{"id":6824,"date":"2021-10-18T09:48:17","date_gmt":"2021-10-18T13:48:17","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/wp.umpi.edu\/utimes\/?p=6824"},"modified":"2025-07-09T12:27:59","modified_gmt":"2025-07-09T16:27:59","slug":"the-rise-of-veganism","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wp.umpi.edu\/utimes\/2021\/10\/18\/the-rise-of-veganism\/","title":{"rendered":"The Rise of Veganism"},"content":{"rendered":"

If you told people 30 years ago that you were vegan<\/strong>, they would think you were talking about a religion. Nobody was used to that word. What? No meat? No milk or eggs, either? No honey<\/strong>? What else was left to eat?<\/p>\n

Animal products have been at the heart of most cultures. In Brazil, for example, Nestl\u00e9 took over in the ’60s. Its condensed milk only was used to make baby formulas, at first. Then, it had the idea to create sweet recipes. That was a success. From then on, condensed milk was the main ingredient of every Brazilian dessert. Even in India, where there is a strong vegetarian culture, many traditional dishes contain milk.<\/p>\n

For a long time, vegans had to stay out of most gatherings and dinner parties. It was too much work to cook for them when every classic dish had animal products. The lifestyle was considered strict and difficult to stick to, and only for crazy tofu-eaters.<\/p>\n

But it’s not that vegans loved tofu and vegetables. They just had no other option. The first plant-based cheeses on the market were horrible. Desserts and treats existed in only a few stores, and they were expensive. There\u2019s no doubt that a lot has changed since then.<\/p>\n

In the last 10 years, there has been a big shift in the market. Plant-based products are everywhere. As the movement grows, big companies have started creating vegan versions of their products. Today, Ben & Jerry’s offers 19 vegan versions of its ice cream flavors in the USA. Most fast-food chains will have at least one vegan option on their menu.<\/p>\n

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Eat your greens. Photo: Green Burger.<\/p><\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

In Australia, the Facebook community \u201cFriendly Vegans in Melbourne\u201d has almost 20,000 members. Sara Toucan, one of the moderators, has been vegan for nine years. \u201cThe community is generally great. Like any group of people, there are different ideas and personalities. We don\u2019t all think the same just because we are vegan,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

And what do vegans want to see on the market? Many people believe that being vegan means eating as healthy as possible. \u201cThat is a popular myth,\u201d Toucan said. \u201cA lot of us just want vegan versions of the food that we used to love. I do know from social media that vegans are far more excited to see a post about junk food than a photo of a salad.\u201d<\/p>\n

Toucan could not be more correct. Owen Westman decided to open a vegan fast-food restaurant after living in California. There, he saw the demand for plant-based patties, such as Beyond Meat and Impossible Burger. After moving back to Australia, he worked for nine months on his own recipe. He created something so good that he convinced a Bitcoin millionaire to invest in the idea. Two months later, Green Burger was born.<\/p>\n

Westman sees fast food as a crucial step to make veganism popular. \u201cThe vegan movement needs be part of the modern lifestyle. The best way to convince people to make a change is to make it as easy as possible,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

For those who want to experiment in the kitchen, many bakers and chefs share their recipes online. There are videos with simple steps that can help all recreate their favorite dishes. People also feel more motivated to cook now that there are good substitutes for ingredients such as eggs, milk, cream and butter. For those who want to have a healthier diet, there are plenty of options as well.<\/p>\n

And what can we expect of the future? \u201cAs more and more companies start to compete, and there is more demand, good-quality vegan food will become much more accessible,\u201d Westman explained. With so many possibilities, we can expect society to depend less and less on animal products. We all know we should live healthier lives. But these changes mean that people can also satisfy their cravings. They can eat their favorite treats in front of the TV, celebrate holidays\u2026 and, why not? Leave animals alone.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

If you told people 30 years ago that you were vegan, they would think you were talking about a religion. Nobody was used to that word. What? No meat? No milk or eggs, either? No honey? What else was left to eat? Animal products have been at the heart of most cultures. In Brazil, for […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":104,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[7381],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6824","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-archives","et-doesnt-have-format-content","et_post_format-et-post-format-standard"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.umpi.edu\/utimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6824","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.umpi.edu\/utimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.umpi.edu\/utimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.umpi.edu\/utimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/104"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.umpi.edu\/utimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6824"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/wp.umpi.edu\/utimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6824\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8235,"href":"https:\/\/wp.umpi.edu\/utimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6824\/revisions\/8235"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.umpi.edu\/utimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6824"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.umpi.edu\/utimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6824"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.umpi.edu\/utimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6824"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}