizes soy crops just the same way it does corn, causing farmers to specialize in one of those crops, leading to a loss in the balance of supply and demand in agricultural commerce, and furthermore contributing to the loss of biodiversity nationally and globally (which can and probably will end up causing a catastrophic food shortage).

I’ve heard and read that soy consumption can actually inhibit the body’s absorption of certain vitamins and/or minerals, and cause problems with thyroid function.   I’d like to know more about that.

I think it’s safe to say there are still a lot of people out there who believe soy is a superfood, and likely just many who are using scare tactics to demonize the plant in general.  I’ve been trying to learn more about soy, and I’ve found some information about fermentation being the key to safely and healthily eating the stuff, but I just don’t know what’s real and what’s exaggerated at this point.

I want to keep discussing soy, meat replacements (including those made from non-soy sources, like wheat and myco-protein), and the fulfillment of protein requirements in a vegetarian or vegan diet.  I’m going to leave off here for now, and I plan on writing more about this later today or in the next couple of days.  It’s a large issue to tackle all at once, and I’d like to see what other people think about it for now.   I’ve included some links for each of the specific concerns, and when I come back and go more in depth into those subjects, you’ll have an idea of where I’m getting some of my information.  Maybe I’ll get to the bottom of this, maybe not; perhaps I’ll convince some of you to pare down on your soy consumption, but then again, that’s not really what I’m here for.  We’ll see what happens.

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