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A butcher has created carrots out of meat – in retaliation against ‘vegans naming plant-based food after meat’.
Tom Samways, who owns of T Samways High Class Butchers in Cardigan, Wales, created the carrot lookalikes from mince given an orange glaze, and parsley to look like carrot stalks.
According to Samways, while the ‘carrots’ started off as a joke, they were popular with customers, and he plans on making more after selling 300 in one day.
Vegan food
He told Wales Online: “The idea came from the fact that a lot of vegan food is named after meat products, like vegan sausages and vegan chicken. I just thought, well, let’s make a meat version of vegan food.
“They’re just pork kebabs really. They’re made from high-quality minced pork meat and are glazed with an Italian herb dressing to get that orange look. Then they’re finished off with a bit of parsley.”
He added that the rise of veganism hasn’t hurt his sales, and in fact, he thinks people are becoming more aware of where their food comes from, and don’t want to buy meat from supermarkets anymore.
“I don’t have anything against vegans or businesses that change their products to suit demand – you have to do what works for you. But people who come to my butchers are meat-eaters,” he said.
Meat-based carrot
Samways is not the inventor of the ‘meat-based carrot’. Last year, US fast food chain Arby’s created what it called a ‘megetable’ – a carrot made from turkey that has a similar look and taste to the vegetable.
Various media outlets described the move as Arby’s ‘trolling’ vegans and other fans of meat alternative products.
Arby’s Brand Executive Chef Neville Craw conceptualized the ‘marrot’ along with his sous-chef Thomas Kippelen. Craw said the product was about ‘staying true’ to Arby’s pro-meat brand.
No vegan meat
The launch of the ‘marrot’ followed the chain previously vowing to never put meat alternatives on its menu. It had released a statement a month or so earlier saying: “Arby’s is not one of the restaurant companies interested in working with Impossible Foods.
“The chances we will bring plant-based menu items to our restaurants, now or in the future, are absolutely impossible.”
‘Plant-based meat’
Now in what CNET has described as an ‘unsettling’ move, the chain has doubled-down on its pledge to keep promoting meat.
“Plant-based meats are the latest incarnation of making vegetables look like what Americans really want – which is great, tasty meat,” Jim Taylor, Head of Marketing at Arby’s, said in a statement.
“Universally, people know we’re supposed to eat vegetables every day. But 90 percent of Americans don’t eat the recommended amount. So we said if others can make meat out of vegetables, why can’t we make vegetables out of meat?”
