Simulacrum

I live a simulated existence. Not only do I consume soya milk with my coffee every morning, I have fake cheese in my fridge at all times. Today, I learned about about and purchased fake pepperoni, made without meat. Let's be honest, I've a solid pizza craving for a week now, and I'm desperate to try anything that will satiate the craving.

Fake cheese wasn't much of an adjustment, truth be told. It's different but not radically so. Like I said, after awhile, I doubt I would remember what real cheese tasted like. And the same is true of fake pepperoni. It is shockingly close to eating the real deal. In fact, I bought some turkey pepperoni a couple of months ago and it definitely is more flavorful. And that was actual meat! Of course, I'm sure regular pepperoni is probably comprised of garbage parts of animals and is subject to tons of processing, so recreating it probably isn't a stretch if you're also processing it. I think it's like hot dogs; it's essentially a fake thing already so making an artificial copy can't be too hard.

But I suppose that's my point of the day. If I am going to eat heavily processed food bent to resemble or taste like foods I used to eat, then why bother? Why not just eat a real hotdog? I know, I know, it's also more healthy to eat the vegan version. But the fact is I rarely bought processed foods in my groceries, opting instead for the organic or more natural versions of products. Now processed foods are in my grocery bag constantly. Thus the simulated life. I could live with eating real cheese, but I'm not so sure about the processed fake stuff.