Is Veganism Here To Stay Or Is It Just A Food Fad?

Every diet comes as a trend, and every trend comes and goes! So the question is: Will veganism stay here or not? Famous nutrition expert and youth icon, Rujuta Diwekar quotes, “A diet that is only raw, or vegan will say it’s going to help you solve diabetes and obesity; a diet that is only meat will also say the same.” The problem with such diet trends like veganism is that it creates a lot of confusion and debate. But, before we analyze whether veganism is a faddist trend or does it have a promising future, let us understand what Veganism is and how it started. 

A popular food trend of today, Veganism, started as a challenge in 2014 when a UK-based non-profit organization asked people to remove all animal products from their diet in the month of January; the challenge was called Veganuary. It started growing slowly and in 2020, it saw a turning point when Golden Globes announced its first-ever vegan menu in collaboration with the Veganuary challenge. With many celebrities going vegan soon after, it gradually started becoming a cult. While the term ‘Veganism’ wasn’t coined until the 1940s, the history of a vegan diet dates back to 2000 years ago when Indian and Mediterranean societies adopted an all-plant diet to promote benevolence among all species as suggested by Greek philosopher and mathematician Pythagoras. 

Today, there are about 79 million vegans in the world. However, this number accounts for less than one percent of the population, which suggests a large proportion either eats meat or is vegetarian. One of the main reasons to go vegan is to stop animal cruelty. However, many turned vegan due to health reasons. Veganism has recently been in the news; there has been extensive discussion to reduce meat consumption to curb environmental damage. 

Meat is a rich source of several essential nutrients like protein, iron, and vitamin B12 while dairy products are rich in calcium and protein. As vegans exclude both meat and dairy products from their diet, they need to obtain these nutrients from other sources. While plant-based products too can cater to these nutrients, they generally lack them or are very expensive to procure. For example, vegans substitute regular milk with almond milk which can be a costly affair for many people. The  vegan diet also lacks Vitamin B12 as it is not present in plants and can be obtained through fortified foods and/or vitamin pills. Certain plant-based meat alternatives such as tofu and tempeh (rich in protein and Vitamin B12) are popular in Asian cuisines and bear little resemblance to meat. The problem is not with adopting a vegan diet, but what is bizarre is the introduction of plant-based meat brands which seems unstoppable. The sale and consumption of Vegan meat brands like Impossible, Beyond Meat, and Gardein skyrocketed amid lockdown and people began to eat dishes like burgers, wings, and steaks made out of vegetables. The complex preparation of soy, oil, yeast, and potatoes is designed to look, feel, and even bleed like meat. Some companies are even trying to make lab-grown meat. Despite the newer tactics to make veganism more sellable, the sale of vegan meat declined, and vegan meat ventures like Impossible and Beyond Meat witnessed a slump. Many customers reviewed that vegan meat has a bland taste and weird texture. Also, the problem is with cost. Vegan meat is two to four times costlier than traditional meat. 

Hence, the questions arise: 

1. Is plant-based meat really a solution to reduce carbon footprint or is it just about the taste and meat-eaters turning to vegans missing out on meat? 
2. Is it the right way to shift people away from meat by offering a highly processed imitation of burgers, sausages, and steaks?

The biggest victims of these fancy, labeled, and packaged foods are farmers who, with their growing demands, start to sell cash crops such as soy and peanuts. Animal husbandry has been a part of our farming system and the livelihood of many farmers depends on that. Veganism as a diet is definitely environment-friendly. The question of whether going vegan is better for your health is multifaceted. While veganism can be a morally driven and environmentally conscious lifestyle choice, it’s important to know that it is not that nutritionally dense, and certain vegan products are highly processed too. There is no scientific evidence that those who are adopting a vegan diet tend to be fitter than those who eat meat. Our health depends on many factors; sleep and exercise being two of them. Anything that is home-cooked and in moderation is good, be it meat products. Then, why does the food and fitness industry ask you to eliminate meat products from your diet if you’re a meat eater or worse, ask you to start having meat for protein if you’re vegetarian? In a world full of pesticides and preservatives in our food, our concerns and phobias are easily targeted- weight loss being the one and not eating right being the other. Why do we need to punish ourselves for being fat? Instead of losing weight, we tend to lose our minds over faddist diets and fast-changing trends. 

Veganism and vegetarianism are fine, and so is meat eating; what is not fine is constantly experimenting with our diets and falling prey to modern and less traditional food practices that tend to sell everything refined in a packaged form. To conclude, veganism in its true form is an old practice and is definitely going to stay but the highly processed and refined vegan food practices like vegan meat do more harm than good. I am no nutrition expert but as a reader and writer, I am most certain that these crazy and faltering diet trends are not the ones to follow!