Though I always wondered if the animal rights type of vegetarians eat this stuff, I would suppose they consider it a grotesque display or a mockery to dress up plant matter as animal murder.
https://www.usgs.gov/special-topic/water-science-school/scie...
Some people, you will never convince to eat veggies instead, especially if they taste way worse than the meat they love. But if you have an alternative that tastes just as good, if not better, than meat, and is cheaper (with economies of scale), they would be more willing to go with the veggie option.
Well, yes, your wondering is exactly right. Long-time vegan here. (I think most "animal rights type of vegetarians" are vegan–what's done to cows in the dairy industry isn't pretty.) Butchers, ads for eating lambs etc start to seem horrific. I'm not at all interested in fake meat. Yes, the very idea seems grotesque. There's plenty of delicious vegetarian cuisine from around the world without needing or wanting fake meat, fake cheese etc. I haven't missed, wanted or craved meat once in..uh..gee, almost 30 years.
Upvoting this for the pure surreality of this one point
With further innovations and economic of scale, you'd imagine that one day they'll substantially undercut the [heavily subsidized] meat industry.
Not an economist (and I doubt even they'd know), but I feel like at x% the price of meat, they'll capture y% of the market. And, it'll snowball, as the meat industry loses market share, prices will go up.
[citation needed]
The thing about meat is that it tastes good
>Though I always wondered if the animal rights type of vegetarians eat this stuff
Some don't like it, but I do. As long as it resembles processed meat instead of intact animal parts (like chicken wings, for example), I'm not bothered by it at all. It might as well be any other processed plant-based food to me.