My nodeshell now!
I assume by 'imitation food' the creator of this nodeshell was referring to food products based on soy or other vegetable protein sources that are designed to look and/or taste like non-vegetable based foods that are part of the traditional American diet.
Well, two damn good reasons I can think of for eating these so called imitation foods are:
- They're healthier. Bacon, ground beef, hot dogs, milk, and all the things that soy foods imitate are full of saturated fat, cholesterol, recombinant growth hormones, mad cow prions, and e coli. The imitations have as much or more protein with little or none of these other stomach turning features.
- No cruelty to animals and/or slaughterhouse workers was involved in their manufacture.
Now, while non-imitative soy and vegetable based foods are healthy and delicious enough on their own merit, there is an occasional need for imitating meat based foods because so much of America's cultural constants and rituals are tied up with these foods. Things such as pouring milk on your cereal, going to the diner for a burger, Fourth of July barbecues, and sizzling bacon for breakfast are almost mandatory if one wants to be participatory in common cultural norms, hence the need for imitation foods like soy milk, veggie burgers, and soy bacon for those who wish to be participatory but not fat disgusting greasy carnivores.
No, mordel, I'm pretty sure vegetable based meat 'imitators' are what the nodeshell creator had in mind. It was soft linked from the soy node.