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A rise in vegetarian options leads customers to embrace meat-free meals

nature.com

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Re: A rise in vegetarian options leads customers to embrace meat-free meals

#32
post #6
post #2

>When the proportion of meatless options doubled from one to two of four choices, overall sales remained about constant. But sales of meat-containing meals dropped, and sales of vegetarian meals, such as “wild mushroom, roasted butternut squash and sun blushed tomato risotto with parmesan”, rose 40–80%. So they cut the available meat options and doubled the available vegetarian options and find it surprising they sol…

It shows people pick interesting sounding options from a range with little care to whether it has meat in or not. We’re in such a meat dominated society that the current change is showing how flexible we actually are to fitting in with more eco ways of eating.

>It shows people pick interesting sounding options from a range with little care to whether it has meat in or not.

Thats probably true, but I think more importantly it shows people pick the more inexpensive options from a range with little care to whether it has meat in or not. In other words if the non-meat dishes were more expensive than the meat dishes, the sales would have been different.

Re: A rise in vegetarian options leads customers to embrace meat-free meals

#34

I'm kind of a food snob. I don't eat burgers. They're horrible. I don't eat hotdogs. They're horrible. Reading this article tempts me to want to say "Newsflash: Tasty food sells!" but I'm sure that would be flagged to death as low content snark. Also, it's possibly stupid saying anything at all because people who eat stuff like burgers and hot dogs will get all mad when you give your honest opinion that it isn't exac…

> I'm sure that would be flagged to death as low content snark. Also, it's possibly stupid saying anything at all because people who eat stuff like burgers and hot dogs will get all mad when you give your honest opinion that it isn't exactly gourmet health food.

Tastes differ between people. I eat burgers and hotdogs because they're tasty, and their tastiness for me is inversely proportional to the amount of vegetables you put into them. I rarely eat out, but if I want to grab a hotdog, I only do so in places where I can get a bun, sausage, ketchup and mustard, and exactly zero of all the other dressings.

And from my POV, vegetables and fruits tend to ruin the taste of everything. I just don't like them, period. I accept some in appropriate context - common mushrooms, onions and peppers when the food is salty, carrots and apples and maaaaybe tomatoes on the sweet end.

I can't tell you why I am like this, though I am very curious about what shapes one's tastes. I eat plenty of healthy stuff, but I'd love to make myself somehow like it, - all I've managed so far is to not feel completely miserable every time I eat a healthy meal.

Re: A rise in vegetarian options leads customers to embrace meat-free meals

#36
post #8

The dish mentioned sounds far better than what is usually served as vegetarian food at canteens and restaurants. Quite often they offer just a compilation of side-dishes to have something vegetarian on their menu. (Dumblings with red cabbage and - wait for it - gravy from roasting meat is a widespread menu offer for vegetarians in southern Germany. Not sure if it counts as vegetarian option though). Once people notic…

Time and time again, i tryied, even in veggie only restaurants- and sorry, to say it the meals where near always disappointing. Only exception where indian restaurants and some people from a comune, who cooked delicious. My takeaway- dont eat it if for the chef, ideology comes before tastyness.

Re: A rise in vegetarian options leads customers to embrace meat-free meals

#37

The first vegetarian meal I've had where I didn't feel hungry afterwards was in an Indian vegetarian restaurant. It also tasted amazingly good. Parts of India are vegetarian, so they have had plenty of time to refine the offering and see what works together.

Vegetarian Indian here, I agree. Growing up watching American cartoons I always used to wonder why the kids are shown not to like vegetables. Its only when I moved here (US) and saw how vegetables are served, I could empathize with the cartoon character kids.

There are parts of India which are almost entirely vegetarian. So much so that, it has prompted giants like pizza hut and subway to open vegetarian only restaurants.

https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/ahmedabad/US-food-g...

And might I add, the food is delicious.

Re: A rise in vegetarian options leads customers to embrace meat-free meals

#38
post #35

Would someone who is a vegan answer this question I have and I mean no offense by it. Why do you want to eat vegetables that are fake meat or made to taste like meat ? It seems silly to me.

Why not? One might have ethical issues with eating meat but enjoy the taste.

Re: A rise in vegetarian options leads customers to embrace meat-free meals

#39

I'm kind of a food snob. I don't eat burgers. They're horrible. I don't eat hotdogs. They're horrible. Reading this article tempts me to want to say "Newsflash: Tasty food sells!" but I'm sure that would be flagged to death as low content snark. Also, it's possibly stupid saying anything at all because people who eat stuff like burgers and hot dogs will get all mad when you give your honest opinion that it isn't exac…

> I'm sure that would be flagged to death as low content snark. Also, it's possibly stupid saying anything at all because people who eat stuff like burgers and hot dogs will get all mad when you give your honest opinion that it isn't exactly gourmet health food. Tastes differ between people. I eat burgers and hotdogs because they're tasty, and their tastiness for me is inversely proportional to the amount of vegetabl…

I also used to feel largely this way, but it turns out my parents just weren't good at cooking tasty vegetables.

I encourage you to seek out an adventure by trying a vegetarian restaurant where the chefs know how to cook veggies. Truly breathtaking the difference in experience.

Re: A rise in vegetarian options leads customers to embrace meat-free meals

#40
post #35

Would someone who is a vegan answer this question I have and I mean no offense by it. Why do you want to eat vegetables that are fake meat or made to taste like meat ? It seems silly to me.

Personally, I miss the taste of meat sometimes, although that's happening less often these days. And meat tasting vegan dishes satisfy that need without the guilt that comes with killing an animal or destroying the planet.
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