Articles Reflecting a Vegan Lifestyle From All-Creatures.org



Scary But True: Vegan 1984 vs. Vegan 2024

From Mary Clifford Brewer, MSN, MBA, RDN, RN, VLCE, MainStreetVegan.com
October 2024

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.

vegan sandwich

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.

40s gas station
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.

tin can
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.

spaceman
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
Return to Articles Reflecting a Vegan Lifestyle