I don't really know what the thread starter means when he refers to products that imitate meat since there are so few of even somewhat imitating alternatives available here in Finland.
Steak, just like sausages, nowadays refer more to the form factor of food than the material it's made of - at least to me. Steak is somewhat flat piece of something rather solid mass. Sausages are stuff that is stuffed inside a piece of edible tube usually made of some kind organic material. There are many types of meat based steaks and sausages contain many other ingredients than just meat. These types of products are already just stuff molded into a specific form factor. Sure, the most typical meaning implies that there is meat involved.
Take meatballs… err, what do you call meatless meatballs in the U.S.? Just balls? Sorry, my english escapes me - not my native language. In Finland we use the term "pyörykkä" which is pretty much "a ball" with a twist, one can add any appropriate term before it to form more informative meaning (like "liha" -meat or "kasvis" -vegetable). This too is just a general term.
Oh, and most of the soybeans are grown for animals. The avegare amount of plant based feed needed to produce one kilogram of meat escapes me, but I assure you it's nowhere near 1:1 ration. Most of the land used for growing crops is there to feed livestock.
I stopped eating meat nearly 15 years ago, and my health is just fine. My hemoglobin count is much higher than my wifes how is an omnivore, and I never have had any deficiencies what so ever. Anyone, regardless of diet can suffer from deficiencies if they don't watch what they're eating. It's just that one can go years or tens of years with certain deficiencies before the serious effects start to show, i.e.. osteoporosis.
Human is an omnivore by nature, but the amount of meat consumed these days far exceeds the amount our dietary system can handle, just look at the mass dwelling in the streets outside - that is pretty far from our ancestors just a few thousand years ago. People are fat, slow, apathetic and using all kinds of drugs just to cope with their everyday life. Evolution doesn't work fast enough to keep up with our gluttonous lifestyle. Of course it's just not the meat, but it plays a part in all this.
I can't say that I personally find meat itself disgusting, after all we're all pretty much made of it. It's the fact that you end some other beings life for your own pleasures that makes eating meat unethical in my opinion. Even more to the point are animals which are bred just to be killed, how fucked up is that? When I look at an animal of any kind, I see a being with their own desires, needs, fears and joys, even purpose - something that isn't mine to take away from them. And it's so easy not to, so why not.
