Metro Vancouver is updating the Regional Food System Strategy for the first time since 2011 and is seeking public input.
This is an important opportunity for Metro Vancouver residents and food system stakeholders to advocate for a shift toward more humane, healthy and sustainable plant-based food production and consumption across the region.
TAKE ACTION: If you’re a Metro Vancouver resident, your input is needed to help advocate for an updated strategy that prioritizes less animal-based products and more plant-based foods. Share your feedback in the online survey before the deadline of December 31, 2024.
Below are the main questions included in the Metro Vancouver survey. Click on each key point for tips and context to help answer the questions in your own words.
1. What changes have you seen in the regional food system over the last 10 – 15 years?
(Examples: changes to imports/exports, climate considerations, community changes, consumer habits, costs, etc.)
Growing public awareness and concern about the impact of animal-based foods…
…on the environment, health, and animal welfare, resulting in more people reducing their consumption of animal products.
A 2022 survey of Lower Mainland Residents found that 65% of respondents have reduced their consumption of animal products.
A 2019 survey found that 25% of B.C. residents have tried a vegetarian diet, compared to the national average of 18%.
A 2018 survey found that almost 40% of British Columbians aged 35 and under follow a vegetarian or vegan diet, more than three times higher than the national average.
Increased demand for plant-based foods/beverages…
…and more products being offered in stores, restaurants, etc.
A 2022 survey found that 65% of respondents in the Lower Mainland would eat more plant-based meals if there were more tasty options available when going out to eat.
Scientific research and experts urging all levels of government to support food system change…
…toward plant-based eating patterns.
Growing awareness that the type of food plays a much larger role in a food’s overall carbon footprint than the distance it travels. Previously, much of the focus has been on prioritizing local food, but it’s also increasingly important that plant-based food be incorporated into food system strategies.
Food system change, including shifting toward plant-based diets, is necessary to meet global climate targets and stay below 2 degrees of global warming.
In the City of Vancouver, nearly 98% of the ecological footprint of food comes from the land and energy used for growing and producing it, particularly red meat and dairy products.
Government acknowledgement and action around the need for food system change…
…toward more plant-based foods.
The City of Vancouver passed a motion declaring the various social, economic, and environmental benefits of plant-based procurement.
The District of North Vancouver passed a motion to ensure plant-based options are included and prioritized at municipal events, meetings, and other gatherings where the District purchases food.
Public support for government action…
…including meat reduction efforts incorporated into government strategies.
In a 2022 survey of Lower Mainland residents, 58% of respondents would support shifting government subsidies from animal-based food production to plant-based food production.
60% of survey respondents would support including animal production-reduction efforts into local, provincial and federal climate, health and animal welfare strategies.
Are there any other food system-related changes or trends you’ve noticed in the Lower Mainland over the last decade?
2. What do you think the role of Metro Vancouver should be in the implementation of a regional food system strategy?
(Examples: protecting agricultural lands, convening member jurisdiction on specific issues, providing local research and data, public education, etc.)
As a regional organization, Metro Vancouver and member jurisdictions can prioritize humane, healthy and sustainable plant-based foods across the supply chain.
This could include:
Prioritizing and incentivizing plant-based food production and processing.
Supporting partnerships that enable businesses, public institutions and others to collaborate on plant-based procurement throughout the region through bulk ordering and supplier connections.
Public marketing, education, and promotion around increasing plant-based food consumption, in alignment with the updated Canada Food Guide, which recommends choosing plant-based proteins more often.
Supporting more plant-based options in food service, including through public institutions like schools, hospitals and community centers, as well as in catering, corporate programs, and cafeterias.
Supporting consumption of more plant-based foods across consumer, corporate, business and institutional levels.
Are there other food system-related roles you think Metro Vancouver should be involved in?
3. Is there any other feedback or other information you would like to share?
Metro Vancouver is uniquely positioned to support a much-needed food system shift towards plant-based food across multiple sectors.
This could include strategies and practices such as:
Promoting and supporting strategies that prioritize plant-based food choices. For example, setting plant-based meals as the default option at events, meetings and municipal facilities.
Incentivizing plant-based food production, processing, purchasing and procurement. For example, through municipal food service contracts.
Encouraging member jurisdictions to set a target for reducing the volume of animal products purchased at municipal levels and follow the lead of other jurisdictions that have implemented meat reduction and/or plant-forward strategies.
Are there other food-system related ideas or examples you would like to share?
What is the most common argument you’ve heard against going vegan?
As a vegan organization, the Vancouver Humane Society regularly advocates to make plant-based eating more accessible and reduce the demand for industrial animal agriculture. Plant-based advocates often hear arguments from people who disagree with veganism. This episode will delve into some of those arguments and ways to respond to them in a manner that is reasoned, thoughtful, and kind.
Amy: The first argument is that plant-based foods are overly processed.
Chantelle: Yeah, I hear this one a lot. I think sometimes people mistake the term plant-based foods for commercial plant-based meat substitutes or dairy substitutes.
But when we use the term plant-based, we’re really just referring to any foods that are made from plants without animal products. That includes things like vegetables, whole grains, legumes, nuts, seeds.
Of course, you can also find processed plant-based foods, just as you can find processed animal-based foods.
Why do people eat processed plant-based foods?
Chantelle: Processed foods also have their place. Some people enjoy them as a treat or as a quick option. Some people use them as they’re transitioning from an omnivore diet to make the shift easier.
I personally really enjoy some of the meat alternatives; they’re one of the proteins in my meal rotation. And so are lentils, and so are beans, and tofu, and nuts, and seitan, and soy curls, and all those other whole foods.
I basically eat how I ate before I went vegan, but thinking a little more now about getting all my nutrients. I also have a little bit more variety in my diet, just because there’s more plants out there than there are animals that humans eat.
I find that generally when someone shifts to a plant-based diet, if they ate processed foods made from animals, generally they’ll also have some processed foods made from plants in their diet. And if they ate mostly whole foods as an omnivore, they’ll do the same as a vegan.
Switching to a plant-based diet almost never looks like switching from an organic chicken breast and steamed vegetables and organic brown rice on a plate to like a plate of imitation meat and Oreos.
“Processed” doesn’t mean “bad”
Chantelle: I think it’s important to note that processed foods are not bad foods. There are some foods that feed your soul more than they feed your body, but also a lot of imitation meats have a nutrition profile that’s comparable to the meat that they’re imitating.
We have a really good blog post about understanding meat alternatives on our Plant University website that looks at a nutrition profile breakdown of meat alternatives.
Amy: Personally, I like to think of food as a spectrum. So from eating raw vegetables to a processed plant-based burger, they all have a place in our diet.
There’s a few things that I’ve been surprised to learn as a vegan. There’s just myths out there about food.
Microwaving vegetables has been tested as keeping more nutrients in them than boiling them. Cooking method and ingredients in food can impact the amount of nutrients your body gets from the foods.
Focus on a variety of foods you enjoy
Amy: Variety really makes the biggest impact on nutrient intake. I try to think of that in terms of how I eat.
In one day, I might eat cereal and oat milk that’s fortified with vitamins and minerals. I might have a smoothie with fresh frozen fruits, hemp seeds, chia seeds, flax seeds, maybe even a plant-based collagen booster powder to strengthen my tendons that has greens and probiotics in it. I might have chips with pre-made salsa, an avocado, and then homemade cashew queso made with raw ingredients like nutritional yeast, lemon juice, salt, chili powder, and then maybe some vegan chocolate to make sure I get all my iron.
Half of that is processed, half of it isn’t, but my focus is on foods that taste good, promote muscle and tendon strength, are really easy, and promote brain and blood health.
The other day I had a microwavable vegan gluten free lasagna from Amy’s Kitchen, and another day I bought vegan pizza and pre-prepared samosas, and another day Daiya vegan pizza because I don’t necessarily have a lot of time in my day.
They’re all quick, they tasted good, and that’s what keeps me enjoying plant-based foods. So as long as I’m not eating the same thing every day and I try to switch it up and include fruits and veggies here and there, I know I’m doing alright on nutrients.
Make plant-based eating fun
Amy: When folks are thinking about this and talking about this, I think it’s about acceptance. I think it’s about making eating plant-based foods fun and enjoyable and easy and having less judgement on like what that looks like for an individual person; because that’s going to change over their lifetime, given their mental health, time capacity, energy levels, activity levels, all of those things.
Chantelle: Yeah, I think that’s a really good way of looking at it.
Does plant-based eating drive monoculture crops?
It takes more crops to feed animals than humans
Chantelle: We talk about how plant-based eating is better for the environment, but sometimes we hear from people that they believe veganism is bad for the environment, particularly because it drives monoculture crops.
A lot of people talk about the impact of growing things like soy as monoculture crops. We know that’s a key protein that you can eat on a plant-based diet, but more crops are needed to feed animals for human consumption than would be needed to feed humans directly.
The demand for meat and animal products is actually a driving factor in the use of monoculture crops because the vast majority of animals grown for food spend some or all of their lives in an industrial farming environment or a feedlot. It’s not all grazing on pastures.
In Canada, corn is mainly used for animal feed and ethanol.
In the United States, 12% of corn is used to feed people, but 60% goes to feeding animals raised for foods.
About 77% of the world’s soy is used for animal feed.
So we’re seeing that by and large, more of these proteins and grains are being used to feed animals than if they were feeding humans directly.
Amy: It’s amazing how much farmland is being used to grow food to feed animals, which in any kind of logical way of thinking is a huge inefficiency when it comes to feeding a population of more than 7 billion people.
We’d be doing a lot better for the environment if all those fields grew food directly to feed people.
Approach with curiosity
Amy: I think if this is brought up and someone is talking about it, the best way to meet them is with compassion, kind of sharing, I hear that you care for the environment and you’re concerned about monoculture crops. And I’d love to learn more about this alongside you because I’m not an expert in it.
And then going someplace you can trust the output of it and research it together and come at it with that idea of learning and growing alongside them, rather than trying to prove that they’re wrong or make it seem like they have no idea what they’re talking about.
It’s okay to walk away
Chantelle: There’s two different sides of this coin of people using these arguments. There’s people you might be talking to in real life who often are speaking in good faith using arguments where they really feel they’re making the best decision for the environment or for what they really care about.
Sometimes there’s people on the internet saying these things who are really just going to throw whatever spaghetti at the wall they can to dispute your point. And sometimes you just have to walk away from arguments like that as well.
Shouldn’t I just eat local instead?
Eating local helps, but pair it with other changes
Amy: This next one, I think it’s a really good argument. I’m really curious to hear what you have to say about it, Chantelle. The argument is that shipping plant-based foods from far away is bad for the environment. You should just eat local, humanely raised, animal-based foods.
So I imagine this is things like palm oil and coconut coming on planes from places far away.
Chantelle: One thing people talk about is the impact of shipping plant-based foods a long distance as opposed to eating local animal based foods. And they’ve done a lot of research on this.
It’s certainly important to prioritize local, sustainable plant agriculture. I think we can all agree on that.
But, the research shows that ending all international food transport would only cut food miles emissions by 9% worldwide. Researchers have said that other choices like eating seasonal produce and reducing meat consumption could have a greater impact in reducing the climate impact of your food.
We can’t move to local, more “humane” animal foods while meeting current demand
Chantelle: Another thing is that eating local the way that some people talk about isn’t possible for most people. A lot of people who use this argument are talking about rural communities where they’re picturing a small scale animal farm with animals out on the pasture, and you can walk over to meet your local farmer, and then you can buy some meat from your local butcher, and that’s not what’s really happening.
The reality of the world we live in is the vast majority of people are living in cities, and we don’t have the space to be raising animals like that to feed all those people.
If we go farther out into nearby rural communities, we don’t have the space to have every animal roaming the pasture to meet a really high demand for animal products for every person who lives in the world right now.
That’s why industrial animal agriculture developed: to fit more animals into a smaller space for a lower cost and meet that really high demand for our growing population.
We don’t have a world of Old McDonald farms. We have a world where about 90% of farmed animals and 74% of farmed land animals are being raised in factory farms.
Locally raised animals can still be transported long distances to slaughter
Amy: With how few slaughterhouses there are, animals, even ones that are raised locally, are being transported huge distances to be killed.
For example, something I learned when I lived on the Sunshine Coast of British Columbia is that animals have to travel in vehicles, on a ferry, and then on the highway again, going to the Lower Mainland.
Then the meat, after the animals are killed and processed, goes back on the highway, on the ferry, on the highway again.
And that’s a short distance compared to some of the really long distances animals are being shipped. That uses just so many greenhouse gases, not to mention the suffering of the animals.
Plant-based foods skip the slaughterhouse
Amy: So the benefit of plant-based products is they skip that in between step. They’re going to on farm or nearby processing facilities and then they’re getting to the consumer more directly.
This is an argument that can be shared and at the same time it’s something that can be researched together, discussed together, and making sure that you hear where someone’s coming from.
Absolutely, coconuts are shipped from far away, but what are some other things we can consider? It’s all about having that conversation and building trust with the other person who’s putting that argument forward that you understand where they’re coming from.
Chantelle: Yeah, that’s a really great point. The animals are shipped from the pasture to the feedlot to the slaughterhouse and the crops to feed the animals are shipped from wherever they’re grown to the feedlot. There’s a lot more steps involved in animal agriculture than there are in plant-based.
Does veganism cause more animal deaths than animal agriculture?
True: Wild animals die as a result of agriculture
Chantelle: Another argument that we hear is veganism causes more animal deaths than animal agriculture.
I have a really hard time with this one, but I think a way to approach it compassionately is just to kind of lay out the facts.
First of all, do animals die from growing plants? Yes. Some animals die unintentionally from the machinery that’s used to grow and harvest crops, and some animals are killed intentionally to protect crops.
Some animals are also killed intentionally to protect farmed animals raised for food; that’s just across the entire farming system.
More crops are needed to feed animals than to feed humans directly
Chantelle: First of all, it’s not just vegans eating plants. Every human needs plants to meet their nutrition requirements.
But it’s not just humans eating crops; crops are used for animal feed.
About 36% of the world’s crop calories are used for animal feed compared to 55% feeding humans directly. If we look at the calories consumed globally, about 17% of the global calorie supply comes from animal foods, and then plant-based foods make up the other 83%.
When you look at the fact that animals are eating almost as many crops as all humans, you see that it takes far more crops to feed animals for humans to eat than it would to feed humans directly.
So while it’s not possible to eliminate all animal suffering entirely, plant-based diets are the best option to dramatically reduce it.
Respond with understanding and empathy
Amy: Yeah, this one’s interesting. I mean, animals die from all aspects of human existence.
With the need to protect crops, pesticides and rodenticides are being used.
Going to a restaurant, there’s likely rat and mouse traps set up all over the place. Grocery stores as well.
These are existing with any kind of food. It’s not a problem specific to veganism.
The best thing to do when someone brings this up is not to deny it, but to acknowledge it. It’s sad. It sucks a lot that animals are dying so that humans can live and can consume plants, but eating a vegan diet still has a far less impact on animals in the environment overall.
Can plant-based foods meet your nutritional needs?
You can get all the nutrients you need from plant-based foods
Amy: This next one I think is a really common one that comes up, and it’s that plant-based foods won’t meet all your nutritional needs.
Chantelle: Yeah, I think that we’re getting to a place where there’s a broader scientific consensus that eating more plant-based foods is healthier for you.
When we look at the specific nutrients, you can get all the nutrients you need from plant-based foods.
There are a few that are more difficult to get or that only come in fortified plant-based foods. If you don’t want to keep track of all the nutrients you’re consuming directly from foods every day, you can take a supplement. I personally take iron pill and a B12 gummy every day. I sometimes also take omega 3 gummies.
But I get plenty of protein and calcium and iron from plants. And those are the ones that I see people worry about the most often.
You can’t get all the nutrients you need from animal foods alone
Chantelle: Another thing to note is I see carnivore only diets popping up sometimes where people are just eating animal-based foods. And you cannot get all the nutrients you need from that.
You can only get fibre from plant-based foods. So people on a carnivore only diet are getting zero fibre.
Nutrition is no mystery
Chantelle: One of the first things you learn as a kid is you’ll be healthier if you eat your veggies, and it holds true.
There’s this impression that nutrition is such a mystery, and everything is just a trend. But really, the vast majority of nutrition experts have reached a consensus that eating a wide variety of whole plant-based foods is good for your health, and it’s a good idea to limit red meat intake.
Amy: Absolutely. And just to add to some of those things you said, Chantelle, oat milk has a lot of B12 added into it already. Dark chocolate is so full of iron. Beans have a lot of calcium, but so do fortified plant milks, figs, leafy greens. Potatoes have a bunch of potassium and vitamin C.
Nutrition education has been influenced by industry
Amy: I’ve realized that most of what I’ve learned about nutrition growing up was influenced by food manufacturers and producers such as the dairy industry.
We know now that kids can thrive on plant-based diets.
The beauty of scientific research means that we understand it isn’t dairy milk that’s preventing osteoarthritis. It’s the combination of consuming calcium and a magnesium together in good quantities. You can get those in combination together from greens, seeds, beans, brown rice, quinoa. The list goes on and on.
So this is one of those myths that I find really fun to chat about with people because they start to realize how much what they grew up with is not the reality and how much opportunity there is to learn about what a body needs to thrive and be well.
And again, the most important part is to approach it with excitement and intrigue and compassion.
Talking about these topics with a judgment or know it all attitude will just sour someone’s experience and have the opposite impact.
Chantelle: Absolutely. That is always something really important to keep in mind.
Is soy bad for you?
Soy does not increase estrogen levels
Chantelle: We’re keeping in the trend of health related topics; sometimes you hear that soy is bad for you because it increases estrogen.
Soy gets a bad reputation because it has something in it called phytoestrogen, which is a naturally occurring compound in plant foods that has a similar chemical structure to our body’s natural estrogen, but it behaves differently and it’s about a thousand times weaker.
According to research, phytoestrogens don’t increase our body’s estrogen, and some experts have suggested they may have a balancing effect on our body’s natural hormone levels.
But if you are worried about extra estrogen in your diet, your real concern should be dairy, which is the source of about 60 to 80 percent of estrogens consumed in Western diets.
Soy is does not increase estrogen or decrease testosterone levels
Amy: This was actually a really big one that came up when I was dating someone who was concerned about veganism. The bottom line that I figured out after researching it is that soy foods are a good source of protein and a healthy part of a balanced diet.
The concerns I heard most are related to men and children. So I’ll speak more to that.
As far as men, research has shown that eating soy foods does not lead to increased estrogen levels or decreased testosterone levels in men. Some studies have even shown that soy consumption may have a significant health benefit for men, such as lowering the risk of prostate cancer and improving heart health.
Soy has many nutrients for healthy development in children
Amy: As far as children goes, soy is a really great source of protein, providing all the essential amino acids required for growth and development. Soy foods contain fiber, vitamin K, folate, some B vitamins, iron, calcium, and magnesium. It also contains polyunsaturated fats, including omega 3 and omega 6 fatty acids, which are important for brain development.
So knowing these facts and more about plant-based nutrients can really help when those challenging questions come up from parents who think a vegan diet is abusive to children.
Are dairy cows dangerous to their calves?
A calf and mother at Sanctuaire pour animaux de ferme de l’Estrie in Quebec. Photo: Jo-Anne McArthur / We Animals Media.
Dairy calves are removed so their mothers’ milk can be used and sold
Amy: The next argument is that the dairy industry takes calves from their mothers so that the mother cow doesn’t accidentally kill them.
Chantelle: Dairy farmers and sanctuary owners have spoken out against this myth, but it’s still one that persists.
Dairy is produced by impregnating cows and then the baby calf is typically removed within a few hours so the milk can be used by humans.
And then the calves are fed milk, which is sometimes waste milk from the dairy industry or a milk replacer. And then they go on to be killed for veal if they’re male or raised as dairy cows if they’re female.
Are the calves removed for their own safety? No. They’re removed because the human animal agriculture industry wants to use the milk. They would be removed regardless, because we have a dairy industry and humans want to use milk for their own consumption.
Dairy cows and calves suffer when separated
Chantelle: But even if dairy cows had lost some of their maternal instincts through the years, through generations of having their babies removed, it wouldn’t be an excuse to continue breeding them and continuing the cycle.
We see that cows mourn when their babies are taken away. They cry. They chase after them. They try to stop the farmers from taking the calves.
The dairy industry continues to do this so the milk can be used and sold for humans, and it doesn’t need to be. We have plant-based alternatives for this.
Cows and calves form a close bond
Amy: I’ve spent quite a bit of time with mama and baby cows. And it’s so incredibly far from reality, I’m not even sure how it got spread as a myth.
The bond between cows and their babies is one of the most beautiful motherhood bonds I personally have ever experienced.
I’ve noticed that cow moms are just so protective of their little ones. I got to be around just a couple day old calf and mama put her horns around me. I was providing some supplemental milk to the calf to make sure that he was getting enough and she watched me every second of the time I was there with him.
They feed calves from their udders for years, not just one year, but sometimes more. Past the point where the calves start to be painful and annoying and they bother their mums. Their mums still keep feeding them and giving them love. It’s pretty special.
The dairy industry is emotionally painful for animals
Amy: I’ve heard the call of calves and their mums calling for each other on multiple different farms who are separated from each other. And it’s really sad.
If you really think about the dairy industry and how it’s all set up, to me, this is in a way the most emotionally painful and complex animal industry.
And yet it’s the one that people love cheese and they have a really hard time giving up milk because they just like how it tastes and it’s addictive.
And yet this is the one that has such a massive emotional burden on so many. It’s something that we can move away from and, and take a stand for the mamas and the babies and what they deserve.
Chantelle: I hear a lot from people who say they would have a hard time giving up cheese. I was one of them once, and I think a lot of people who are vegan now were once that person.
And once I gave it up, I honestly didn’t find it difficult. But I find it really difficult to see the realities of the dairy industry.
If we stopped farming animals, would they go extinct?
Selective breeding in modern farmed animals poses welfare concerns
Chantelle: So this next argument is when I have a really hard time believing that people are making it in good faith, but maybe they are. The idea is if we stopped farming animals, those animals would go extinct.
I don’t know where this idea came from, that animal agriculture is some sort of conservation movement. Keeping animals alive so that we can use and slaughter them at a fraction of their natural lifespan is not about conservation.
Modern farmed animals have also been selectively bred for the maximum meat production or byproduct production, like eggs or dairy, and that has been detrimental to their health. It leads to so much suffering.
Broiler chickens raised for meat grow so large that their legs cannot support their bodies.
Egg laying hens lay eggs far more often than they would in the wild, which uses up the calcium they need in their bodies, and it leads to bone fractures.
There are genetic defects in cattle and sheep and pigs from selective breeding for growth and from inbreeding.
Animal agriculture is harmful to wildlife conservation
Chantelle: If we’re talking about conservation, industrial animal agriculture has also been extremely harmful for wildlife.
Wild animals are killed to protect farmed animals.
We see habitat loss for raising and feeding animals.
Agricultural runoff is harmful to waterways and to animals who live in them and depend on them for drinking water.
When we look at all of the mammals on earth, farmed animals make up 62% of the world’s mammal biomass, whereas wild animals are just 4%. Farmed animals are really not struggling to be conserved right now.
How grazing impacts conservation
Amy: I appreciate this one because I think it comes up really commonly with the beef industry. Particularly it’s one I’ve seen the Canadian Cattlemen’s Association put forward a specific version of it, which is that there’s areas of the North American plains that only cows are able to graze to maintain, and that it would be problematic if these areas were not grazed.
There’s truth to this statement. And I think that’s important to acknowledge. It’s true that there are benefits to grazing. There used to be huge amounts of bison ranging the land and grazing.
Well managed grazing mimics the natural processes that once involved those wild herbivores. It maintains plant diversity, supports soil health, and regulates species composition.
But on the flip side, we’re talking about well managed grazing. And when it comes to the volume of animals being produced for farming, there’s often overgrazing or poor management of that land, which can degrade the ecosystems.
So, if cows were to stop grazing in many of these areas, there’s benefits that could be experienced such as without the pressure of domestic livestock, the ecosystems could be more natural. There could be new plant diversity and more wild animals coming back into the spaces. And then it can also improve the soil structure, reduce erosion, and increase soil carbon sequestration, which benefits the ecosystem and climate change mitigation.
So, there’s sort of this, this nuance and this balance, but when it comes to wild animals, they move differently than farmed animals over sections of land and these areas were really intended for wild herbivores to travel across them.
What would happen to farmed animals if everyone went vegan?
The shift to a plant-based world is gradual
Chantelle: I think this one is kind of a different side of the same coin, which is if we all go vegan, the farmed animals would all be killed, or would take over, or would have nowhere to go.
And first of all, a lot of these questions come from the idea that everyone on earth will somehow go vegan all at the same time and that all farmed animals will suddenly be rendered economically redundant. I do not see that happening.
I think it’s much more realistic that people are going to gradually shift toward a plant based food system and fewer animals will be bred for food over time.
A compassionate world would not make life worse for animals
Chantelle: But even if we did have this suddenly vegan world, farmed animals are already headed to slaughter. Farmed animals are already regularly being culled because of things like shifts in the economy or disease spread.
So a world where all people suddenly care very deeply about animal welfare and are doing our best for the animals can’t be worse than the system we have in place right now.
Animal consumption continues to grow
Amy: This myth sounds like it’s coming from someone who was on their last limits of trying to have an argument against veganism.
The consumption of animals is continuing to grow on our planet. Which makes me really sad, as someone who spends my life trying to advocate for these animals.
Even with the number of people going vegan and vegetarian growing, it isn’t enough to match the population growth. The volume of animals being killed and consumed is still larger than ever.
It’s remarkable how much change is going to be needed to make a drop in the bucket when it comes to reducing animal consumption.
That degree of gradual change is not going to have any of the suggested impacts listed in this myth.
If we all go vegan, what will cats and dogs eat?
As the food system shifts for humans, we work on solutions for pets
Amy: And we’ve got one more. If we all go vegan, what will dogs and cats eat?
Chantelle: I think that’s a good question. I think as we move toward a plant-based food system for humans, we’ll also be working toward a similar shift for animals.
And it’s an important question to ask what our companion animals who eat an omnivore or carnivore diet can eat besides other animals.
If our goal is to end farmed animal suffering, two important steps are shifting human diets toward plant based foods and then working on solutions for non-human animals who eat meat to not be relying on food from other animals.
Some ways we can do that is to support researching nutrition needs and developing cultured or lab grown meat. We talk more about what pet food looks like in a vegan future in our episode, Is my pet happy.
Cultured meat (lab-grown meat) and plant-based options
Amy: I would love to see cultured meat become affordable and available for pet food. I think that is the absolute way of the future. It’s unfortunate that we’re just in a time right now where it’s still in development, but I think it’s going to become the norm very soon.
And there’s also vegan pet foods. Which many animals right now are thriving on and enjoying. I just think how great would it be to lower our impact and consumption of animal products because of continued technological innovation. And to me, that seems like something everyone can get on board with.
Next episode
Please join us next month as we hear perspectives from people who operate farm sanctuaries.
Tell the government to take plant-forward action before October 8th
Moving toward a plant-based food system is one of the most significant changes our society can make for animal welfare and environmental protection. If every Canadian who eats animal products switched to plant-based food just one day each week, our nation would save nearly 123 million animal lives per year.
A new federal e-petition calls on the government to:
Educate Canadians on benefits of eating less meat, dairy, eggs and more plant-based foods in keeping with Canada’s Food Guide;
Require federal institutions and federally funded food programs (eg; National School Food Program) to procure more plant-based foods; and
Limit growth of industrial animal agriculture and support small-scale farmers using resilient, humane, sustainable farming practices.
Can you sign the petition before October 8th and help save millions of animals from suffering and slaughter?
The District of North Vancouver has passed another plant-forward motion!
Thanks to the support of advocates in the District of North Vancouver, a recent motion to prioritize climate-friendly, healthy and humane plant-based food purchasing successfully passed at the May 6th council meeting!
The motion, put forward by Councillor Jim Hanson, calls on the District to ensure plant-based options are included and prioritized at municipal events, meetings and other gatherings where the District purchases food.
The motion was supported by local advocates, members of the Plant-Based Cities Movement (PBCM), and VHS supporters who live in the District. The VHS and the PBCM have been working together to advocate for plant-based municipal policies and will continue to support the District of North Vancouver in the implementation of this successful motion.
This important step forward follows a previous motion in the District passed in March 2022 to grow awareness throughout the community of the health and environmental benefits of increasing the intake of plant-based foods. That motion, championed by Councillor Megan Curren, cited VHS’s report entitled “Increasing Plant-Based Purchasing at the Municipal Level”.
Watch for plant-based bus ads in Vancouver
Bus ad run by the Vancouver Humane Society in 2023
Bus ad run by the Vancouver Humane Society in 2023
Vancouver residents will soon be able to see new messages from the Vancouver Humane Society’s Plant University platform on buses across the city.
The ads will encourage people to eat more plants by highlighting the heart health benefits of a plant-forward diet.
If every person in Vancouver swapped just one day a week of animal-based foods for plant-based, they could save more than 37 million animals every year!
Find more reasons to eat more plants, recipes, tips, and a map of plant-based businesses on the VHS’s plant-based resource website, Plant University.
The PETA Foundation has written a series of alternate food options to help stop the spread.
“The best way to prevent future outbreaks of bird flu, which has been found on more than 50 poultry farms in British Columbia since October, is to stop raising birds for food.”
The PETA Foundation has written a series of plant-based options to help stop the spread in this letter to the Times Colonist.
Chapters: 00:00 Introduction by Charlyn Black, Professor at the University of British Columbia’s School of Population and Public Health 4:11 Introduction to Michael Klaper, MD and Founder of Moving Medicine Forward 6:00 Plant-based foods & health with Michael Klaper 31:58 Introduction to Navin Ramankutty, Director of UBC Institute for Resources,
The Vancouver Humane Society’s Chantelle Archambault recently appeared as a speaker at UBC Robson Square Theatre for an exciting discussion about plant-based food, “Can healthier diets help our planet?”
The event was moderated by Professor Charlyn Black of the UBC School of Population & Public Health, and also featured speakers Michael Klaper of Moving Medicine Forward, Navin Ramankutty of the UBC Institute for Resources, Environment and Sustainability, and Jade Dittaro of the UBC Family Practice Training Sites.
The plant-based journey looks different for everyone.
In this month’s episode of The Informed Animal Ally, the Vancouver Humane Society’s Amy Morris and Chantelle Archambault are joined by guest Danielle George to discuss healthism and ableism in the plant-based discussion, as well as ways to make plant-based eating more accessible to everyone.
Note: This written discussion has been edited for length.
Featured Guest: Danielle George
VHS Board Director
Danielle George has been a member of the Board here at the Vancouver Humane Society since September, 2021. Danielle has a bachelor’s degree in Sociology at The Evergreen State College. She’s passionate about food, social justice, and animal welfare, and the crucial intersections between them.
Chantelle: Before we get started, I’d like to note that we’ll be touching on topics of healthism and ableism, and there are also mentions of eating disorders. If this is something you have difficulty hearing about, we recommend that you have a plan in place to deal with complicated emotions that may come up.
Danielle, thank you so much for joining us today. Can you tell us more about your history with veganism and animal advocacy?
Danielle: I started out as a vegetarian since I was 13 years old. I read The Jungle by Upton Sinclair, and I think that’s such a good example of intersections between animal advocacy and what we eat and also compassion and caring for humans.
I read this book about the meat packing industry in Chicago, and I took from it that the treatment of these animals is horrific, and I don’t want to be a part of that. When of course, one of the intents that Upton Sinclair had written it for was to talk about the horrific environment the humans were working in as well.
So it’s a great example of how, if you’re somebody who’s compassionate and you care about one issue, it can and should bloom into a holistic approach towards compassion towards everyone stuck in that system.
Then I became a vegan in 2007. I was actually on my way to a Weird Al concert. I was with my partner who was not a vegetarian, not a vegan. We’re both from the Midwest. We didn’t have a lot of exposure to vegetarian or vegan ideals outside of what I had experienced.
I just mentioned, “Wow, Weird Al has so much energy travelling around and putting on these huge shows and he’s vegan. I wonder what being a vegan would be like.”
It just really inspired me to kind of dip into that. And my partner said, well, maybe we should try being vegan for 30 days. And from there, we just kind of continuously took baby steps and learned more.
I was a much more emotional person on the journey. How does this make me feel mentally? How do I feel about this journey? How do I feel about what I’m accomplishing or what I hope to accomplish? And my partner is a much more spreadsheet person. So they were researching environmental impacts, researching water consumption, checks and balances, boxes to be checked on what is being accomplished by reducing animal products in their diet.
So between those two places, we really just kind of both came to the same conclusion that we really were happy and we continued to adopt that lifestyle every day more and more. And we’ve never looked back.
Plant-based advocacy from the VHS
Amy: For some background on the Vancouver Humane Society’s role in plant-based advocacy, this is an important part of our work because plant-based eating has a huge potential to reduce animal suffering by reducing the demand for industrial animal agriculture, where some of the most severe harms happen to animals.
I personally stopped eating animal products after witnessing farmed animals being treated horribly on farms and at slaughter facilities. I won’t get into detail because I find talking about those experiences triggering, and it can trigger listeners too. Suffice it to say that I didn’t think it was possible for normal people, when put in a position of needing to earn a living, to get to a place of so little compassion for animals that they can do them so much harm. Every time someone chooses to eat food made from plants instead of animals, it helps save lives because it means there is less demand for animals to be bred, raised, and killed for food.
Chantelle: We do work through our Plant University project to make plant-based menu options more accessible through institutions like restaurants, caterers, hospitals, schools, and city concession stands, and also to make it easier for people to choose plant-based foods with resources like recipes and nutrition tips for thriving on a plant-based diet.
Healthism in the plant-based discussion
Chantelle: We also talk about the benefits of eating more plant-based foods, including the health benefits. We know from public polling that one of the main reasons people reduce their consumption of animal products is for their health, so sharing those health benefits can be a strong motivator for people.
Likewise, sharing tips about how to make sure you’re getting all the nutrients you need while you’re changing the way you eat can be important because it gives people the resources to meet their needs and have that change be sustainable.
But talking about health in the plant-based discussion can also verge into the territory of healthism. Danielle, could you talk about healthism and how it can come up in the plant-based discussion?
What is healthism?
Danielle: So healthism at its most basic is assigning a moral value to health and placing it at the highest of priorities. And now, because it’s a moral value, it’s almost entirely up to the individual’s responsibility to guard and protect their health. And any decline in your health is now an indication of a moral failing.
It’s super easy to hold these beliefs. I understand how so many folks get there. It’s widely held throughout our society.
The problem with healthism
Danielle: But there are some issues with having this concept. So recent studies in the past decade have begun to reveal that the vast majority of factors that impact our health is outside of our control. For instance:
access to healthcare,
community,
education,
what class we’re in,
if we have access to economic stability,
if our society as a whole has access to economic stability,
living in a place that’s free from pollution,
having stable housing,
our genes,
what we’ve inherited from our ancestors,
and even language fluency and literacy skills can impact your health.
Think about just casual stress that you would experience from perhaps not getting the same messaging that other folks around you who have that language fluency. Imagine you’re trying to make a decision on if you’re allergic to something, but you can’t read or you don’t understand the language that information is in.
All of these are factors that are primarily outside of our control that have a huge impact on our health.
But it can also imply the folks who have health issues for whatever reason, you can start to feel that those people should have been able to invest wisely or have worked hard enough to overcome it. And not being able to do that can show weakness or laziness or lack of intelligence or lack of worth. It can feed into that bootstrap mentality of, “I’m where I am because of the hard work and the good decisions I made and you should have been able to do the same.”
Some of the side effects of consuming or perpetuating a healthism focused attitude can be often placing high value or fixation on the exterior presence or appearance of health.
So you can summon up in your mind what you think healthy looks like. Oftentimes that’s from a broader social message that we’ve all been swimming in since birth, and a lot of that broader social message of what we’ve been told healthy looks like usually kind of implies the ruling class or an upper class concept of what healthy looks like. So it’s not going to be necessarily showing a broad cultural or geographic differences of what health can look like.
Health & barriers to health look different for everyone
Danielle: Also, that’s just on the outside. Health can look like many different things, but it can also remove the nuance for how complex making “healthy” choices can be for so many people.
So this might be an example of what healthism thinking can look like: “Everyone should walk 30 minutes a day. It’s so easy to do. There’s literally no downside. It’s good for your mind. It’s good for your body. It lifts your spirits. It’s the least you can do. Why isn’t everyone doing this?”
Well immediately you can think of, okay, well what about people who live with chronic pain? How would they navigate this 30 minute walk, without maybe becoming exhausted or exacerbating their pain?
What about people who are living in highly polluted areas, with or without asthma? I mean, that’s a choice we have to make during fire season. Is it safe and or a good idea for me to go outside right now?
What about people who have depression or only have the capacity to either go grocery shopping for dinner or go for a walk?
The truth is that most people live with a really limited collection of resources, time, energy, transportation, money, and it’s really tricky and complicated to create an equation of what is the “healthiest” way to use these small pockets of resources.
Dangers of healthism
Danielle: But also healthism thinking can lead to disordered eating, such as bulimia or anorexia. It can lead to orthorexia, which is a kind of obsessive fixation on only eating the healthiest foods to avoid illness.
It certainly leads to kind of anti-fat beliefs being perpetuated. If we’re focusing on an exterior concept of what we think healthy looks like, then we’re certainly feeding into anti-fat beliefs.
It’s overall kind of steeped in privileged thinking that can lead to victim blaming towards people who have health struggles. It can lead to removing value and compassion for people who are locked in a complicated system.
Concerns about health and plant-based eating
Danielle: I think the challenge that can come up when we’re talking about plant-based living is that so many people often bring up health as a concern as to why they might be hesitant to try removing or lowering the animal products that they eat.
It’s tricky to walk the line of addressing people’s concerns that can sometimes, not always, but it sometimes can be already inspired by this healthism concept, without us feeding into it and implying that a plant-based diet is the healthiest diet possible and therefore it is your responsibility to be the healthiest version of yourself, so you’re failing or being morally weak if you don’t choose the healthiest road; when at the end of the day health is often not in our control.
There’s many reasons why people are or are not healthy and many reasons why folks may not always have the capacity or the options or want to make the healthiest choice. And those folks and their lives, healthy or not, are 100 percent valid and deserving.
Ableism in the plant-based discussion
Chantelle: Yeah, absolutely. That’s a really incredible and detailed background.
Another issue that can come up in plant-based advocacy is ableism. For instance, if we were to emphasize how “easy” it is to cut out animal products but only offer plant-based alternatives that are made from scratch and involve a lot of chopping vegetables, that could exclude people who have chronic health conditions that cause nerve pain in their hands or affect their fine motor skills, or who have trouble standing to cook for a long time.
Amy: Yes, if we focus on how “easy” it is to go plant-based, the unintentional message is that it should always be easy. For some people, hearing that it’s easy will make them shut down if they face challenges – they think the only people who do it don’t face challenges and when they run into a road bump they might think, “Being vegan isn’t for me because it’s supposed to be easy, and this isn’t.”
Do you have any thoughts on ableism and plant based messaging, Danielle?
Danielle: Yeah. I do want to say that I’m by no means an expert. I certainly do move in some circles of disability community, but I always want to advocate and encourage folks to look into what disability leaders are talking about.
I definitely think that when we talk about how easy something is, it’s a great way for us to be showcasing our privilege; because if something’s easy for you, it means that you didn’t ever have to stop and think about how many obstacles have not been present for you to accomplish that.
Certainly when we talk about chopping vegetables, like Chantelle was talking about, we’re thinking of somebody who has counter space, who has a cutting board, who has a place that they can rinse their vegetables, who is probably not microwaving these fresh vegetables, so probably has a place that they can bake or broil or fry these fresh vegetables or tofu or whatever it is that we’re talking about.
So we’re also talking about, similar to that list earlier, someone who has access to a safe, clean space to prepare these things, has the time and capacity to do it, has the physical capacity to do it; that’s already a lot of folks who may find that challenging.
But then we also have people again living with chronic pain, like you had said, maybe having nerve pain or arthritis, and they may not find that as accessible as well.
So I think it is really helpful for us to just hold space for recognizing that what is easy for one person can be challenging for others; and not placing that implied blame on someone who says, “Hey, this is a challenge for me. This is out of my reach at this moment.” It’s up to us for us to hold space for that.
And then talk about how can we systemically help remove those barriers or obstacles for folks?
How to make plant-based accessible
Chantelle: Yeah, so that’s a great question. I think that’s the next question. What are some ways that we can remove those barriers and share information about plant based eating while also avoiding healthism and ableism?
Danielle: Like we had said earlier, it is so tricky because so many folks are coming into the conversation with maybe some already ableist questions. It’s hard to answer a question that’s coming from that direction without kind of feeding into it.
Focus on progress, not perfection
I think one of the things that can really help create space for people to feel like their challenges, their existence, the barriers that they have experienced, are valid and welcome to discuss, is not having an “all or nothing” mentality.
I certainly know that I don’t respond well to somebody saying, “If you fail on this, then you’re no longer a part of this community.” Or, “If you take one step in the wrong direction, you have to start all over.” I don’t think that that creates community. I think that that is a form of gatekeeping.
And so if we want to create a space in the plant-based world where people who are experiencing those barriers can feel welcome and can come and talk about what resources would serve them—because it should be by and for those folks, they should be in the room, they should be talking about what needs they need help meeting—then we need to create a situation where it’s: “Do as much as you can. Any change is better than no change.” And we’re celebrating the small wins. That’s step number one.
And then also we want to talk about, “If you’ve been making those small wins, how does that make you feel? What have you been noticing?” Maybe you’re saying, “Oh, wow, you know I have noticed that I’ve had a lot less inflammation when I eat less of this product,” or, “When I eat less dairy, I feel less bloated.”
And just doing check ins, without saying, “But you still are eating dairy; you’re a failure.” Instead, celebrating, “Wow. It sounds like you’ve been feeling really well when you’ve been able to make these changes.” And holding space for, “What other changes would you be interested in?” or “How can I help you sustain where you’re at? I want you to feel good. I want you to have access to things that make you feel good. How can I be a part of helping make that space for you?”
Amy: I think it’s really impactful talking about those small wins.
Shifting toward a plant-based diet
Amy: We can also incorporate accessibility into our messaging when we’re talking about plant-based foods, myths, and tips. For example, there are folks who see steak as the only way to get a regular dose of iron. We know that iron supplements can be just as effective, as well as iron in green vegetables like bok choi or broccoli.
However, some people live in food deserts where these foods and vitamins aren’t accessible. In some more remote areas, meat from wild animals might be the most accessible and sustainable option.
This is why we emphasize switching towards a plant-based diet; that switch can look very different based on who you are and where you live.
Something that comes to mind for me is just how often we say plant-based eating is cheaper or easier; all you need to do is make some lentils. All you need to do is make some beans.
When you think about it, there’s lots of people who either don’t know how to cook lentils, or they have IBS, and lentils and beans don’t serve their bodies.
So if we take any one thing and say it should be for everyone, then we’re alienating part of the community that might want to make a shift.
Avoid “should energy”
Danielle: I absolutely love VHS’s approach towards that holding accessibility in your messaging, like you said, and switching towards a plant based diet and celebrating the steps that someone might be taking.
I think that, no matter what circles you move in, when you get a group of passionate people together, it’s so easy to kind of accidentally trip into what I call “should energy”.
Should energy is this hodgepodge of gatekeeping and that moralistic “Are you good or are you bad”. If you ever catch yourself saying, “You should” or “I should” or “They should;” “They should just eat lentils,” “They should just eat green beans,” that should energy is passing judgement in one form or another.
To your point, Amy, I know there are some folks that live in remote areas or do not have access to ways to be able to cook lentils. Again, maybe they only have access to a microwave. Maybe they don’t have access to a grocery store that would sell fresh lentils in the first place.
I always try to remember, I mean, eating is a huge part of our sensory experience as well. It is, to many people, a huge source of joy. It’s a huge source of culture. It’s a huge source of mental and emotional nourishment as well.
And so if I were to tell someone, “You can get everything you need from these greens,” and they say, “Oh, well, the only greens that I have access to are canned,” for me personally, I don’t get a lot of sensory joy out of canned green beans versus fresh green beans. That’s something that I have the luxury and privilege of being able to experience cooking fresh green beans.
If I were then to say someone should be eating green beans, even if they are canned green beans—and maybe they have sensory situations where they don’t like the texture of it, maybe they don’t like the taste, whatever the situation is—I’m then asking them to fulfill my definition of what I think is a healthy thing. Not understanding the full cost of all of the other checks and balances you’re working with.
Then we’re not allowing that person to address and serve the many different parts of their self. They have their physical health. They also have their social health, their mental health. They’ve got all of these different aspects.
And so if they’re sitting there miserably making themselves check that “should” box at the cost of whatever other situation is coming up, I don’t think that that is a holistic approach to health. I don’t think we are serving that person or serving that community.
So I think if we can help break down and remove that should energy, I think it’ll help make space for recognizing that it’s not going to be the same experience for someone else. But also we can be gentler with ourselves.
That should energy can lead into all of that body shaming. It can lead into the fat shaming. It can lead into policing yourself: “I shouldn’t eat that. I shouldn’t be bad today and have this chocolate. I shouldn’t eat this because that’s not what a healthy person would do.”
And instead we can kind of ask ourselves, “How is this serving me?” “This birthday cake is serving me because I made it with my mom and I’ve been looking forward to it all week and it’s going to taste like celebration and fun.”
“And that’s exactly what this part of myself needs right now; the social self, my sensory self. Now tomorrow I might need a mushroom scramble because I’m going to go and do something and I’m looking forward to eating this mushroom scramble. It’s going to be so good and I’m really looking forward to it. And it’s going to serve me in a totally different way.”
So just asking ourselves, is this serving you or whatever goals it’s helping you accomplish instead of, “There’s bad foods; there’s good foods.” I think that’s going to be a huge part of our messaging to not bring cultural bias to not bring that ableist mindset into our conversation.
Avoid “this is easy energy”
Amy: That’s really thoughtful. There’s different terms. Some people talk about intuitive eating, where you’re just like listening to yourself and listening to what you need.
There’s so many different ways that food impacts our lives.
In the same vein of talking about the “shoulds”, I want to reinforce that we don’t want to lead with any kind of “this is easy energy,” I said that earlier.
We can really acknowledge that there’s a learning curve. Every recipe or ingredient or cooking technique or tip is not easy or accessible to everybody.
You know, some people use a blender all the time. Some people don’t have access to appliances. So really every recipe is going to have a different level of challenge.
We can also think about ways to reach people who are facing challenges without defaulting to saying “this is easy”. So acknowledging that it can be hard, but here are some tips to make it less hard. Here are some common challenges and how we can overcome them.
Start small
Amy: We can also start with the most accessible ways to add a few more plants into the diet.
Recently someone was asking me about switching to a vegan diet. I kind of tried this method sharing with them about what part of it was hardest for me, rather than just being like, “Oh yeah, did it. It’s been great.”
That led them to self reflect and they also wondered why I didn’t just switch to purchasing more ethical products, which gave me an opportunity to share about my experiences working on free range and organic farms, slaughterhouses, sheep farms producing wool, where I witnessed abuse and suffering firsthand.
And then also the footage that I’ve observed just through working for different animal organizations. Somehow that became more relatable because they could kind of have empathy for what I’ve observed, and it opened them up to consider, even though it was hard for me, I was willing to put in the work to kind of like make small steps to start it off because there was a motivator.
That whole process made the conversation much more in depth versus me just being like, “Yep, this is just who I am. I did this thing, it’s great.” And in that case, they just wouldn’t feel like they could relate to me because they would themselves think, “I’ve tried that and it didn’t go so well,” but they’d keep it to themselves because they just have that sense that, it’s too different. They’re too different from me.
So thinking about these incremental steps that a person can take, we can look at, “Where do you think there are easy changes you can make in your life? Where do you have options and availability for these foods? Could it be easier to start with shifting breakfasts or maybe milks to be plant-based?”
How you can help
Amy: Or if a person doesn’t feel like they have any options that are accessible to them right now, what steps can we support them in taking so they could be in a place to have those options? That could look like advocating for more options to be available.
Chantelle: Yeah, definitely. And while we’re talking about that kind of advocacy, this is a really good step any of us can take to help animals.
We can each do individual advocacy to make those plant-based foods more accessible to everyone.
Going into restaurants and asking them to add vegan-friendly options is a great way to make those foods available to the people who want to try plant-based but don’t have the resources to make those foods at home.
It’s also just a great way for anyone to try plant-based for the first time as an introduction step. The first time I had the thought that I could go vegan was when I had a really good plant-based burger at a restaurant in Toronto and I thought, “Oh, this food can be tasty and fulfilling.”
Danielle: Yeah, that makes such a huge difference.
And to your previous point, Amy, when you were talking about how different ingredients cooking techniques and tools are not always readily available; I remember when I first became vegan back in 2007, there were certainly way, way, way less plant based options in the grocery stores or accessible for shopping.
And a lot of the stuff you was: if you wanted sour cream, you’re making it on your own. If you want Alfredo sauce, you’re making it on your own.
I remember I had a really cheap blender that I had gotten from Goodwill. When you are blending cashews, you know, not all blenders are equal. So my experience of somebody telling me, “It’s easy. Just use your Vitamix and blend up this beautiful, creamy sauce,” was not accessible to me at that moment because my little five dollar blender that was probably older than I was, was not making creamy sauces. It was making a grainy mush.
So I definitely felt like I don’t feel represented in this conversation of this decadent lifestyle that someone is telling me is at my fingertips and is super easy.
Let alone if I had had other challenges, like if I had lived back in the middle of a small town in Kansas. Where am I going to get these raw cashews from, with easy access, without driving 30 minutes, 45 minutes, maybe over an hour to get to a natural Whole Foods store?
So I love this conversation of talking about and holding space for challenges, so that people can feel like, “This community is interested in hearing about who I am and the challenges I’m facing, not about me fitting into the square shaped peg they have for me, and that if I don’t fit into that, there’s no space for me.”
I think a good community, a healthy community, wants to hold space for hearing about what is your lived experience, what are the challenges you’re experiencing, and how can we help make this system serve all of us better; not just the people who find it easy.
Next episode
We hope you’ll join us again next month for discussion on the challenges that low income pet guardians face and the systems in place to help them.
65% of people are eating fewer animal-based products.
In this month’s episode of The Informed Animal Ally, the Vancouver Humane Society’s Amy Morris and Chantelle Archambault delve into a recent project from the VHS to determine what people in British Columbia’s Lower Mainland think of plant-based eating and to share the benefits.
Chantelle: As we’ve mentioned before on this podcast, industrial animal agriculture is arguably the biggest animal welfare crisis in the world. We’ve also mentioned that eating a plant-based diet is the most impactful way to decrease the demand for animal products, which drives farmed animal suffering. Another important piece of that puzzle is advocating for plant-based foods to be more accessible for everyone. But what does that advocacy look like in practice?
This month we’ll be delving into a recent project from the Vancouver Humane Society to determine what people in British Columbia’s Lower Mainland think of plant-based eating and to share the benefits of eating a plant-based diet.
Report prepared for the City of Vancouver: Increasing Plant-Based Purchasing at the Municipal Level
Amy: Yeah, and to share a little bit of what’s kind of behind this: In 2021, the City of Vancouver made a commitment for their staff to look into the city shifting 20% of their animal-based purchasing to plant-based foods, following the release of a report that our organization commissioned on what the city could save in greenhouse gas emissions, cost, and animal lives.
So after the success of that report, we were supported by a funder to develop and promote a cost-benefit analysis demonstrating what an individual could save if shifting towards a more plant-based diet.
Poll of plant-based habits and attitudes in the Lower Mainland
Amy: That involved observing the quantity of animal products consumed by B.C. residents. Since we were already gathering that polling data, we recognized it would be worthwhile to gather meaningful data about BC residents, plant-based eating habits and attitudes as a whole.
We used a recent poll from VegTO as a starting point, and then we gathered data that we could use to further the plant-based movement in B.C. In the next little while, we’ll take you through some of the findings from both the survey and the cost benefit analysis. You can find this data linked in the blog post associated with this podcast.
There are lots of visuals there to make the data come alive. And really to give a broad overview of what the survey entails, it included results from just over 800 residents of the Lower Mainland to ensure that the data could be statistically significant.
Chantelle: Right. And those respondents were also balanced for demographics like age to be as accurate as possible.
How different generations feel about plant-based eating
Chantelle: Let’s talk about age. People have been avoiding animal products like meat, eggs, and dairy in some cultures for thousands of years, plant-based eating has deep roots in a lot of cultures, including ancient Indian cultures and Eastern Mediterranean societies. But the idea of plant-based eating in most of the Western world is pretty new.
The word vegan is less than a hundred years old. It was coined in 1944 by the founder of the Vegan Society named Donald Watson, and the concept has been growing very gradually since then and has recently bloomed.
If you were to look for a vegan-friendly meal at your average food court just 40 years ago, you wouldn’t have had a lot of options. I’ve heard so many stories from early vegans who had to get by on french fries and ketchup any time they were outl. Because those early adopters persevered and advocated, the movement has spread and now you can find something plant-based to eat almost anywhere. We’re so fortunate to have this amazing selection of veggie burgers and wraps and curries, and almost anything else you can think of.
And now that we have all these delicious options available, there’s so many more people who are open to eating plant-based foods.
Which generations are eating more plants?
Chantelle: In the survey that we did in the Lower Mainland, we found that younger generations are more likely to decrease or eliminate animal products from their diets. 69% of people aged 18 to 34 had reduced their consumption of animal products, compared to 66% of people aged 35 to 54, and 60% of people aged 55 and over.
In both the younger age groups, 3% of people identified themselves as being vegan, compared to in the 55+ age group, which rounded to 0% of people who identified as vegan.
Why people are eating more plants, by age
Chantelle: Another interesting finding that came out of the survey is that the motivations for eating more plant-based foods differed by generation.
People aged 18 to 34 were most likely to eat more plant-based foods to save money or to help the environment, while the other age groups were like ust to eat more plants for their personal health.
When it comes to choosing what to eat, all the age groups consider taste to be a priority, with price and availability coming close behind. Younger people are also more likely to consider convenience and the influence of friends, family, and their community.
It’s really great news that people are beginning to consider convenience a priority just as plant-based convenience foods are becoming more widely available. Those are things like packaged meals or plant-based lunch meat.
As companies keep developing those products and they keep evolving to have prices and flavors that rival their animal-based counterparts, it’s going to become easier and easier for someone to pick up something like a $2 package of veggie bologna over a $4 package of meat bologna that tastes essentially the same. That’s when it’s likely that we’ll see a wider shift toward a society that eats more sustainably.
Amy: Yeah, I’m really looking forward to that. Certainly I think it makes sense that eventually those products are going to become more affordable.
Do people with pets eat more plant-based foods?
Amy: We were also really curious. If people who have pets make any different decisions when it comes to plant-based eating than people without pets.
Pet guardians more likely to consider farmed animal welfare
Amy: So current pet guardians and non-pet guardians were asked how much they agreed with the statement, “I think about the treatment of farmed animals when I’m deciding what food to buy”.
I found it interesting that 59% of people who currently have pets agreed or strongly agreed with that statement compared to 47% of people who don’t currently have a pet.
Chantelle: I think that’s very interesting. I can see where that number is coming from because people who share their lives with animals can see how complex they are and how much they feel, and how strong their relationships can be.
Amy: I think it lines up with what I would expect too. Although, of course I’d love to see more connection between pets and farmed animals, considering we know they’re all sentient, they can feel pain and suffering.
Having a pet doesn’t make people value plant-based eating more
Amy: With another question on the survey, when asked how much they agreed with the statement, “Eating more plant-based foods can have a significant impact on reducing harm to animals”, there was really no discernible difference between pet guardians and non-pet guardians.
70% of people who currently have a pet agreed or strongly agreed with that statement, compared to about 68% of people who don’t currently have a pet.
Do you feel that seeing your pets’ unique personalities, intelligence, and capacity for love, joy, fear, and pain has made you more compassionate towards other animals?
Chantelle: I mean, for myself personally, sharing my life with animals has definitely made an impact on the way I see things.
Content warning: pet loss. Losing my first cat was actually what convinced me to start phasing out animal products from my diet years ago because it didn’t make sense to me to make animals die for the food I ate when I was so devastated by the death of an animal that I loved and farmed animals have the same complex internal lives that our companion animals have.
Pigs can reason just like dogs, cows form friendships and emotional bonds with their calves. Chickens can solve problems. They all dream, they think they feel and they want to have a good life.
Do men eat more meat?
Chantelle: Another interesting distinction in the survey data was about gender identity. You may have seen the stat that most vegans identify as women. Looking at the survey gives us some more insight into what the gender gap really looks like when it comes to plant-based food habits and attitudes here in the Lower Mainland.
Men are less likely to reduce animal product consumption, identify as vegan or vegetarian
In the survey, women and those who prefer to self-describe were significantly more likely at 71% to have reduced their animal product consumption than men at 58%.
Of the survey respondents who identified as vegan or vegetarian, 70% identified as women or preferred to self-describe and 30% identified as men.
That could partly be because animal products, especially meat, have historically been heavily marketed to men and associated with masculinity. If you think of something like ads for barbecue equipment that show a full tray of steaks, those are really featured around things like Father’s Day, and they almost always show men in the ads.
And then we see so many people who are changing their narrative on this, which is great news. The Game Changers is a really great documentary from filmmakers including Arnold Schwarzenegger. It follows a number of plant-based athletes to bust the myth that you need to eat animals to be strong, and it shows that anyone can be just as if not more strong eating plant-based.
What does the plant-based gender gap mean for food access?
Chantelle: I think that gender gap is probably making a really big impact when we consider that there’s a lot of men in high power positions in the companies that decide what food is available.
Men are 83% of the 533 named executive officers in S&P 100 companies, which is what many people consider to be the a hundred most major companies in the United States.That means that a lot of decisions about what food is offered and what food is marketed are ultimately being motivated by male leadership.
What do people think of plant-forward policies?
Amy: Speaking of male leaders being prominent in the corporate sector, we were really curious about what people, both those who eat plant-based primarily and those who do not, think about change at that institutional level.
Most people support plant-forward government policies
Amy: The survey showed that three in five consumers (60%) would support including animal product reduction efforts into local, provincial, and federal climate, health, and animal welfare strategies.
The results also showed that a majority (58%) would support shifting government subsidies from animal-based food production to plant-based food production.
Most people believe menus with plant-based options are more inclusive
Amy: When it came to restaurants, hospitals, schools, and public institutions like parks food service, the survey showed that 89% of consumers would either not change their opinion or value them more highly if they offered more plant-based food options.
Looking at this in more detail, the survey data indicated that 73% of consumers would view food services that offered greater variety of plant-based options as more inclusive to all.
So that’s nearly three quarters of the population that see this change as meaningful and want the kind of leadership who are making decisions about this to make more plant-based options available.
Most people would eat more plant-based foods if there were more tasty options on menus
Amy: 65% of respondents strongly or somewhat agreed that they would eat more plant-based meals if there are more tasty options available when going out to eat.
So big changes can be made at the institution level to increase the prevalence of plant-based foods.
How to advocate for more vegan-friendly options
Amy: Really the best thing we can do as individuals to support these changes is to encourage restaurants, schools, park concessions, and government to adapt familiar and popular menu items to be plant-based.
We can also ask them to prioritize the marketing of plant-based items; place them front and centre on the main menu, rather than having them be something on the side.
If you’re keen to get involved with that kind of advocacy, there’s resources PlantUniversity.ca or through our farmed animal advocacy team at the Vancouver Humane Society who can provide personalized support to help you get involved in your community to ask for more kind of prominent plant-based options.
Chantelle: Yeah, those are all great points. It makes such a big difference for individuals choosing what to eat when institutions have made those plant-based foods straightforward and accessible.
Is a plant-based diet nutritious?
Amy: We also wanted to get an idea of what the major barriers were to switching to a plant-based diet.
Survey results indicated that nutrition was the main barrier. 88% agreed or somewhat agreed that they think about nutrition when deciding what food to buy, and 28% of respondents said that they were concerned they wouldn’t get enough protein in their diet if they ate more plant-based foods.
To share a little bit of a personal story, I grew up as a gymnast eating an animal-based diet. Today, I’m a rock climber and a runner, and I have genetic blood sugar issues and I eat a fully plant-based diet.
There are some strategies I’ve found to help me keep up the energy I need for the activities I’m doing. I make sure that I eat a protein with every carb. That’s either nuts, soy products, or a good volume of lentils and beans.
I also avoid really carb intensive foods like white rice or potatoes unless it’s an activity day, because my body can’t process those types of sugars very well. So I opt for sweet potatoes and brown rice instead.
My body really craves fats and protein after a big day in the mountains, so I’ll often eat a spoonful or more of peanut butter before bed to ensure my body’s getting what it needs to stay active. Avocados are really great too, and they’re great insulin regulators.
When I take slower days where I’m not moving a lot, I eat the same ratios of food, but I stick to smaller meal sizes. The reason I eat smaller meals more frequently is to manage my blood sugar, essentially to ensure my body always has the fuel that it needs without a big sugar spike and a consequent dip.
I make sure to take my B12 and eat foods rich in magnesium, calcium, iron, and also make sure to intake lots of electrolytes.
While being active feels good, it feels even better knowing that I’m fueled by plants. I’m grateful that I don’t feel pressure to harm animals while being active. And many of my high intensity athletic friends also eat a plant-based diet.
And this is a personal experience. Certainly everyone has a different dietary need, a different kind of lifestyle, and figuring out what the best foods are for your life is what’s most important. Some of this comes lots of research, going to nutritionist, going to naturopath, and learning about food, and so I really recommend just going to many sources as you can to gather information to understand what your body needs and how to take care of yourself.
Chantelle: Yeah, absolutely. We’re really just sharing our personal experiences about what works for us, but it’s really great that you found something that works for you, Amy.
There’s so much information on nutrition out there that it can at times be hard to sort it all out. I really personally like the recipes on PlantUniversity.ca because they’re focused on good nutrition while also being really tasty. The website also has great videos from nutritionists breaking down the important things to make sure you are considering for your body to thrive on a plant-based diet.
I have also found that since going vegan and eating a plant-based diet, I’m more mindful about making sure I get the nutrients I need, so I’m eating meals that are more balanced to help me get through the day.
I used to struggle with low iron when I was an omnivore and later a vegetarian. I would experience some symptoms of that, like weakness and fatigue even when I was getting enough calories for the energy I was using. Now I’m eating more foods that are rich in that nutrient, like dark leafy greens and tofu, and I’ve found it easier to keep my nutrient levels where they need to be.
Is a plant-based diet tasty?
Chantelle: You might not be surprised to hear that the top concern people identified in the survey was taste. 73% of respondents said taste influences their food choices the most, and 37% said that they worried they wouldn’t enjoy their meals as much if they switched to more plant-based foods.
Amy: Yeah, this is a really interesting one. This is something that I’ve thought about a lot because growing up my favorite meal was macaroni and cheese and I just loved cheese in general. So when I transitioned to a plant-based diet, I was worried about having to give up my favorites.
I found a really good mac and cheese recipe using vegetables and seasoning to make up the cheese sauce. Just the other day I had a mac and cheese meal that reminded me so much of my childhood and no animals were harmed for me to be able to eat that meal. I know nostalgia is really powerful and I did miss cow’s dairy cheese for a little while. But I’ve gotten to the point now where I’ve created new memories about the food that I like to eat, and I don’t crave things like dairy cheese anymore.
There are more resources than ever to help you find options for things that you have as a go-to that provide the nutrients and the taste that you’re looking for.
I found checking out the aisle at the grocery store that has plant-based alternatives. Sometimes there’s many aisles or it’s kind of strewn around the grocery store in a lot of different spots.
I find also learning how to better flavour foods that are made with things like walnuts, beans, and lentils is the best way to address nostalgia for meat-based recipes.
Chantelle: For sure, and your taste buds definitely change as your diet does. One of my favorite things about switching to a plant-based diet has been all the new foods I’m getting to try.
When I expanded my view of food from meat being the centre of a dish to considering the dish as a whole and having all these different protein options like beans, mushrooms, lentils, tofu, seitan, and I also do enjoy plant-based convenience foods like mock meats, this whole culinary world opened up to me.
I find that I have a lot more variety in my diet now, but that’s not to say I don’t still enjoy my classic comfort foods like your mac and cheese. There are so many resources out there to adapt your favorite dishes by swapping out ingredients, but the easiest thing that I’ve found to do is if I’m craving something like Alfredo, I’ll just look up vegan Alfredo and the work of figuring out ingredient swaps is already done for me.
Amy: Yeah, I love that.
How plant-based food can lower your grocery bill
Amy: We spoke quite a bit about the survey, but the main reason we did this survey was to do a cost benefit analysis and have that be available for individuals to see the kind of financial and environmental and animal welfare benefits to switching to more plant-based diet. So what’s that all about?
Chantelle: In a brief summary, we know that one thing that’s really deeply impacting people right now is rising food costs with the price of groceries going up. We thought many people might be looking for ways to reduce the cost of their cart and the food that they’re buying.
The poll validated what we suspected and found that the vast majority of people are concerned about rising costs and are looking for ways to cut back at the grocery store.
92% of people are concerned about the rising cost of living.
87% of people are looking for ways to cut back at the grocery store, and most people are not just looking for sales and deals, they’re also looking to change the way they eat.
75% of people are trying to eat more affordably.
66% of people shared that they would be open to exploring more plant-based food options to save money.
When we look at the youngest group surveyed, all those numbers are even higher.
96% of people aged 18 to 34 are concerned about rising cost of livings.
91% are looking for ways to cut back at the grocery store.
82% are trying to eat more affordably.
77%, so more than three quarters are open to exploring more plant-based food options to save money.
While most people were open to eating more plant-based foods to save money, some people do express concerns that plant-based eating is just too expensive; maybe imagining a scenario where people are eating the highest cost mock meats every day.
But we know that practically, that’s generally not what’s happening. Most people who eat plant-based are eating a balance of a lot of different foods, including whole foods like tofu and legumes.
The cost benefit analysis essentially lays out the actual financial savings of swapping out animal products for plant-based products.
If you consider the cost savings of swapping ground beef in your chili for red lentils, a hundred grams of ground beef is $1.54. A hundred grams of lentils is less than a third of that at 48 cents. Or if you have a bean burrito instead of chicken, a hundred grams of chicken breast is $2.42, whereas the same amount of black beans is just 42 cents.
So those savings are significant and they do stack up over time significantly, which means that rising food costs in general could be a factor that push plant-based eating to become more of the norm.
How plant-based food can cut your emissions
Chantelle: The other thing the report looks at is the impact of our food choices on greenhouse gas emissions and what making those same swaps could mean in terms of emission savings.
We found that eating plant-based for a year can save as much carbon dioxide as the emissions used to power an entire home for six months.
Or if you just switch 25% of your diet from animal-based foods to plant-based foods, that could save enough carbon dioxide each month to charge a cell phone 2068 times.
Impact of swapping beef for lentils
Swapping beef for lentils has the biggest impact in terms of emissions, and the second biggest impact in terms of cost. That’s because beef is so resource intensive to produce. Cows need a lot of space; they eat a lot of food; they produce a lot of methane. If all beef products in someone’s diet were replaced with lentils for one year, it would be the equivalent to the carbon sequestered by 18 tree seedlings over 10 years.
Depending on how much beef and what kind of beef a person eats, they could also save up to $60 a month by making that swap.
Impact of swapping seafood for mushrooms
The next most impactful change in terms of emissions and the biggest impact in terms of cost is swapping seafood for mushrooms. Mushrooms have a really similar texture to seafood and they can be used as a substitute and a lot of recipes.
If a person eating the average Lower Mainland diet ate mushrooms instead of seafood for a year, they would save enough emissions to drive about 1600 kilometers in a gas powered vehicle.
Depending on the amount of seafood a person is eating, the cost savings are up to $64 a month.
How plant-based eating helps animals
Amy: Yeah, those are all really significant impacts that one person can make by changing just one thing, the way they eat.
Of course, eating plant-based also has a major impact on reducing animal suffering because there’s less demand for animal products so fewer animals will be raised and killed in the conditions we’ve spoken about that are pretty horrific.
If you’re aiming to reduce your consumption of animal products to reduce animal suffering, it’s really important to consider the number of animal lives used to supply consumption habits, as well as the amount of hardship a particular animal will face in their short lifetime.
So for instance, chickens are quite small, so a very large number of them are killed to supply the demand for chicken meat. Dairy cows are typically given very little freedom and are forced to endure births and heartbreaking separation from their calves about once per year. They also live longer, more long suffering lives.
So just really thinking about each product that you consume, what’s its origin? Who is it coming from? What is that individual’s life like? I found that really helpful when I was moving towards a plant-based diet; to not see this packaged product as just plastic and marketing, but seeing the animal behind it and thinking about the animal behind it. That really helped me stick to my motivation to create a full shift and to go a hundred percent plant-based.
What’s next?
Amy: So what’s next?
Chantelle: Great question. So there are a lot of ways we’re planning to use the data from the survey, including for the cost benefit analysis.
We’re raising awareness in the community through things like infographics and ad campaigns.
We’ll also be engaging with government policy makers and institutional decision makers to talk about ways that the public supports these more institutional shifts towards plant-based foods and plant-based policies.
We’ll use it to inform the content we create moving forward for Plant University, which is a resource that helps individuals and institutions shift their diet and the foods that they offer to more plant-based foods.
You can also use some of the stats we’ve discussed today to engage with your favorite restaurant or grocery store or at your school or workplace if food is purchased and provided.
Amy: I’m looking forward to seeing the ways that people choose to change their diet. I think there’s a lot of great ways to start and to shift kind of one little bit at a time and certainly the resources are there to make that happen.
Chantelle: Absolutely. And we are also available as a resource so you can comment on the posts associated with this episode or reach out to us on social media.
Next episode
A bull in the chutes at The Calgary Stampede rodeo. Jo-Anne McArthur \ We Animals Media.
Please join us next month as we discuss animals used in rodeo.
VANCOUVER, May 30, 2023 – Switching to a plant-based diet could save you around 14% at the till, says a report released today by the Vancouver Humane Society (VHS). The report details how eating more plant-based foods can help individuals in British Columbia’s Lower Mainland to cut down on grocery costs, reduce emissions, and save animal lives.
These findings follow the release of a poll commissioned by the VHS, which found that 92% of Lower Mainland residents are concerned about how the rising cost of living is impacting their finances and 66% would be open to eating more plant-based foods to save money. Food costs have skyrocketed over the past year, increasing by more than double the overall annual inflation rate at about 10%, and are expected to rise by 5 to 7% this year according to Canada’s Food Price Report 2023.
Image: Vancouver Humane Society, A Transition Toward Plant-Based Diets: A study amongst BC residents in the Lower Mainland
By making the swap to plant-based alternatives, the average person could save $50 each month on groceries. That’s about 14% of the typical monthly cost of groceries for a person living in Vancouver, which was $355.28 last year. The savings are greatest when swapping out animal products for whole foods – for instance, switching from chicken to tofu rather than to manufactured meat alternatives.
Individuals who eat a lot of beef and seafood could see even higher savings. Swapping 21 servings of beef for lentils each month could save $60, while swapping 21 servings of seafood for mushrooms could save a whopping $64 monthly.
Image: Vancouver Humane Society, A Transition Toward Plant-Based Diets: A study amongst BC residents in the Lower Mainland
In addition to cost savings, eating a plant-based diet could reduce an individual’s carbon footprint by 816kg of carbon dioxide equivalents (CO2e) annually – about half of what it takes to power an entire home for a year.
Image: Vancouver Humane Society, A Transition Toward Plant-Based Diets: A study amongst BC residents in the Lower Mainland
A switch away from beef carries the greatest environmental impact – in the typical Lower Mainland diet, swapping beef for lentils reduces greenhouse gas emissions by nearly twice as much as swapping out all other animal products combined.
In 2020, a similar report from the VHS entitled “Increasing Plant-Based Purchasing at the Municipal Level” outlined the benefits of shifting toward more plant-based foods purchased by the City of Vancouver, including through catering, city-run concession stands, and municipal food funding. That report found by replacing 20% of animal-based food products with plant-based alternatives, the City of Vancouver could save up to $99,000 and reduce greenhouse gas emissions by more than 500 tonnes. In 2021, the Vancouver City Council unanimously passed a motion to explore policy recommendations outlined in the report.
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SOURCE Vancouver Humane Society
For more information, contact Chantelle Archambault: 604-416-2903, chantelle@vancouverhumanesociety.bc.ca
VANCOUVER, April 18, 2023 – Younger generations in B.C.’s Lower Mainland are increasingly shifting their diets toward plant-based foods, new polling data reveals.
The research poll, commissioned by the Vancouver Humane Society (VHS), examines the dietary preferences and opinions around plant-based eating of Lower Mainland residents. The study was conducted among a representative sample of 803 Lower Mainland residents aged 18+ who are members of the Angus Reid Forum.
Responses reveal a trend away from meat and animal products with each passing generation: vegans and vegetarians comprised 10% of respondents aged 18-34, 9% of respondents aged 35-54, and 6% of respondents aged 55+.
A similar trend can be found when looking at respondents’ reduction of animal-based products. 69% of respondents aged 18-34 had reduced their animal product consumption, compared to 66% of respondents aged 35-54 and 60% of respondents aged 55+.
In addition to vegans and vegetarians, more respondents in the youngest generation identified their diet as “flexitarian” – primarily eating plant-based foods with occasional consumption of animal-based products. 7% of respondents aged 18-34, and 5% of both other age groups surveyed identified as flexitarian.
“The increasing availability of plant-based foods and the growing popularity of plant-based diets are mutually reinforcing,” said VHS Communications Director Chantelle Archambault. “Public demand for tasty animal-free options is driving a huge shift in the industry, which in turn makes it easier than ever for more people to put plant-forward meals on their plates.”
Interestingly, motivations for shifting toward a plant-based diet varied by generation. Respondents aged 18-34 identified both economic reasons and environmental concerns as the top factors influencing their decision to consume fewer animal products, while other age demographics were most motivated by personal health.
When considering how and what to eat overall, every age group was most motivated by taste. Archambault says this is also a hopeful sign for the future.
“As the food industry continues to develop innovative tastes and textures for plant-based products, we’re sure to see a wider shift toward a society that eats more sustainably.”
For those looking to add more plants into their diets, the VHS offers free resources and recipes on their Plant University website.
