I used to get so confused as to why I wold get asked this question. Then I realized that I only know what I know and others only know what they know. A non-vegan only knows a life with meat, and I now only know a life without it. When I look at meat, I acknowledge whenever it has been cooked well. Every now and then, when I pass by the smell of animals being cooked, say chicken being fried, then yeah, I would acknowledge that as a great smell… as much as I would acknowledge the smell of bread being baked, although I’m not obsessive with bread, and coffee being brewed, as someone who’s not that big on coffee. The slight difference is, sometimes I eat bread and sometimes I drink coffee… but I’d never eat meat. The appearance and smell of a meat dish, no matter how appealing it would be, would no longer be something I’d translate into as something to be eaten. If I had a piece I’d probably gag. And I actually have gagged from accidental traces of meat in my food. It’s not even from thinking about the violence at factory farms, the devastating outcomes of global warming, or how terrible my digestive system would react to it later. It’s a simple fact that my palate has evolved to the point of no return. To me, now, honest to God, meat now just tastes like ass. From time to time, I do eat mock meat, but it’s definitely not because I miss the real deal. Sometimes, there isn’t any other options available for me to eat something more whole foods-based. On other occasions, I eat it for novelty’s sake. Very rarely does a mock meat remind me of an actual meat. Even the Beyond Meat patty was something I enjoyed… not as something legitimately beefy, but as an extraordinary product of modern technology that could be used as a bridge between two realms of food. 
My manager Jasmine did pop this question sometime back, and the way I described to her my relationship with meat was exactly how I described it… a relationship. She was so impressed at how the analogy made her understand where I was coming from, that she encouraged me to use it more often. So I made a video about it. I’m not really the best at keeping things short and simple, but I hope my explanation helps others who are curious about what it’s like to be at peace with oneself, as a herbivore in a largely carnivorous world.
