vegetable protein replacements are like 90% there tastewise as far as I'm concerned, the only time I feel a need to eat meat anymore is when someone would have thrown it out otherwise (an outrageous waste)
Vegetable protein is there in taste, but not macros and micronutrients. I think meat substitutes should first aim for the fat/protein/carb ratio of meat (i.e. almost no carbs and over 50% protein), then the micronutrient composition. Maybe it would be an acquired taste, but I think if it’s nutritious, the taste and satiety will come implicitly, better than any shortcut.
There are plenty of meat eaters with critical vitamin insufficiencies, even of B12. Animals that are fed mostly a corn diet aren't exactly going to contain much of micronutrients in their meat. Micronutrient supplements provide a much more reliable solution. I still rely on animals for hydrolyzed collagen and fish oil, but that's all.
for many people you could put a gun to their head and they'd refuse to eat an alternative and swear up and down that it's inedible regardless of quality
the US has had a strong lobby propagandizing meat for a century (not to mention the fed subsidizing it) and it will take a very long time to make a considerable dent
there's already an organized resistance to vegetable based and lab-grown alternatives stemming from the same sources, it's nearly on the level of the oil industry which has been caught masquerading as anti-renewable activists
I can’t disagree that there’s a lot of bull-headed people out there.
But I have a pretty progressive social circle and many of them have tried to go vegetarian or been veggie-curious. And honestly I can’t think of a single one who’s stuck with it. (I know many other vegetarians for life).
So that’s my only point. Even among willing participants the acceptance rate is low. Meat is frigging delicious to those who have been raised on it and it’s hard to overcome that, and that’s not a propaganda issue. It’s a technology one.
Otherwise I agree the organized resistance is very frustrating.
Totally context is huge. And unfortunately many Indian immigrants or their children become meat eaters in America, I have many of these in my social circle as well.