The death of vegetarianism. Hurrah for the winner - veganism

Culture, Media, General Food Media and News
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I am a fan of the gentle satire of Scottish novelist, Alexander McCall Smith. Reading the 44 Scotland Street series, I had to laugh aloud when 6yr old Bertie’s classmates were introduced. One boy, Tofu, had vegan parents, so Bertie worried that it wouldn’t be long before Tofu succumbed to starvation.

That said, as an omnivore, I am happy when I find vegetarian and vegan dishes that I like. I actually prefer the flavor of the Impossible Whopper to the original, and of course am not deterred by the fact that the patty is cooked on the same grill as the beef ones are.

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22

Google finds me a reference to a 2020 survey commissioned by Warburtons (the bakers) about favourite sandwich fillings. Top ten were:

  1. Bacon
  2. Egg mayonnaise
  3. Sausage
  4. Cheese and pickle
  5. Tuna and mayonnaise
  6. Ham and cheese
  7. Cheese and tomato
  8. Chicken and bacon
  9. Chicken and stuffing
  10. Egg and cress

Interesting that a similar 40% do not contain meat/fish but are appealing to omnivores as well as vegetarians.

So, 40% include pork products so excluding non-meat eaters and those who do not eat pork for reasons of religious faith.

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Anecdotal observation aligns with the article.

This summarized it perfectly:
“I don’t think vegans have ruined everything for vegetarians. It’s down to lazy restaurateurs, I guess – doing one option to cover both,”

They could easily cater to both groups - by making the cheese, for example, optional. But that requires an extra step of thinking in designing the dish. Not in preparing - omnivores certainly tailor their dishes too, and restaurants have no trouble accommodating that.

I do think it’s much easier for vegetarians/vegans to find AN option today vs 5, 10, 20y ago. I remember my (vegetarian) mom at a fancy French restaurant with zero menu options - “please ask the chef to make me a plate, I’m sure it will be delicious.” And it was - it might have been the tastiest plate on the table.

Whixh brings me to something I haven’t seen mentioned yet: Vegetarianism is central to some cultures and religions. Calling it a “fad” is a western / US-Eurocentric viewpoint.

By adding explicit options to menus, restaurants are finally being inclusive of customers of those religions and cultures. And even if that inclusion is by way of a questionable path (celebrity diet endorsement, appropriation, whatever) - it does result in more inclusion, which is good at the end of the day.

Aside from that: I’m an omnivore - but I enjoy vegetarian / vegan apps and sides and order them myself. At italian restaurants, the vegetarian pasta is frequently more interesting to me because it incorporates seasonal ingredients that I enjoy more and is more creatively designed than - for example - yet another meat sauce.

Even in an omnivore household growing up, the bulk of our meals were vegetarian, for the same reasons that some today are reducing cumulative meat/fish consumption. I don’t mean 8/10 meals were vegetarian - but in a given meal, 80% of the plate could be vegetarian.

Re factory farming, since it’s been mentioned (and not to take this into a flaming tangent) - there’s a reason chicken can be found for 99c/lb - more expensive than many vegetables. Cost is always a consideration for consumption, as is the feeling of “abundance” when formerly dear ingredients become cheap.

Likening animal factory farming - a predominantly US problem - to plant factory farming is a false equivalence, and a lobbyist argument. Also why bbq documentaries are popular but factory farming documentaries are really not (and the latter usually incur significant personal risk to make). Another false equivalence is feeding the planet. And all these remind me of the older discussions bashing impossible / beyond burgers while extolling beef and bacon elsewhere.

There’s plenty of good information out there (not paid for somewhere in the background by US meat lobbies) without rehashing it here in soundbite form.

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According to a seafood industry organization (found with Google) almost half of Americans dislike fish and other seafood. That’s a big number.

I disagree, and I’m not an ag lobbyist. Fuel consumption and labor costs are pretty high for most fruit and veg, and fertilizer use is higher I believe than for animal feed. Like Impossible/Beyond marketing hype the story from the “woke” does not match reality.

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LESS expensive…

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Maybe I’m missing something, but how are vegetarians complaining that the non-meat dish is missing dairy or eggs any different from the meat-eater complaining that the seafood dishes don’t have any meat? No restaurant can possibly serve every conceivable combination. Making the vegetarian dishes vegan, especially on a limited menu, excludes fewer people.

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Lots of interesting discussion. I thought the original question was - if restos cater to either veg or vegans, why do they choose the latter? That’s an easy question. A veg can eat vegan, but a vegan can’t eat veg. So necessarily, if a resto wants to standardize their menu, and not just “make me a plate” when a needful customer comes along, that seems like the most efficient route.

That said, a few observations. I love when restos have choices. I love that a customer who has dietary needs or preferences can order something off the menu (labeling allergens is great). I dislike when menus are so limited that they don’t cater to different preferences, because then people who don’t WANT something say they CAN’T HAVE it, and it seriously undermines anyone with actual food limitations. Anaphylactic kid here in my HH to prove my street cred. If the menu is all meat protein, starch, veg, then that will be limiting to a bunch of people

Another thing - resto costs I would imagine are driven both by raw cost of ingredients as well the creativity of time to make a dish. While I love a quality steak or fish as much as the next omnivore, I don’t need it at every meal or even close. And I can probably cook a pretty good one myself. I personally am much more intrigued by what a creative talent in the kitchen can do with humbler ingredients. Many many many years ago a resto called Dirt Candy opened in NY. I read about it, never went, but was absolutely enthralled with their menu. I recall the items read like “carrots” “beets” “cauliflower” and the dishes had some 4 or 5 different components, all based on that veg, but all different preparations. That is something I would gladly pay for. So much more thinking goes into that than searing a steak.

What else? Eating less meat is very good for our bodies and our planet. So I’m a firm believer that even meat eaters should eat veg or vegan sometimes. I love that restos are giving options that make that easier for us. Not to mention that as a regular Joe, it is much easier to keep a vegetable garden than raise a cow or pig. Which encourages people to grow and raise their own food. And cook it. Which is all good.

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I’ve never had someone announce themselves an atheist apropos of nothing. Christians, on the other hand, are very front and center, in my experience.

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I’m atheist.

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I think this is the central idea…its not so much that they are specifically looking at vegans…but a vegan dish is by design vegetarian…and dairy free…and kosher (with the understanding that the kitchen is treff)…and possibly gluten free…

So its bot Hey Vegans! Its Heres a Meal that most of you can eat…

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938×844 141 KB

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And that declaration is not apropos of nothing, so…

The whole “yuk yuk vegans, amirite?” shtick seems based on some imaginary New Yorker cartoon from 50 years ago.

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I’m going to point out that the stuffing too often contains pork (certainly in most options I find meaning that I can’t eat them). (I won’t say more about the cheese situation, which is bad for the lactose intolerant or those who think cheese and mayo–one of the default options on so many sandwich catering boards-- is naff).

The tendency for chorizo to somehow be made available when someone wants to make a sandwich fancy is also frustrating.

I guess I could go on about the sandwich catering situation and what certain people will default to when picking. Vegetarian and vegan options, which are growing here, have made it so when lunch is catered just about everyone can eat it-.

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[Extremists are why we can’t have nice things.]

This is unnecessarily serious. Here’s some chocolate. Enjoy… :chocolate_bar:

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Nothing to do with extremism. Everything to do with being bored to death by the same old, same old complaints about the supposed problems caused by other people’s dietary choices.

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I’m in California, and remember it sounded intriguing to me too! One of the chefs was on a recent Beat Bobby Flag episode I watched. Any theories on why you think you never went?

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Here’s two more :chocolate_bar: :chocolate_bar: caffeine free!

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Not too sure if the vegan is winning. Several times we have friends that couldn’t eat certain food in restaurants, the result: the restaurant took out the food but charged the same price. Let’s say on the menu, you find soft-boiled egg with mushroom and vegetables, in this case for the vegan, the the dish would be served without the egg, but nothing to replace the egg.

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In fairness, eating off menu–even a little–costs more, cost being independent of price.

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Am reminded of an loud, offensive, demanding woman sitting very close to us in a tiny Paris restaurant. She purred at the waiter, “I just know that your excellent chef will whip up some fabulous vegan plates tonight.” This was a pre-set, no choice place. When her first plate arrived, she looked at it, then at her dining partner’s, and howled, “Why, it’s just like yours but without the meat!”

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