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

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

#161
post #93
post #72

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Which country? It highly depends. More veggie friendly: Germany, Sweden, UK. Less veggie friendly: Denmark, France. And then it depends on the region. (And with my few visits in the US I didn't find it particularly rich in vegetarian options, with the exception of San Francisco.)

More veggie friendly: Germany Even that is highly variable. Berlin, absolutely! Small town outside of Dresden, not so much.

True, rural eastern Germany is particularly difficult.

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

#162
post #150

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Wolves and coyotes don't have supermarkets. We have a choice to not act like wild animals. Animals also murder their own kind, can be cannibalistic and worse. Is it okay to do those things too because they happen in nature? We shouldn't (and don't) based our morals and behaviours on wild animals.

Where do you think supermarkets get food ? This is the disconnect so many people have.

The point was we can live long and healthy lives by going to the supermarket and buying non-meat food. We can survive now without making animals needlessly suffer (including paying others to kill animals on our behalf).

Some carnivorous wild animals have no choice but to hunt and eat prey alive to survive. We have a choice.

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

#163
I've been on a vegan diet the last 11 years. Starting while still living with my parents at 17, it forced me to try new foods and get better at cooking. Before I was mostly on a junk diet of fast food and frozen meals before changing my diet. I lost some weight and felt my energy levels increase. I mostly attribute this to having to skip on most fast food and sweets.

During the initial few years I ate a lot of meat and dairy replacements along with accidentally vegan junk food like oreos and the purple bag doritos. But around the 4 yr mark this stuff kinda lost its allure - too processed and artificial tasting (imo) to be foods I eat frequently.

The staples I landed on are just basic food: tofu, beans, rice, bread, noodles, vegetables, and fruit. I found not trying to reproduce American food improved my diet, was cheaper, and easier to share with people who don't follow a vegan diet. A vegetable curry is a lot easier to sell to someone you're sharing dinner with than something with a bunch of meat/dairy replacements. And it just tastes better.

I'll mix it up and have fake meat sometimes or indulge in junk like candy or chips. But my point is following a vegan diet is quite easy once you adjust your staples a bit. Also just go easy on yourself, if you're eating out the bread might have a little whey in it but I personally think that's okay. I'd rather just eat that than make it difficult for the people I'm dining with or to bug the server to go check. Eating 95% vegan for a lifetime is clearly better than burning out. This was a lesson that took a few years to learn as I was a pretty annoying vegan the first few years when I was in my teens/early 20's.

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

#164
post #158

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I don’t think it’s fair to expect an English-language, western-focused website to cover India. I doubt the average Westerner could name more than a city or two in India to begin with. Even then, I am skeptical as to the claim that contemporary western veganism, as a cultural phenomenon, is traceable to India. I would attribute it more to developments in western ethics and growing awareness of the realities of the mea…

Let's ignore India specifically, and call out "the whole rest of the world that isn't the US, Western Europe, and Israel". Why isn't it fair? You're saying "the best vegan cities in the world" and ignoring the vast majority of the world. Should I take this list as the definitive list of the objectively best vegan cities, or some westerner's take the subject? If you don't want to be judged on the world stage, don't br…

I only linked to the site as a response to the above poster, who was comparing Europe to America. If you have an issue with the title of the post I linked to, take it up with the author. Otherwise, this is a pointless pedantic argument that has nothing to do with the original reason I linked to the article.

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

#165
post #102

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Animal cruelty is an issue without eating meat being involved. That said, when you raise a cow and you know you are going to eat it most folks aren't so cruel. Kosher meats ( i have heard this ) are harvested with ethical methods. I think many people are too far removed from the process of how food is created.

How do you ethically and without cruelty keep then kill an animal that doesn't want to die usually 20% or less into its natural life span? > That said, when you raise a cow and you know you are going to eat it most folks aren't so cruel. Kosher meats ( i have heard this ) are harvested with ethical methods. https://kb.rspca.org.au/knowledge-base/what-is-kosher-slaugh... > For meat to be Kosher, the animal must be sla…

>If that's correct, how is that not cruel? Animals don't want to die

The animal will die regardless. The Native Americans would honor the animal and thank its spirit for the life force.

To me that seems quite ethical.

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

#166
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 eat them more as an affordance to other people. They're rarely my first choice, but if I'm eating with someone else and they've cooked or we're in a non-vegan restaurant then that might be my only available option.

Another reason is junk food. It's definitely harder to eat unhealthy food being a vegan, but sometimes you want to. I know places where I can go and eat a vegan burger for example, the type that is really greasy and slimy and disgusting. I don't go there often, but if I get that urge then it's nice to know that I can.

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

#167

Earlier quoted context omitted.

POV: Omnivore with a (previously) vegetarian spouse. We generally ate veg @ home One of my biggest issues with modern veg diets is all of the veg food trying to masquerade as other food. Soy bacon does not taste like, or taste as good as, real bacon. Tofu and Boca burgers do not taste like actual meat. But tofu and the like can taste amazing on its own merit . It's an ingredient with it's own flavors and textures, so…

Mock meat foods are a great way for restaurants to easily serve vegetarian or vegan plates with a simple substitution. They also make a massive number of recipes accessible to vegetarians or vegans. They also lower the barrier to entry for meat eaters to convert to eating less meat. I think they're really great in many ways. Downsides: they are highly processed, currently expensive, and of questionable nutritional va…

Trying to offer "bridge" foods that are vegetable versions of normal dishes doesn't help. It never is as good, at best it's "yeah...its OK." So you have only re-enforced the idea that vegetarian food will never be quiet as good as the "real thing".

On the off chance it is exactly like the meat its pretending to be then all your saying is "See? All you have to do is spend more for exactly the same thing!"

I might try a "Quenwopper" bowl for 9 bucks if they offered it at BK. I'm not spending 9 bucks on a burger who's entire selling point is that it tastes exactly like the cheaper burger.

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

#168

I always found vegan movement oddly close to religion. At my work, guy drives a car that has a custom VEGAN plate. I am not sure why I should know his dietary restrictions. I don't like liver. Do I add bumper indicating my dislike for liver consumption? Can someone rationalize it for me? Is it like sub-culture?

Veganism is not a dietary preference, it's a system of ethics. If there had been vanity plates in the 1910s there probably would have been some that said 5UFFR4G3, too. Veganism extends to all modes of consumption, not just food--for example, vegans don't buy leather or animal-tested makeup. Side note, to reduce confusion like yours, some people use 'plant-based' specifically to describe vegan food. People are vegan,…

This one is apparently OK with eradicating rats: https://gothamist.com/news/revolting-dead-rat-soup-future-ny...

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

#169

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.

BTW, pigs are approximately no worse than poultry (or even fresh fruit) for emissions per calorie. It's the ruminant s (like cow, sheep, goat, etc) that have methane emissions which screw things up.

Source: https://i0.wp.com/shrinkthatfootprint.com/wp-content/uploads...

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

#170
post #149

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…

Almost all studies about vegetarianism are born of an agenda to promote vegetarianism. To a meat eater, studying the effects of eating an all vegetable diet is the same as studying the effects of walking backwards everywhere you go: it's not something we'd ever consider doing so we see no value in studying the effects of doing it. Furthermore, meat eaters do not care if other people don't want to eat meat. As such, m…

What blocks you from even considering the option?

It's a little strange to see a comment so boastful of a lack of intellectual curiosity on HN.

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