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This is not Meat!
I have never consumed meat in my life. This was never
a problem for me. Indian cuisine contains the largest
number of vegetarian dishes in the world. A slight
problem does arise when my family steps outside of the
house. For a long time, my family was limited in the
places we could go to and the food we could eat. We
have never been to a McDonald's. We stay clear from
KFC. Since we've been vegetarian all our lives, we
have been placed at an advantage. We have learned to
manage and can find places that serve vegetarian food.
Some people start out and meat eaters, but then make a
choice to go vegan or vegetarian, even if they are
enormous fans of meat. 2019 has seen the increased
popularity of Impossible Foods and Beyond Meat. These
brands produce plant-based meat and have begun to
partner with many major chain restaurants to sell this
"meat." What lead to these chains making that
decision?
"Strategic decisions are long-term decisions that will
place the business at a profitable position." If so
many restaurants chains are adopting plant based meat,
it means that there is a market for it. It wasn't long
ago were vegan and vegetarians would be at the ends of
offensive jokes. This has since changed. According to
Forbes there has been a 600% increase (1% to 6%) in
the number of individuals who have gone vegan or
vegetarian since 2014 to 2017 in the United States.
This data didn't include the "flexitarians." These are
the individuals who are not full fledged vegan, but
simply prefer plant-based meat compared to regular
meat. 6% of the United States population is 19.542
million Americans. Restaurants chains are losing out
on 19.542 million potential customers. If these
potential customers cannot receive food from these
restaurants, then they will spend their money on
packaged products instead. Sales of plant-based foods
in grocery stores grew by 17%, in tandem with the
growth of the vegan market. This is especially
significant when considering that the overall US
grocery store sales only increased by 2%. Now 95% of
grocery stores in the United States sell plant-based
food. Restaurants and grocery stores are different
industries, but both deal with food consumption.
Clearly, restaurants chains noticed the attractive
profit numbers grocery stores would release due to
plant-based alternatives. There are around 23
restaurants chains in the United States that either
serve the Impossible Food or Beyond Meat.
What resulted in the growth of veganism anyway?
According to the BBC, people normally change their
food lifestyles for one, or a combination, of the
following reasons. The first is that many people are
disturbed by the idea that their food was once a
sentient being. This ethical argument has resulted in
many becoming vegan as a simple means to protest
against animal cruelty. The second issue is
environmental. The world population is not getting
smaller, and it will continue to grow for hundreds of
years. A growing number of meat consumers means a
growing number of livestock. They deplete land,
require significant water-use, and consume crops.
These are resources that could otherwise go to humans.
The flatulence of cows has also been found to release
methane, a greenhouse gas that is more effective at
trapping heat and warming the planet than
carbon-dioxide. Some of those in the developed world,
who have been privileged enough to have the
opportunity to learn about the environmental effects
of eating meat do make the decision to go vegan. The
third if health. It is a myth that vegan diets lack
certain nutrients. Vegan diets can create perfectly
rounded meals and they reduce the risk of high
cholesterol, high blood pressure, heart disease and
cancer. Through the intense spread of this
information, more and more people have become opted to
become vegan.
How did this information spread? America as a society
loves its celebrities. A majority of the highest paid
actors, musicians, and athletes make most of their
money from endorsements rather than their actual line
of work. Americans follow their favorite celebrities
on the internet, specifically their social media, very
closely. So when people like Natalie Portmann, Ellen
Degeneres, or Madonna reveals that they are vegan,
their millions of followers are likely to take notice,
and may perhaps even be interested enough to undergo
some more research. People now have an incentive to
change their food habits. Social media is an important
component in understanding the vegan trend. Going
vegan used to be rare because it would be something
that a person would have to do by themselves. Now,
there are over 126 million instagram posts related to
vegan food. Animal rights organization PETA has 1.1
million followers on twitter. Social media has not
only given people an outlet to learn about veganism,
but it allows for those who are already vegan to find
and build a community with other vegans. Katie
Pevreall, a UK based journalists, believes that this
is the ultimate reason why plant-based meat
alternatives have become so popular. Now there is an
online community that discusses vega food on a daily
basis. With so many conversations about vegan food,
the standard has gone up. People don't just want to
replace a burger patty with black beans. Even the mock
meat products that already existed have been deemed by
many as subpar. Vegan now want the full
experience: the texture, the taste, the juiciness.
They want meat, without eating meat.
Then one day, Carl's Junior announced they would
introduce a plant based burger, and the burger made
money. Soon more chains followed. More chains earned
money. The demand for the burgers is unprecedented.
CNN reported that Impossible Foods has seen growth in
every sales category: "small restaurants, chains,
theme parks and college campuses." Many locations have
reported that they have ran out of Impossible Food.
The product will be made available in about 1,500
colleges, corporate cafeterias, and even hospitals.
People love having a healthy meat alternative. In
August of 2019, KFC announced they would test
plant-based chicken with Beyond Meat. In that same
month Starbucks announced they would also be testing a
plant-based alternative. The next month McDonald's,
the largest and most wealthy restaurant chain,
announced testing a partnership with Beyond Meat.
Switching to vegan is no longer a struggle. The same
food lifestyle can be maintained. People are just
eating more plants, and they can barely taste the
difference.
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