If vegetarians are so against meat why do they make everything taste like meat?

[Chef Bette]

Most of us are people who have families and friends who are not of necessity following a diet similar to our own. The social benefit is simply this -- these meat-like soy analogs are culturally, and hence socially, more easily accepted by those in transition as well as those who are guests to our homes.
I teach vegetarian cooking classes to a wide variety of people in the Mid-West many of whom are not vegetarian but have family members who are; people who are making the shift not for reasons of animal rights so much as for their health; people who are more concerned about the environment and the carbon footprint of flesh food production than they are with the issues of ahimsa; non-violence and the inhumane treatment of animals. Their reasons are varied. Their interest in good food is real. Let's acknowledge this -- we human eat meals not nutrients. Meals are social times; times when the family gathers to share the bounty of food and their mutual affection. From the first meal an infant is fed as he or she is held close to the breast and nurtured with cooing, sweet murmuring and lullaby -- food is intimately connected with love and security. We learn to appreciate God's great bounty in the gift of food and are deeply saddened by the millions of people all over the planet who starve to each each year. Being vegetarian, eating lower on the food chain makes for a more socially conscious life.
Judgment of other people's intentions is not only inappropriate but, frankly speaking, subject to error. Vegetarians are people who pretty much choose to cause the least amount of pain on the planet that they can. We may not have much control over the big pain producing issues such as wars, earthquakes, tornadoes, cyclones and tsunamis but we can control what we put into our bodies. If eating veggie dogs and sausage makes mealtime less stressful for our non-veg friends then? What is the problem?
Check out the following TED | Talks | Mark Bittman: What's wrong with what we eat (video)*
And if you are at all interested in good vegetarian food there are amazingly wonderful recipes at
http://www.your-vegetarian-kitchen.com/home