Vegan takeaway orders quadruple over past two years • Hacker News Board

Re: Vegan takeaway orders quadruple over past two years

#101

Post by huhtenberg » Wed, Aug 28, 2019, 3:09 PM UTC

glitchc wrote: post #65

I love these doubling and quadrupling statistical figures that are absolutely meaningless when placed outside the context of the percentage of the whole. "We quadrupled subscriptions last night" is true when going from 400 million to 1.6 billion and also true when going from 1 to 4.

As an old Soviet joke went -

    This year our glorious industry delivered an astounding
    5000% increase in production of supercomputers.

    * As compared to the 1913 numbers.

Re: Vegan takeaway orders quadruple over past two years

#102

Post by have_faith » Wed, Aug 28, 2019, 3:09 PM UTC

mytailorisrich wrote: post #62

criddell wrote: post #57

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There's no reason for them to be absolute, is there? If I eat one non-vegan meal every 20 meals, then I think it's reasonable to say my diet is 95% vegan.

> There's no reason for them to be absolute, is there? Well, yes there is since that's the very definition of "vegan" and "vegetarian". If I drink only at weekends, am I a semi-teetotaller? That's ridiculous.

> If I drink only at weekends, am I a semi-teetotaller? That's ridiculous.

I've been tee-total for over 10 years. I've sipped someones drink a handful of times to see what it tasted like, can I not say I was tee-total anymore?

The definitions are more about proclamations. If today I decide to be a vegan, then tomorrow I will call myself a vegan despite having only abstained for 24 hours so far. If I decide to eat meat a couple times a month then I'll tell people I'm predominantly vegan, they understand what I mean.

Re: Vegan takeaway orders quadruple over past two years

#103

Post by chosenbreed37 » Wed, Aug 28, 2019, 3:09 PM UTC

NeedMoreTea wrote: post #10

jbob2000 wrote: post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If I eat an apple, am I eating vegan food? If you call anything that isn't carnivore food as "vegan" food, then you're labelling like 90% of our food as "vegan". That's obviously ridiculous, so I think it's more accurate to call food "vegan" when it's being eaten by someone who is respecting vegan principles. What I mean to say is that I think "vegan food" is defined by the eater, not the makeup of the food. Edit: I…

I think you have it backwards. Vegan food is meant to show not only is it free of meat, but that it's also free of animal ingredients that might not be shown on the menu, such as butter. An apple would be suitable for a vegan, so could be labelled (needlessly) as such. A vegan is one who eats food according to those standards. If a takeaway menu picks out those options that are entirely meat free, and also free of an…

Slightly tangential but I noticed that the one of the cleaning fluids in the bathroom said "Suitable for vegans"...:-)

Re: Vegan takeaway orders quadruple over past two years

#104

Post by Mikeb85 » Wed, Aug 28, 2019, 3:10 PM UTC

lostgame wrote: post #86

Mikeb85 wrote: post #68

As interesting as this is, it's just the takeaway sector. As someone in the higher-end restaurant sector, I certainly haven't seen increased demand for vegan options. It also doesn't help that many vegans are very price sensitive, not to mention have a disproportionate amount of other dietary restrictions.

Huh. Opposite experience here in Toronto, where I've seen 5-10 new, very popular vegan restaurants in this city pop up over the course of 4 years or so. The statistics may present this to be takeaway only, but, for instance, the oddly named Hogtown Vegan has become one of the more popular and well-received places in the city. May I ask what city you're from? I'm curious as to whether this is a regional thing.

Calgary. We have a few vegetarian (lacto-ovo) places that are full-service, a few vegan spots that are fast casual, but that's it. A few vegetarian and vegan spots have closed in the last few years as well.

Edit - more steakhouses have opened in the last year than veg restaurants.

Re: Vegan takeaway orders quadruple over past two years

#105

Post by Djvacto » Wed, Aug 28, 2019, 3:11 PM UTC

GrumpyNl wrote: post #48

54mf wrote: post #35

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If your tofu is tasteless, you're doing it wrong. One of the major perks of tofu is that it absorbs flavor really well.

Tofu by itself is tasteless.

Raw, uncooked tofu may be tasteless, but I'm not really one for grabbing a raw chicken breast either. Marinades go a long way with tofu, as does which method you cook it.

Re: Vegan takeaway orders quadruple over past two years

#106

Post by mumblemumble » Wed, Aug 28, 2019, 3:13 PM UTC

Mikeb85 wrote: post #68

As interesting as this is, it's just the takeaway sector. As someone in the higher-end restaurant sector, I certainly haven't seen increased demand for vegan options. It also doesn't help that many vegans are very price sensitive, not to mention have a disproportionate amount of other dietary restrictions.

I wouldn't be surprised if higher-end restaurants end up lagging on this trend, simply because they have a bit of a reputational hole to dig themselves out of with the vegetarian, and particularly vegan, crowd. For a lot of reasons.

For starters, the options a lot of higher-end restaurants offer have a history of tending to be either really unsatisfying "twigs and berries" type food, overly rich (a lot of vegans aren't used to having their food drenched in cooking fats), poorly prepared (e.g., overcooked), or a mix of them all. So there's a long history of being charged what feels like a rather exorbitant price considering that you end up going home hungry and dissatisfied.

Second, vegetarians do notice and make decisions based on what non-vegetarian options are on the menu. If you're serving veal or foie gras, the vegan member of the party is going to be a lot more likely to try and convince the rest of their party to go somewhere else.

Also, straight-up boredom. People who eat vegan in particular tend to get really into cuisine from all over the world, and become acclimatized to eating food that's got very bold flavors. After a few years of that, the nouvelle cuisine-inspired stuff being served at a lot of higher-end restaurants is, frankly, just not very exciting. Especially after you take out the butter and cream and whatnot that serve as the gastronomic foundation of that style of cooking.

Which isn't to say that all high-end restaurants are like that. But so many are that eventually it gets easier to just use the price point itself as a heuristic.

Re: Vegan takeaway orders quadruple over past two years

#107

Post by Lndlrd » Wed, Aug 28, 2019, 3:15 PM UTC

strict9 wrote: post #16

After 15 years of not eating meat, the past 1-2 years have been a golden era of vegetarian options in the grocery store, restaurants, and fast food. Based on anecdotes and my social circles, the number of people completely avoiding meat hasn't changed. But omnivores adopting a semi-veg lifestyle has increased. If I had to pick one thing, I'd say environmental concerns are the main reason my omnivore friends and colle…

Anecdotally, yes, I eat less meat now for environmental reasons, and I think you're right to generalize.

Especially in progressive cities and circles, meat and oil are in the same class. It's hip to eat veg, socially conscious.

Re: Vegan takeaway orders quadruple over past two years

#108

Post by i_am_nomad » Wed, Aug 28, 2019, 3:17 PM UTC

roland35 wrote: post #100

I am not vegan myself, but I do appreciate the huge increase in vegan options now that I am lactose-intolerant! I do enjoy ordering a vegan option with grilled chicken or bacon added if I can.

If you don’t mind me asking, how did you become lactose intolerant? I don’t know much about that aspect of biology.

Re: Vegan takeaway orders quadruple over past two years

#109

Post by sandworm101 » Wed, Aug 28, 2019, 3:17 PM UTC

How much of this is changing eating pasterns, and how much of this is the re-labeling of foods?

"Vegan" is no doubt now a sales point, but many vegan foods have been eaten for centuries without that label attached. Slapping the sticker on them now doesn't mean that anything has changed beyond how we do the count.

I also question the "vegan" label itself. Exactly what type of vegan are they talking about? Veganism isn't as simple as whether a food is vegetarian. There is no single authority or rulebook to determine whether it is kosher or not. There are various levels and judgement calls to be made.

Re: Vegan takeaway orders quadruple over past two years

#110

Post by seanmcdirmid » Wed, Aug 28, 2019, 3:19 PM UTC

i_am_nomad wrote: post #108

roland35 wrote: post #100

I am not vegan myself, but I do appreciate the huge increase in vegan options now that I am lactose-intolerant! I do enjoy ordering a vegan option with grilled chicken or bacon added if I can.

If you don’t mind me asking, how did you become lactose intolerant? I don’t know much about that aspect of biology.

You don’t become lactose intolerant; you become lactose tolerant via genetic mutation. This is a mutation that originated in Northern Europe but not in east or South Asia.