Hey You! Meat My Vegan Friend.
After a long year’s wait, I sit at my dinner table anxious to start Thanksgiving dinner. The different food smells surround the room: Turkey, Mashed Potatoes, Gravy, and Vegetables. The perfect combination! As I serve myself a plate of happiness, all I can think is “I could never be Vegan.”
According to CNN, in 2015, there were approximately 46 million turkeys killed for thanksgiving dinner. Surprised? Don’t be. Considering the nearly 319 million families in the US the number is relatively low. However, the number of turkeys could be higher if it wasn’t for the vegans and vegetarians.
As a dedicated meat eater and lover, I can’t help but wonder why someone would give up these delicious meats permanently. From the Stone Age to today, meals are, for the most part, based around meat, so why is it that people are giving it up?
Vegans and vegetarians may share similar values when it comes to food, but there is a big difference. A vegetarian will not eat meat, but meat-based products, such as eggs and milk, are okay. A vegan though has a much stricter diet, for they refuse to even eat these meat-based products.
According to One Green Planet, in 2014 there were approximately 16 million vegans/vegetarians in the United States alone. Sixteen million seems like a lot, but this is a mere 5% of US population. However, Google Trends reported there was a 3-fold increase in Veganism from 2005 to 2014.
Lifelong vegetarian Allie Jacobs says she always replaces the classic turkey dinner with “Spinach pie (spanakopita), eggplant Parmesan, candied yams, mashed potatoes, stuffed mushrooms, and potato latkes.” Even without the turkey, the dinner sounds delicious! Jacobs isn’t the only one with a tasty turkey-less dinner. Five year vegetarian, and now 6 month vegan, Josie Morenski also found turkey replacements, “You can have all the trimmings without any meat or meat-based products!”
Studies have shown that the three biggest reasons a person will give up meat are: health, animal protection, and social pressure. “When I took my blinders off and started to become educated on the commercial meat and dairy industry. I learned about the negative effects on my health, the environment, and the animals. It’s eye opening what a sunless Google search will bring,” said Morenski.
Despite the vegan and vegetarian beliefs, daily meat eater Haley Noviello couldn’t even imagine giving meat up, “I mean, don’t you need meats in your diet?” There are many health benefits to eating meat, but it actually isn’t a bodily requirement to eat meat (maybe the vegans are onto something). Really, all we need to do to survive is eat healthy, meat or no meat. “For a while I wasn’t eating at all, so I decided if I’m going to eat I may as well eat healthy,” said Alex Muller, who has been a vegetarian for a year and half.
What about those 45 million turkeys? Doomed to die from the day they were born. “We live in a world where the majority of the population are carnivores so statistics like that don’t bother me anymore because I don’t think things like that will change much over the years. I just wish there were safer and less dehumanizing ways to kill other animals. People don’t value animal’s lives as much as they should and I 100% think this world would be a better place if they did. It’s an important food source for the world though and people choose different ways to live their life so all in all it is what it is,” says Jacobs. And she’s right; there are only so many people who are willing to give meat up, even with the knowledge of animals dying for our dinner pleasure.
When she was a teenager, Sandra Scarpati was offered a chicken while visiting a friend’s farm. Excited for her new pet, she selected the most beautiful on the farm. It wasn’t until after dinner that she learned that the delicious chicken served at dinner was indeed the chicken she selected. Scarred, Scarpati gave up eating meat. Years later, she’s back to eating meat daily, and in fact cooks it! “I just don’t think about it anymore, I think I brainwashed myself,” she said, “And when you’re hungry you have no choice! But again, if I don’t see the animal suffering I’ll eat the meat.”
Some scientists predict that by 2050 the world will have to go vegetarian due to an unbalanced relationship between water and food. We can only imagine the quick rate of vegan and vegetarians growing over the course of the years to come. In fact, there are even restaurants dedicated to veganism now. by Chloe opened just last year and is constantly busy. Walking into the self-seating restaurant, it is nearly impossible to find somewhere to sit.
Many restaurants are now creating select menu items dedicated to their vegan customers. This vegan/vegetarian craze is relatively new to the food industry, so there aren’t many options on restaurant menus, but there are options. One day there may even be an entirely separate menu for vegans.
The world of food is taking a huge leap towards revolutionizing for the better of animals, health and other benefits of veganism and vegetarianism. With many new healthy, non-animal products being sold, there is a greater chance to living in a healthy world. For maybe next year there will be less turkeys killed for thanksgiving. As Mahatma Gandhi once said, “Violence begins with the fork.”
