I can only speak for myself here. I grew up in a meat-eating family. We ate chicken, beef, pork / bacon, fish and seafood such as prawn, lobster, clams. The foods I grew up with and enjoyed eating includes: tuna & onion pizza, spaghetti bolognese, carbonara, four cheese pizza, sweet & sour pork, chicken nuggets, beef burgers, butter garlic prawns, luncheon meat, grilled red snapper, cheesy hot dogs, etc. When we’re children and our parents prepare the meals or we go out to restaurants to eat, we are used to simply choosing whatever takes our fancy that evening. We don’t think about how they’re prepared, we don’t think about what had to happen for me to have this fish and chips on my plate.
When I turned 16, I developed an aversion to pork. Back then, I didn’t have access to the internet and so there was no external influence. It was just something I no longer wanted to eat. I didn’t ban myself from meat altogether but I noticed that whenever I would order something, I tend to leave out the pork. As the years went by the aversion to meat continued. While everyone around me would be focusing on eating the delicious meal, the meat just started to taste like cooked flesh. While everyone around me would be focusing on the tender and juice texture of the meat, I couldn’t take my mind off the fact that this animal did not want to die. The “thank you God for this meal” was no longer easy for me to rationalize. When you take a baby cow away from its mother right in front of her eyes, she will risk her own life to save that of her baby. The Big Macs and the Double Cheese Burgers were no longer appetizing to me because these were the thoughts that would run through my mind. I couldn’t enjoy the meal that others were swallowing whole.
Then it was eggs. I couldn’t stand the smell of it because it reminded me too much of human secretions. The smell and texture of uncooked eggs were too animal-like. I always loved milk and cheese but I’m lactose intolerant. Eventually deciding to be vegan closed that chapter in my life. So now to the question: why would I choose to eat something that resembles meat? Because I’ve always enjoyed the taste of meat and the foods that I grew up with which included meat in them. The fact that I can have the same foods that I grew up with – without having to harm or kill animals is amazing.
I’m not a pretentious vegan. Life would be a lot easier for me if I didn’t have such deep thoughts. Heck, I seem to digest meat easier than vegetables. My IBS symptoms started when I switched to vegetarianism. I know how delicious the meat foods are – I’ve been there. But the aversion and my thought process has changed my perspective. I would rather skip the meal if an animal was harmed or killed for it. Some of us are simply built this way.
But yes, if I could have the exact meals I grew up with without hurting animals for it, I would and I do. I don’t really know why people get so worked up about vegans wanting to have plant-based meat. Some of them, especially the Beyond Burger tastes exactly like animal meat. This is not a “then why don’t you just eat animal meat” moment. It’s a “Woop dee doo! I no longer have to eat animal meat ever again” moment. It’s like having your cake and eating it too.
My lifestyle is my personal choice and I would never impose my choices on anyone else. That would be very unfair and I have nothing against humans wanting to eat meat. That’s the way most people were raised, it’s tradition and it’s hard to break out of. I wouldn’t want someone to come up to me and tell me how to live my life, so it’s definitely not my place to tell others how to live their lives.