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

nature.com

61–70 of 272 posts

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

#61
post #46
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…

I travel to Europe about once a year and I've noticed they're far behind the US in terms of vegetarian options. In the US it's been easy to get a high quality, vegetarian meal at almost any restaurant for at least a decade (edit: at least in metro areas; perhaps rural areas are different, although I haven't noticed this personally). Meanwhile in Europe it's almost impossible to get anything resembling a full meal. Li…

You can't really make a statement like that about "Europe" and be right, as the amount of options really varies throughout Europe. The UK has had a lot of options for vegetarians for a while, and outside of rural areas the Netherlands is excellent as well. But Hungary, for example, was far less easy (though still very doable) last time I checked it: the vegetarians in our group had to have grilled Camembert in practically every restaurant.

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

#62
This research is pretty laughable. Made by one university, 3 locations - ages/demographics are not represented properly at all, the cultural environment is the same (one university). The ratio of veg doubled (0.25 to 0.5) while the ratio of meat fell 33 % (0.75 to 0.5). Also it doesnt at all mention the in volume of the eaters: What if the people who predominantly eat meat simply stopped going to the cafeterias as often since the food choice became less interesting ?

They also say the sales rose 40%-80% - why is the range so big (and is it even reliable then)?

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

#63
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.

I like the taste of meat but I don't like how is it made. So if I can get a sensible substitute which hasn't been made killing animals, I'll eat it.

I'm not all day eating substitutes, as some of them are extremely processed, and also, I like vegetables and legumes, but I'll eat a Beyond burger or some other fake meat every once in a while.

You can think about it as in "I like my cell phone but I rather find something made with less suffering, so I'll buy a fairphone or something like that"

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

#64
i really think the way to getting millions to change their meat eating ways is one animal at a time. Don't tell a typical meat eater give up all meat. Tell them give up cows only. Then pigs. Then maybe stop there for a while. Exist on chicken and seafood and that would change the world. Just place cows and pigs in same category as dogs and cats and all of a sudden, wow, huge win for everyone.

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

#65
post #19
post #13

Speaking from personal experience, I've been eating a lot more plant-based meals now that Beyond and Impossible Beef are available in grocery stores. I wouldn't say I'm completely vegetarian but I'm 60% there.

You can describe this as a semi-vegetarianism or flexitarian diet.

Or, you know, just a regular diet.

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

#66
The thing is, you don't need to be entirely vegetarian to have a big impact on your environmental footprint, etc.

Many meals can do well, or even be improved, by having 'much less meat'. After all, meat has been a sign of prosperity for a long time, and so it's been stuffed into many recipes that probably don't need it, or that need much less of it than curretly practiced.

'less-itarian', if you like.

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

#67
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.

I am curious, and also don't mean any offense by it: why is this surprising or even silly to you? Has it been your believe so far that a major driver behind avoiding meet is the taste or texture?

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

#68
post #51

The study is on college kids.

You are downvoted for no reason. Not only that college kids are not representative for the entire population, but most importantly college kids tend not to have money. The article says: > variables that influenced dining choices included the relative prices of vegetarian and non-vegetarian options

Its not for no reason, they add nothing to the conversation. Their comment is redundant after having read past the first sentence in the article.

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

#69

This research is pretty laughable. Made by one university, 3 locations - ages/demographics are not represented properly at all, the cultural environment is the same (one university). The ratio of veg doubled (0.25 to 0.5) while the ratio of meat fell 33 % (0.75 to 0.5). Also it doesnt at all mention the in volume of the eaters: What if the people who predominantly eat meat simply stopped going to the cafeterias as of…

Most food related research is this terribly done - and of course the research that supports strong ideologies with a growing follower base reach the top.

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

#70
post #46
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…

I travel to Europe about once a year and I've noticed they're far behind the US in terms of vegetarian options. In the US it's been easy to get a high quality, vegetarian meal at almost any restaurant for at least a decade (edit: at least in metro areas; perhaps rural areas are different, although I haven't noticed this personally). Meanwhile in Europe it's almost impossible to get anything resembling a full meal. Li…

Where is “Europe”? London? Athens? Budapest? Kyiv? The availability of vegetarian-friendly food varies drastically from city to city. Half of the cities in this list of “Top Vegan Cities” are in Europe: London, Berlin, Warsaw, Paris, and Prague.

https://www.happycow.net/vegtopics/travel/top-vegan-friendly...

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