I don’t need or crave sugar, chocolate, alcohol, coffee, tea... but cheese, yogurt, milk, and their derivations are irresistible.
Your argument could be applied to a host of topics. The truth is, the vast majority of people aren't willing to change. For example, heart disease is the biggest killer in the world and yet people still don't take the required steps to prevent themselves of suffering from that disease.
Sure, but it's still counterproductive. Most people respond to guilt by just digging their heels in. When you want to convince someone to give up something dear to their heart, you have to tread carefully.
There's nothing inherently wrong with anything. That said, they're being restated for a reason and unless that reason is the satisfaction of reading the post or hearing the words out of your own mouth, restating these facts doesn't make any sense.
"We found that greater intakes of total, unprocessed, and processed red meat were each associated with a higher risk of CHD. Compared with total, unprocessed, or processed red meat, other dietary components such as soy, nuts, and legumes were associated with a lower risk of CHD." [1]
In particular, the findings are entirely compatible with 1. The possibility that meat will lead to a reduction in risk if used in the same kinds of dishes as the nuts and legumes in this study 2. Nuts and legumes will lead to an increase in risk if used in the same kinds of dishes as the hotdogs and burgers which were the focus of the study.
I've seen people (not you) dump citations like this to claim health benefits for crap like facon, which is deepfried coconut infused in liquid smoke, at the same time as branding a caesar salad a cardiac risk.
There is no vegan food alternative to say a rare steak or raw tuna which is extremely flavorful, nutritious and light.
reducitarian: reducing proportion of non vegetarian meals without complete elimination
Some strategies for achieving this include meatless Mondays, weekday vegetarian meals or sticking to vegetarian meals at home.
I agree imitation meat usually tastes like crap but I’ve had great vegan fried chicken in Japan where I didn’t even know it was not meat until after the meal. That and just getting used to all the non-meat stuff you can eat (ramen, MSG, bean curd, legumes, kimchi). In American cuisine i think of vegan food as imitation meat and stramed veggies...
I think what most people associate with meat is actually the flavors that go into the meat-centric dish most cuisine is based on.
There's a good reason steak is such a common food for vegetarians to give in and eat.
Don't forget to add some MSG to get a savory umami flavour.
Like someone else said downthread, guilt-tripping people into veganism doesn't work. All it achieves is making you look like an ass.
Also, if you use Google Chrome, you're literally a murderer.
My point was that if you think in terms of meat, or horses, you'll only be able to come up with solutions to your problems in those terms.
If you go one level up and realize that your problem has nothing to do with horses or animals, and deals with transportation then you'll realize you can solve that problem and never have to deal with horses again.
People enjoying horse riding is in fact a completely unrelated problem (entertainment, enjoyment, or whatever you want to call it), as I was making the point by mentioning cannibalism (you're doing it because you enjoy it, not because human flesh is necessary for your sustenance).
If you open your mind to the fact that it may be that what you enjoy about your food isn't the meat but the flavors and effort the chef puts into the dish that just happens to contain meat, you'll see that you're probably associating that deliciousness with the meat when in fact it's just because the deliciousness was imbued onto the meat dish. We started using meat because of its convenience, not because it has some magical properties that make food palatable where other things cannot substitute.
I personally am not vegan because animal welfare is not high enough in my priorities to overcome the hassles of adjusting around the current bias towards meat in most cuisine. But if most cuisine started orienting around non-meat dishes (and a lot of cultures already do this, especially from countries that historically couldn't afford meat), I know I would not complain.
It's uniquely American (maybe European too?) to eat a giant slab of relatively cheap lean steak with just salt and pepper... most other cuisines mix meat with veggies, or in the case of Japan go for slightly higher quality (non-factory farmed) but lower volume meat consumption. Veggies in American cuisine are an afterthought (something you have to eat to "balance" your meal) whereas if you take Chinese dishes (while many feature meat), they can often center around veggies and make them the primary focus.
I find most vegan food distateful to the point of depression-inducing, and of all diets I've tried nothing has felt better for my body than going low-carb and upping my fat intake; which is nigh-impossible in an already limited vegan diet.
I'm happy that it works for some people, and I'm not against economically reasonable measures to reduce the externalities of meat production. But veganism is absolutely nowhere near being a universally viable diet for human beings.