The Social Impact of being Vegan
- Sammy_Browne
- May 4, 2020
- 2 min read
Living a vegan lifestyle is one of the biggest ways individuals can reduce their carbon footprints. When I decided to become vegan the environment was my number two reason for wanting to make the switch. Restaurants all over Europe and the world are starting to give vegans more menu options. A big cooperation that started offering the impossible burger was Burger King in select stores since April and everywhere by this August.
Many people have the connotation that eating vegan cost a lot more money which is one of their main concerns. Another thing that is stopping people from being vegan is they don’t know where to start; they think that a lot of vegan things need to be modified and are way more work than just ordering something off the menu. Having Burger King which is a big fast food restaurant offer this option and advertise it while still selling it at an affordable price opens the door for a lot of people to try fake meat. More and more brands are realizing that with this new demand they have the opportunity to provide healthier options as well as more environmentally conscious food options. Having a big food chain like Burger King sell the vegetarian/vegan alternative is a big step. Another big chain that has started offering vegan options or substitutes is Starbucks. They offer a sub of almond milk, soy milk, or coconut milk. Smaller restaurant chains such as Pieology, my favorite pizza restaurant now offers the option of vegan Daiya cheese and three fake meat options (although it does cost a dollar extra). I feel like now that
there is more awareness surrounding big companies treatment of animals, red meats impacts on personal health, and how the planet is suffering from huge dairy and meat farms. People are becoming more conscious of their choices. Being back in California there isn't a single restaurant in my town of Berkeley I can go to that doesn't offer a vegan option. There is a movement especially now where companies are starting to be held accountable for their actions and change is being demanded. Agriculture accounts for 10% greenhouse gasses, and cows are HUGE methane producers. Climate change is one of the biggest problems society today faces and the solution could be as simple as swapping meat out for a day to many of the other options there are now.
Coorporations and companies have sat back and not helped reguarding climate change and have even worked to pass bills in favor of them that hurt the earth even further for years. It's time that all of us, including companies work together to make choices that can help out planet. Choosing the vegan option doesn't take more time now thanks to so many restaurants offering options and this simple choice can really help the environment in the long run.
^ Check these websites out to learn more about the impossible meat environmental impact! ^
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