This week, the president of AVS contributed the vegan perspective to one of the most popular news sources in the the US. Working with Media Planet and hosted by Modern Wellness Guide, the Family Health campaign including Freya Dinshah‘s vegan explainer went out to the half a million digital subscribers to USA Today. The campaign was also featured in print versions of USA Today. The AVS piece of this wellness campaign addresses the question of Why More Families Are Eating Vegan.
As Dinshah makes clear, the old notion of vegan living as a hardship is quickly falling by the wayside as the availability of vegan alternatives increases, driven by demand: “Consumer preferences have driven food-service companies to provide plant-forward, climate-healthy menus that lower greenhouse gas emissions. These initiatives mean that sports venues, colleges, schools, hospitals, and prisons are now offering familiar-style meals with the new plant alternatives to meat, hot dogs, fish, cheese, and eggs.”
Why is all this change happening? Dinshah, who has been tracking the growth of vegan interest in the US for the past 60 years, has the answer: “Because people are trying vegan and liking it. They are feeling the benefits,” she says, and “realizing the values.” In beauty shops, she notes, you may find people exchanging recipes for vegan cheese, or at the auto shop, people comparing vegan burgers.
Freya Dinshah points out that there’s no one single vegan cuisine — it works with everybody’s comfort foods. “America’s favorite foods have appeared in vegan guise,” she says, adding: “Family traditions like German, Mediterranean, Mexican, Indian, Indonesian, Chinese, and Ethiopian meals adapt very well and can be retained. Spice up family life and experience world cuisines in a way that can sustain the Earth.
“As more people share these meals, the easier it becomes.”
