Vegetarianism Is Not A Trend

I think we’ve all heard the notion that the rising “trend” of veganism/vegetarianism is infiltrating popular menus like Starbucks, KFC, and Burger King. It’s incredibly progressive for big corporations to adopt plant-based options, but here’s why that rhetoric is harmful: Vegetarianism is not a trend.

When something is referred to as a “trend” in today’s society, its less representative of the actual term itself in the sense of progressing and trending data, and more to do with something’s social media presence and the rapid adaptation by online influencers and celebrities soon to be phased out by the next big fad. This is harmful to the development of the vegetarian and vegan community because it fails to take the plant-based movement seriously.

We’ve seen this before. Diet trends like Keto and Paleo among others are advertised online to promote short-term weight loss, but also warn that long-term adaptation can cause nutrient deficiencies and other health risks (unlike vegetarianism). As long as veganism and vegetarianism are associated with these harmful diet trends, public perception will stay the same. This results in stripping the vegetarian community of any validity.

With a simple Google search of the term “diet trends”, a top result was an article from Healthline, titled “8 Fad Diets That Actually Work”. This piece featured the vegan diet, which only goes to show the true misconceptions behind the vegetarian and vegan movements. Rather than idolizing this lifestyle because it was adapted by well-known celebrities like Miley Cyrus and Ariana Grande, it is important to raise awareness for the many benefits that clean-eating promotes.

1. Health

Of course when you don’t eat meat, you inherently consume less cholesterol and saturated fat and in turn consume more vitamins, potassium, and other beneficial elements which makes you less susceptible to many diseases. Going vegetarian can seriously reduce risk for heart disease, certain types of cancer, and type 2 diabetes!

2. The Environment

Shifting to a vegetarian diet reduces greenhouse gas emissions drastically, combatting the fact that livestock represents over a quarter of emissions from the overall Agriculture contribution. More land and water will be saved, as well as the hundreds of animals consumed by a human annually on average. After being vegetarian for just one year, I saved 202 animals, 1,502 pounds of CO2, and 238,807 gallons of water!

3. Ethics

The cruel nature of the meat industry is enough to make you go vegetarian. By switching to plant based you keep animals out of torturous and unsafe environments, and not to mention -- let them live.

With this being said, I can’t wait to see what restaurants permanently introduce plant-based protein to their menus next, giving vegetarians everywhere more options as well as introducing meat eaters to clean eating!

Vegetarianism is here to stay 🌿

Sources

Spritzler, F. (2017, August 28). 8 Fad Diets That Actually Work. Retrieved August 9, 2020, from https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/8-fad-diets-that-work

U. (2020, April 11). Sources of Greenhouse Gas Emissions. Retrieved August 12, 2020, from https://www.epa.gov/ghgemissions/sources-greenhouse-gas-emissions