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Vegan dining is undeniably growing, with an increase in
vegan restaurants in the UK and elsewhere in the world.
Vegan menu options at
restaurants that serve animal products are more common now, too. In fact, The Press Herald recently reported that even those who
eat meat at home are increasingly likely to order vegan food when dining out,
and magazine Marie Claire did a story featuring some of the
great options for vegetarians and vegans at UK and Ireland eateries.
Why meat-free?
According to the Harris Poll by the Vegetarian Resource
Group, well over a third of the non-vegetarian people who responded to their
poll sometimes order vegetarian meals when dining out. The reasons that were
given for choosing the veggie dish include health, cost, and animals.
Some people order off the vegan menu out of concern for
horrible damage that the meat industry is doing to the environment. (After all,
agriculture is responsible for at least a third of greenhouse gas emissions, with
around half of that coming from livestock.)
Others order from the vegan menu
because they fear otherwise having a dairy allergy ignored. Many people choose
vegan dishes because they are watching their cholesterol or otherwise trying to
avoid the negative consequences that eating meat can have on humans, too.
When talking about vegan dining, what many people don’t consider is that nearly
everyone eats a lot of vegan food already. Of course, fruits, vegetables,
grains, nuts, legumes, and many other dietary staples are already vegan.
People
can enjoy foods they already love when feeling adventurous and ordering from
the vegan menu. Half the fun can be trying new flavors and foods that people
never bothered with while eating animal-based products.
Impact on business
Tyson Foods, the biggest producer of meat in the United
States, even invested in Beyond Meat and also launched a venture capital fund
to invest in startups that aim to develop meat substitutes. The CEO even hinted
that the future is looking a lot more vegan, and earlier this year stated: “Plant-based protein is growing almost, at this point, a
little faster than animal-based, so I think the migration may continue in that
direction.”
Going into 2017, Modern Restaurant Management, a popular online
restaurant magazine, predicted that plant-based protein would be served in more
and more restaurants. According to the magazine, the industry is undeniably
growing, and ‘we will be seeing vegetable proteins throughout our dining
experiences’.
That prediction seems to be on solid ground.
The future is vegan
It’s easy to see why vegan dining would appeal to anyone. A
chef is only limited by their imagination in what they can do with vegan
ingredients, and the public increasingly wants healthier, more affordable, and
more compassionate food choices.
When going out to eat, people can order vegan options and
enjoy a delectable meal with all the flavor they crave and the nutrition they
need. Why, then, would anyone order a meat-based dish with all the harm it can
cause the environment, one’s personal health, and, of course, the animals who
were killed for it?
It seems the world is waking up to the fact that vegan
dining is, indeed, the future.
