Vegetarianism: Movement Or Moment: Promoting A Lifestyle For Cult Change

7. The Food Industry’s Role in Promoting and Gaining Acceptance for Vegetarian Diets

7 The Food Industry’s Role in Promoting and Gaining Acceptance for Vegetarian Diets There is a lot of volume [in a vegetarian meal], yet a claim is made for “lightness.” Such a meal offers a suggestion that we might after all obey the paradoxical modern and consumerist injunction, “Eat, eat, eat—but stay thin, thin, thin.” —Margaret Visser, “The Sins of the Flesh” Shopping for vegetarian foods today is much easier than it was twenty years ago. Veggie burgers, “not dogs,” and tofu can be found in most grocery stores, even in remote areas. Most communities have at least one local health food store, and many support a food co-operative (or co-op), making it easy to find vegetarian foods, organic produce, and bulk goods such as grains and nuts. Large mainstream grocery chains, such as Wegmans and Safeway, have “natural foods” sections, and large natural foods grocery store chains such as Fresh Fields and Bread and Circus are expanding. Even online , at such websites as Villageorganics.com and nomeat. com, consumers can easily purchase a wide variety of vegetarian specialty food items. At the same time, restaurants are also offering more vegetarian options. Although there has been a slow but steady 131 growth in the number of strictly vegetarian restaurants, a more marked trend has been the increasing availability of vegetarian meals, including ethnic dishes, in conventional restaurants . Mainstream restaurants often promote these items as “heart healthy” or “low fat” rather than as “vegetarian.” In 1992, as a result of the findings of a Gallup Poll conducted for the National Restaurant Association, the organization advised its members to offer more vegetarian meals.1 Over the past several years, many restaurants, including even some fast-food restaurants, seem to have heeded this advice. In addition, most colleges and universities, as well as many elementary and high schools, now offer vegetarian meal options. In recent years, the vegetarian food industry has flourished . Concern about fat intake; the desire to consume more natural, less-processed foods; and interest in the potential health benefits of soyfoods all contribute to this trend. However , most people (80 percent, according to one study) who consume such meat alternatives as tofu and veggie burgers are not vegetarians,2 and neither are many people who order vegetarian meals in mainstream restaurants. The vast majority of people who consume these foods are concerned with their personal health rather than with ethical issues associated with meat consumption or with association with a vegetarian identity . In one sense, the wider availability of vegetarian products and entrées has made vegetarianism seem more acceptable and easier to adopt. Vegetarians are now less frequently asked, “What do you eat?” and less likely to have difficulty finding meal options when dining out with their meat-eating friends and family members. This increased acceptance and availability , however, has not led to a dramatic increase in the percentage of the U.S. and Canadian population that adheres to a vegetarian diet. It seems that “vegetarian” has simply become one more option, like “Mexican” or “Thai,” on the menu. Instead of identifying as vegetarians, many people “eat vegetarian”—on occasion, for health reasons or variety. For 132 Chapter 7 some people, eating a vegetarian meal one evening may make them feel more comfortable about eating a big juicy steak the next. Occasional vegetarian meals, in other words, may help relieve the guilt associated with eating “unhealthful” red meat. The mainstreaming of vegetarian foods in grocery stores, restaurants, schools, and even hospital food service provides an opportunity for the vegetarian movement to promote the benefits of vegetarian diets. Vegetarian groups can use the easy availability of tasty, low-cost, satisfying vegetarian meals as a key selling point to attract new members. The wide variety of these foods has helped remove the sense of deprivation that many people have associated with vegetarianism. The commercialization of vegetarian foods, which suggests that the food industry has co-opted vegetarianism as a menu choice, can have both positive and negative consequences for the vegetarian movement. It presents a strong opportunity for the vegetarian movement to capitalize on a cultural environment in which vegetarian menu choices are acceptable. But it may also serve to further dilute the vegetarian collective identity. Vegetarian Foods Go Mainstream Manufacturing and selling such vegetarian-friendly foods as veggie burgers and veggie hot dogs is becoming an increasingly lucrative business. Between 1996 and 1997, for...