Meat Product Names for Vegetarian Products

[NineBerry]

Here is an example of those people screaming about how "political correctness" is evil and limits freedom by regulating speech actually also wanting to change the language.

Conservatives in Germany feel offended by vegetarian and vegan products that have names of meat products. And now they plan to pass a law to ban vegetarian products from using names like "Wurst" or "Schnitzel" or "Frikadelle".

A (animal) farmers organization actually planned to boycott an industrial meat producer who now also very successfully sells vegetarian products with meat names.

[Brian Peacock]

It's quite difficult to be a vegetarian in Germany - culturally speaking - meat seems to run in the blood and the average German is at least 75% sausage. But what do the meat industry say in their defence - why is it bad for a vegi sausage to be called a sausage? Is veg*ism on the rise and the meat profits are slipping? Are people asking awkward questions about production methods, or about how much camel is in their Sauerbraten?

[NineBerry]

Vegetarian products are very popular in Germany at the moment. Even the discounters like Aldi and Lidl have whole shelves dedicated to vegetarian products. Conservatives argue that calling a non-meat product "Wurst" is fraud. The consumer is lied to. They think they are buying meat but get none. Which is a stupid argument because these products are usually very vocal about not having meat.

[Brian Peacock]

That is stupid, and sounds exactly like poor excuse for protectionism. I wonder how many sausages were slipped under the table to get that on the legal agenda.

[NineBerry]

http://www.dw.com/en/vegetarianism-on-t ... a-19269264

[...]

Finding vegetarian and even vegan options is becoming easier in Germany - a land more commonly known for its meat-medleys, which usually star pork.

With nearly 10 percent of its population going meatless, Germany has the highest rate of vegetarianism compared to its European neighbors, and even surpasses Brazil (8 percent) and Israel (8.5 percent), according to the NGO known as the European Vegetarian Union.

The number of vegans is also on the rise, with nearly 1 million people in the central European country following a lifestyle that foregoes the consumption of all animal products in the name of animal rights and environmental protection.

[...]

[Brian Peacock]

Wow. 10%? I never would have guessed. In the mid 90s I stopped in some medium-size town somewhere south of Cologne and found a pizerria for lunch that had no non-meat items on the menu except for desserts. Besides that every dish had some form of meat on it or in it. Now if places like that are now servicing a meat-free 10% of customers then the meat industry is going to be feeling the pinch.

In years to come this time will come to be known as The Sausage Wars.

[rainbow]

[Svartalf]

If it's well indicated like on Rainbow's example, I don't see where the fraud is in calling vegetarian products by the name of the meat product they imitate

[Brian Peacock]

But that's the issue in a nutloaf - the Sausage-words cannot be used for Sausage-word products that do not contain meat, because the Sausage-word can only be used for Sausage-word products that contain meat. Rinse and flush.

[Svartalf]

A sausage is gut with filling, I don't know any specific word for veggie sausage like product, ergo, they are veggie sausages, period.

[Brian Peacock]

Hehehehehe hehe hehehehehehehehe hehe hehe hehe hehehehe...

hehehehe hehe hehehehehehehe...

hehehe hehe hehe hehe....

You said "period"... hehe hehe hehe...

hehehe hehe hehe hehehe hehehe hehe hehe hehe hehe....

[Svartalf]

that makess for blood sausage, a product I hate and that not vegetarian either.

[Tero]

I lived in Columbus Ohio and they had Worthington foods making fake meats from soy beans. It was awful except the fake bacon which I occasionally bought.

[Brian Peacock]

[Strontium Dog]

Never been to Germany, but I did have a day trip to Zurich, which I perceive to be somewhat similar. I struggled to find anything on the menu and eventually had to settle for this rather odd mushroom dish.

Venturing forth onto the continent certainly makes a vegetarian realise how lucky they are to live in the UK, where absolutely every eatery has meat-free options these days. Particularly disappointing is Greece, which, despite being the European birthplace of ethical vegetarianism with all those remarkably progressive philosophers, remains a difficult place unless you really like to survive on salad and chips.