Veganism is Booming – You’re Not Alone!

Every day I hear about another fashion company that’s banning fur, a region banning animal testing on cosmetics, a vegan brand going public and their stock prices shooting up, a fast food restaurant offering veggie burgers, another dairy farm closing, or another vegan restaurant opening.

Have you been to the milk section of the grocery store lately? I don’t know about yours, but mine has been overtaken by non-dairy alternatives: creamers, milk, whipped cream, sour cream… all vegan. And it’s only getting bigger.

The days of hockey puck soy burgers and boring tofu are long gone. 

Here’s just the tip of the iceberg: 

• Ghirardelli has added vegan ice cream to its shops nationwide
• The Queen of England recently gave a speech that lays out plans for new animal welfare laws in the UK
• Vegan meat sales were $13 billion in 2020, topping 2019’s total of $11 billion (Polaris market research)
• Hermes and Stella McCartney are embracing vegan mushroom leather
• Dunkin Donuts Netherlands just launched 40 vegan donut flavors
• Poultry giant Tyson has launched plant based burgers, bratwursts, and italian sausages for summer, and Nathans has debuted a plant based hot dog
• Just Egg has replaced 40 million eggs
• The new Tesla Model 3 is 100% vegan
• Sephora is banning mink fur lashes
• Gordon Ramsey announced in March he’s going vegan
• You can get an Impossible Whopper at Burger King, a Beyond Patty at Carls Jr, veggie patty subs and “meatball” subs at Subways, vegan bean tacos at Taco Bell, Beyond meat at Del Taco, and vegan burgers at McDonalds, Johnny Rockets, Fat Burger, Shake Shack, and White Castle. 

This way of life isn’t going anywhere.

Unlike vegetarians, vegans don’t consume any animal products at all, compared to vegetarians who will have products from animals that don’t result in them being killed (mostly milk and eggs.) Right now, the total number of vegans, vegetarians, and all related categories, is close to 14 percent of the world population. However most are making the complete transition to veganism. It has been so robust that the Economist declared 2019 the “Year of the Vegan.”

According to Vegetarian Times, about 10 million of Americans are vegetarian, with roughly 10 percent of those strictly vegan, while the number in the UK has quadrupled in the past five years. 

In contrast to Atkins, paleo, keto, and the Mediterranean diet, going vegan is about more than just you and me as individuals. People are getting privy to the positive effects this change has on the environment, too.

Going vegan could be the “single biggest way” to reduce your environmental impact on the planet, according to researchers at the University of Oxford. They found that cutting meat and dairy products from your diet could reduce your carbon footprint from food by upwards of 70%.

This way of life also weighs on people’s consciousness. I don’t know about you, but one of my favorite pastimes is looking at animal videos on the internet. It’s not too hard to make the connection. Going vegan is one of the best things you can do to help stop animal cruelty.

By refusing to pay for animal products, you reduce the demand for them, which ensures fewer animals are bred to suffer and die on farms and in slaughterhouses. 99% of farmed animals in the U.S. live in factory farms. All that aside, I just can’t have it on my conscience to kill and consume an animal because I don’t feel like preparing a more wholesome alternative. 

To each their own. 

You’ll see and likely already know that what and how people eat is very personal, and is embedded in our cultures, traditions, and history. 

Know that people will always have something to say, but you’re the one who makes the decisions about what you eat, and what’s served at your table. What you buy at the grocery store and feed your kids. And you’re on the right track. Soon they might be joining you!

Focus on your health, the good your doing for the planet and animals, and how great you’ll feel in no time by switching to a way of life your body will thank you for.