Happy 2019, one and all!
With Veganuary on everyone’s horizons, it’s no wonder that this question should be asked, as The Times recently did.
Is veganism the future of food, or a cynical marketing fad?
In my view, it’s neither.
Here’s why.
I speak as one who was vegetarian for a good year at least before meeting my French husband. France, as we all know, is the land where in the ingredients of vegetarian sausage one of the first you will see is chicken.
(Pour les Français, if it’s only got two legs, or perhaps none at all, then it’s all good. They would likely empathise with comedian Bill Bailey, who once quipped, “I’m a vegetarian, but I’m not strict. I eat fish. And duck. Well, they’re pretty much fish, aren’t they really? They’re semi-submerged most of the time, spend a lot of time in the water…And I eat cows, pigs, sheep, anything that lives near water. So, I’m not strict. I’m a postmodern vegetarian. I eat meat ironically.”)
So I gave up vegetarianism knowing that I was joining the fold of a quintessentially southern French family in a place where not eating meat is incredibly far from the norm. (Even though of course French vegetarian dishes exist, such as vichyssoise, quiche, omelette, and ratatouille, these are often considered side dishes, or starters, as opposed to the main event.) Plus, let’s be honest: I did also miss actual sausages.
Now, though, I have converted said French husband to the wonders of vegetarian and even vegan food. A lot of the food we eat *is* vegetarian and vegan, and not a single dodgy meat-replacement product in sight. We do still eat meat and fish, but nowhere near every day, preferring to eat these things less often, and to consume better-quality, more ethically-sourced specimens of them when we do. It also lowers the food bills and keeps us healthier, as well as opening up swathes of vegetarian and vegan dishes from other cuisines, including Italy, India, Mexico, and China.
So it’s understandable that especially among millennials (yes, I hate the term too), vegetarianism and veganism are growing in popularity. People of this age group tend to be internationally-minded and well-travelled. They are environmentally-conscious (it’s a well-established fact that it’s more green to produce grains than meat) and healthier too.
On this basis, I don’t consider vegetarianism and veganism to be mere marketing fads. Of course there’s money to be made – just as in the production of anything, if you know your audience – but there’s solid science and ethical reasoning behind choosing to eat vegetarian and vegan dishes, even if you’re more of a ‘flexitarian’ who still eats meat and fish sometimes.
But here’s why I also don’t think it’s the future of food (at least, not to the extent of eliminating meat consumption completely).
It’s true that things may change over time. However, meat-eating is undeniably a large part of Western culture and most countries are going to be reluctant to give up their national classic dishes that contain it, whether it’s toad-in-the-hole in the UK, hot dogs in America, blanquette de veau in France, spaghetti bolognese in Italy, stamppot in Holland…you name it. While deliciousness is clearly subjective, it’s obvious that enough people relish the flavour to keep these dishes on menus everywhere. Human tastes are not going to go away. And, sorry – we evolved to eat meat. So even if you, as a vegan or vegetarian, have managed to suppress these natural urges (if you will), chances are that most of the population will not. If nothing else, most people also lack the willpower to stay away from foods they like – even if they are warned that red meat might give them cancer.
People will also always argue that this is a calculated risk – that perhaps they don’t eat sufficient amounts of red meat to do them harm, that red meat also contains valuable nutrients (it’s true as well!), and that you run a greater risk of cancer from other behaviours. Relative risk is certainly an important consideration.
As usual, then, it doesn’t do to try to pigeonhole everything into overly simplistic and binary categories (but then again, that’s what seems to pass for journalism these days). As usual, everything in moderation probably does you good – pointing towards a more flexitarian future, especially as vegetarianism and veganism (even on a part-time basis) become more acceptable. My lunch today was egg-fried rice with lots of vegetables, coming in at a mere 304 calories. My dinner today, however, will be churrasco chicken: a cool 540 calories and likely followed by chocolate and coffee. BRING IT. Oh, and happy Veganuary.
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