I've been vegan for more than forty years. And let me tell you, being vegan in 2024 is a whole different block of tofu than it was in 1984. It feels as though I've moved from a lonely desert to Planet Vegan.
Have older relatives ever regaled you with, "how things were back in my day?" When I complained that it was too hot or too cold to walk the four blocks to elementary school, my mother used to tease me that she had to walk uphill to school, both ways.
Image credit: Brigitte Werner from Pixabay
Now that I'm 60, I'm wondering if there wasn't a kernel of truth in these
many tales of years gone by. Now I'm the one reminiscing and getting
doubtful looks!
You see, I've been vegan for more than forty years. And let me tell you,
being vegan in 2024 is a whole different block of tofu than it was in 1984.
It feels as though I've moved from a lonely desert to Planet Vegan.
Back then, most city streets were still dotted with phone booths and pay
phones—no Netflix, social media, Uber, or even…[gasp!] Google. And there
certainly weren't hundreds of Whole Foods stores nationwide! To obtain even
a fraction of the limited number of vegan products available, I would take
the subway with my mom from Brooklyn to Manhattan every few weeks to shop at
Bell Bates, an independent store established in 1885. They sold natural and
organic products and supplements until closing in 2013.
Photo credit: Łukasz Dudzic from Pixabay
At Bell Bates, I could get nutritional yeast and tofu, which were rarities
then and basically nonexistent on restaurant menus. I would stock up on Loma
Linda canned plant-based meats, such as hamburgers and hotdogs. Boca Burger,
Impossible Foods, Tofurkey and the rest simply didn't exist. Today I can
walk into Kroger and buy different types of tofu, including their organic
store brand—mind-blowing!
Back in the day, going to work or school meant I had to bring my own snacks
and lunches if I wanted to eat. Every day. No exceptions. And while I've
always loved cooking, vegan cookbooks were few and far between. I did a lot
of experimentation—sometimes successfully, sometimes way off track.
If I did eat out, most restaurants could only provide a baked potato or a
bowl of iceberg lettuce (most salads already had bacon bits and cheese mixed
in). I was lucky if they had a vinegar cruet.
If I wanted something sweet or chocolatey, I resorted to a small bag of
baking chocolate that I would chop up and mix with raisins. Reese's Vegan
Peanut Butter cups weren't born yet, nor Lindt oat milk chocolate truffles,
Chocolove or Unreal's array of popular candy bar dupes. Now these items and
more are available at most large supermarkets and shopping clubs, such as
Costco. Am I dreaming? I never thought the future would be so bright.
But is it, really? Sexton, et al[i], state:
"…critics caution that this mainstreaming risks diluting the radical ethics of veganism, and argue that it is characterized by notable continuities and consolidations of who is developing, producing and profiting from new vegan products (White, 2018; Clay et al., 2020). These debates centre on the emergence of what we term ‘Big Veganism': the recent turn by ‘Big Food' and ‘Big Agriculture' (Stuckler and Nestle, 2012) to veganise their offerings and bring vegan products into mainstream spaces of food production and consumption."
It is surprising to me that an article like this is published in a peer-reviewed journal. Even more unbelievable is how another peer-reviewed article begins:
"Meat production contributes to animal suffering [1], environmental problems (loss of biodiversity, climate change, or water pollution) [2], and public health problems (zoonotic diseases such as COVID-19 and chronic non-communicable diseases such as type II diabetes) [3]."[ii]
When I was studying nutrition at New York University in the 80s, that type of statement didn't exist. I remember having to resort to using journal articles from the 1960s and 70s because nothing else was available. And most of those articles focused on the perceived dangers of a vegan diet, particularly to children.
Image credit: Eugene Kucher from Pixabay
While mainstreaming does raise complex issues, I feel that better and more
accessibility of vegan products is one positive aspect. Looking back on that
four-decade journey, I'm excited to be living on Planet Vegan, doling out
unbelievable stories of how it used to be. Even if I end up sounding like
mom now and then.
Notes
[i] Sexton, A. (n.d.). Vegan food geographies and the rise of Big
Veganism. Https://Journals.Sagepub.com/Home/phg. Retrieved September 1,
2024, from
https://doi.org/10.1177/03091325211051021
[[ii] Salehi, G., et al (2023, May 9). Forty-five years of research on
vegetarianism and veganism: A systematic and comprehensive literature review
of quantitative studies. Https://www.Cell.com/Heliyon/Fulltext/.
Retrieved September 1, 2024, from
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.heliyon.2023.e16091
For more than four decades, Mary Brewer has passionately served as a
registered dietitian, combining that expertise with many years' experience
as a registered nurse. Mary advocates for plant-based nutrition and
compassionate living and is a
Main Street
Vegan Academy graduate. She resides in the serene Blue Ridge
Mountains with her husband of 20 years, Lawrence, who is also a
compassionate vegan. Together, they care for their beloved rescue friends
Edina, Lulu, Patsy, and Spike. Mary's commitment continues to be health,
wellness and social justice, particularly as it pertains to fair and equal
access to affordable, nutritious food and healthcare.
Posted on All-Creatures: October 30, 2024
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