[mazuhl]

From my experience a lot of this is to do with people's "food culture" (I can't think of a better way to express that). People have ideas about what constitutes food or a "proper meal". (I've heard people say "My dad would be offended if I cooked him dinner and there wasn't any meat in it").

Give people something they recognise and they can handle it.

It's not just convenient to store and it, it's convenient to think about and fit into the (heavily marketed) idea of a proper meal (for vegetarians and vegans too).

[planetguy]

(I've heard people say "My dad would be offended if I cooked him dinner and there wasn't any meat in it").

I love meat but I wouldn't be offended if somebody cooked me a meal and there wasn't any meat in it. But I might be a little offended if somebody cooked me a meal and there was fake meat in it.

Fake meat is like wearing a mask with my mother's face on it and expecting me to pretend you're her. It's not that simple.

[earbitscom]

It really isn't that profound. People take sugar and turn it into Red Vines. They're shaped, flavored and textured to be more enjoyable. Frankly, the heartiness, saltiness and other qualities of meat are good, so if you can take ingredients and make them more like that, it's not that different from taking flour and making a cupcake shaped the way a cupcake always looks.

[chc]

Do you get offended by imitation vanilla, Mrs. Butterworth's and stevia? Lots of foods are imitations of other foods.