Vegetarianism and Veganism is the biggest food trend of the last couple of years. Those kinds of diets used to be fairly rare and the majority of people ate meat and dairy on a regular basis. While a lot of people are still eating animal products, the number of people that are cutting them out has exploded over the last couple of years. Between 2014 and 2017, there was a 600% increase in the number of people that eat vegan diets. That’s a massive change in our eating habits and the increase in veganism shows no signs of slowing down, which raises some questions about the future of food for everybody.
There are two main reasons that people decide to go vegan in the first place. Initially, Veganism was all about animal welfare. The methods that are used to farm meat aren’t always the most humane and a lot of people don’t like that, so they decide not to eat animal products. But in the last couple of years, it’s really taken off for different reasons. People are more concerned about global warming and the impact that they’re having on the planet. Meat farming releases a lot of greenhouse gases when compared with growing vegetables and a lot of trees are cut down to create space for grazing animals. It’s the environmental aspect of veganism that has really driven its growth these past few years. So, if so many more people are going vegan, what is going to happen to the food industry and how will it change the way that we eat.
Fast Food Restaurants
If people are turning against big scale meat production, are fast food restaurants going to be able to survive? Companies like Mcdonalds are producing so much beef and chicken but if all of the vegans aren’t going to go in there, will they be able to carry on? A lot of people, including the people that run fast food restaurants have been asking this question but don’t worry, if you love fast food you’ll be glad to know that it doesn’t look like they’re going anywhere. There are still plenty of meat eaters out there and one of the main reasons that fast food restaurants do so well is because of the price. If you look at the Fastfoodmenuprice website and compare those prices with a fancy vegan street food place, you’ll see a big difference. Vegan restaurants are popping up all over the place and a lot of them are fairly reasonably priced, but when you compare them with fast food, it’s clear that people won’t be able to afford to eat at these places all of the time.
Fast food restaurants have already been very quick to act as veganism has spread because they can see that it’s going to be a big problem for them if they don’t change their menus. Mcdonalds have already launched their own vegan burger and vegan nuggets in some locations around the world, with plans to roll them out all over. A lot of other fast food places are doing the same so they can still give options to non-meat eaters. The only issue is that a lot of vegans still don’t want to eat in these places because they don’t want to support a company that is still using a lot of meat.
Home Cooking Options
Vegan food isn’t just for restaurants. A lot of food companies have and supermarkets have been sensible enough to start offering their own vegan choices for home cooking. There are companies like Quorn who have been offering vegetarian meat alternatives for a while but, until now, they were cornering the market. In the last few years though, lots of new companies have popped up selling lots of vegan meat alternatives, milk substitutes, and even vegan cheese. A lot of these companies aren’t just aiming for people that are already vegans either, they’re aiming for customers that are meat eaters but might be thinking about cutting down. Companies like Impossible Food are trying to create products that look and taste exactly like meat, so you can’t tell the difference. They’ve even made a burger that bleeds like real meat and a lot of other companies are developing similar products.
Health Issues
Health is a big issue when it comes to veganism. On the one hand, you have a lot of people that say that meat and dairy aren’t great for you and you’ll be a lot healthier if you eat an entirely plant based diet. On the other hand, a lot of people have raised concerns about vegan diets because a lot of the protein and nutrients that you need traditionally come from meat, so they say that it’s not good for you to cut it out entirely. So, who’s right? Actually, they’re both sort of right. It’s true that you do need a good amount of protein in your diet and there are a lot of vegans that aren’t getting that. However, it is possible to eat a plant based diet and still get everything that your body needs, you just need to spend more time planning what you eat to make sure that you’re getting enough protein in.
Where Does Meat Fit In?
So, if a vegan diet can be healthy, it’s good for the planet, and we’ve got lots more options for vegan eating, does that mean meat is going to disappear from our diets completely? That’s not really likely to happen. What’s more likely is that people will adopt a flexitarian diet where they eat meat once or twice a week as a treat and have vegan food the rest of the time. If you’re hosting a dinner party or going out to a nice restaurant, you might have some meat. But when people are just cooking at home, they’re more likely to go for a vegetarian or vegan option. A reduction in meat sales may also mean that it’s more expensive as people are only buying it occasionally.
At the moment, we can only guess at how Veganism is going to change the way that we eat, but what is certain is that food won’t look the same in ten years.
