Paywall so I can only speculate. I have thought about if the idea of wanting to eat meat-like food is a construct created by meat eaters speculating about what vegetarians want.
But in reality I think that there is a large portion of vegetarians that view the texture of meat as "gross" and so realistic meat substitutes have no appeal to them.
I don't know if this is true or not, and I have no way of proving this other than the times that I've offered beyond meat at a party but not gotten any takers. It's just an idea that perhaps meat eaters are pushing a narrative at a demographic that doesn't have a desire for it!
As an unrepetenting meat lover and eater I can guarantee you that we simply do not care, AT ALL, about what vegetarians and/or vegans decide to eat. We're just tired of people trying to impose their own conscientious objections on to us. We just want that the people that do not want to eat meat to stop trying to dictate what WE, the ones that love meat, want to eat. There is zero chance that those fake burgers were the brainchild of meat lovers, we simply don't care.
But in reality I think that there is a large portion of vegetarians that view the texture of meat as "gross" and so realistic meat substitutes have no appeal to them.
I don't know if this is true or not, and I have no way of proving this other than the times that I've offered beyond meat at a party but not gotten any takers. It's just an idea that perhaps meat eaters are pushing a narrative at a demographic that doesn't have a desire for it!