Why some vegetarian foods imitate meat

[00:00.40] The veggie burger: this humble non-meat burger substitute is a staple of many a vegetarian meal.

[00:10.49] Though vegetarianism has a long history that reaches as far back as Egyptian times, and while many a vegetable-only stand-in patty is likely to have been used in the interim, the term veggie burger is commonly attributed to a Gregory Sams of London, who in 1982 created the 'Vegeburger'.

[00:36.79] So what is a veggie burger? Well, a hamburger is a meat patty between two halves of a bun.

[00:45.03] A veggie burger is similar, except the patty is a meat-free equivalent, commonly made from ingredients such as beans, tofu, nuts, grains and mushrooms.

[00:58.84] In many cases, the differences between the meat patty and vegetarian surrogate are clear, but Impossible Foods of Silicon Valley hope to put an end to that.

[01:12.12] The Impossible burger is made of a plant-based iron-containing molecule that resembles blood.

[01:19.82] It's called 'heme' and it's a key ingredient in their wheat, coconut and potato-based meat duplicate.

[01:28.85] It apparently looks, smells and even bleeds like meat – but it's grown in a lab using biochemistry.

[01:38.15] This replicated burger is indistinguishable from meat 47% of the time in tests conducted among meat lovers, Impossible claims.

[01:50.90] There are many non-meat alternatives that are designed to closely imitate meat and many non-vegetarians might wonder why.

[02:01.79] Marketing is one good reason: faux-meat products appeal to meat-lover and vegetarian alike due to their alleged health benefits.

[02:11.88] If you can have the food you love at a lower health cost, why wouldn't you?

[02:18.79] Another reason is more ethical.

[02:21.98] Many people stop eating meat for moral reasons rather than dietary ones.

[02:27.55] They may seek to reduce animal suffering by boycotting meat products or wish to reduce the meat industry's large environmental impact.

[02:37.12] Livestock production is responsible for 18% of total greenhouse gases, according to the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO).

[02:47.21] However, they may still miss the taste of meat.

[02:51.73] Therefore pseudo-meat is a nice fill-in.

[02:57.04] Finally, "there are associated feelings and memories that go with certain foods," says Thomas Banks, BBC Learning English producer and 15-year vegetarian.

[03:10.58] "I didn't grow up a vegetarian and sometimes I miss my family's cooking.

[03:16.96] Replica meat allows me to have a good home-cooked meal that's just like mum used to make."

[03:24.13] Who can argue with that?