There’s some delicious vegan foods out there. It just takes a lot more work and can often be more expensive to hit the same tier of deliciousness of (for example) a perfectly cooked steak.
As someone who grew up eating meat, and still eats meat for various reasons (though I'm trying to cut down), I'm not sure I agree with that statement.
Beef (the most environmentally unfriendly meat) is far and away more expensive than vegan or vegetarian substitute ingredients. Only cheap chicken and turkey grown inhumanely are comparably priced to most vegan sources of protein (Butler soy curls purchased in bulk are extremely affordable, as an example, and much healthier and tasty than the TVP of old).
All meat, at least without any seasoning, I personally find pretty darn bland. A steak with some salt on it does have some flavor, but nothing really worth writing home about (at least to me). The thing that makes a meal good is when meat is used to soak up some other flavor, or incorporated in dish to add texture, or again, to act as a sponge for flavor. I've found that same concept to apply to vegan meats, and when used in that way, It's actually fairly difficult to tell it apart from real meat. Adding a bullion cube of beef or chicken flavor isn't expensive, and after that's applied, you're pretty much at parity with real meat as far as flavor, often for less expense than using real meat.
I will admit this doesn't apply to more processed meat-substitutes, like impossible meat, which are generally quite expensive. But in general, veggies are pretty cheap compared to meat.
Perhaps you’ll agree, though, that “fake-foods” are terrible? Like, a vegan burger is nothing compared to a nice angus (or venison!) patty with real aged cheddar. Or a carbonara with egg substitute vs the real thing.
As an aspiring vegetarian, I'd agree that real cheese is... Likely not something I could replace right now.
I have had some incredible vegan foods (especially Indian or Lebanese) but an Impossible burger belongs in the trash IMO.
I'd agree with you if you mentioned Beyond Meat, which I found to be... Terrible. It gave me horrible heartburn (the processed oils were likely oxidized inside it), and I'll never touch it again. BUT, I tried some premade frozen impossible patties from costco, and I couldn't believe how delicious they were. They didn't use easily oxidized oils in comparison to Beyond meat, and the flavor and texture were comparable to the finest burgers I'd ever cooked with expensive local ground beef. But that's just my opinion.
I also tried Impossible chicken nuggets and Trader Joe's new vegan Fish offering, and both were excellent. I would easily be able to switch to those alternatives and never feel deprived of the real thing.