Whether 22 days or two, veganism continues to make an impact
Celebs pique the interest of African-American aspiring vegans and vegetarians
Doctors are treating patients with food as medicine — finally. Vegan burgers have trickled their way into grocery stores and fast food chains around the world. Vegetarian meals and fitness apparel are a hot topic on social media. And The Economist even declared 2019 the “year of the vegan.” But three years later, does this health trend still hold up? Thanks to increased exposure, wider retail chain selections and a few cool celebrities testing out the culture, it does indeed.
Celebrities made veganism cool(er)
Power couple Beyonce and Jay Z took a little flack in 2014 for admitting they were not vegans. That didn’t stop them from trying out the 22-day excursion into veganism courtesy of 22 Days Nutrition. Partnering with her nutritionist/trainer Marco Borges, the songstress and rap legend Shawn Carter offered one set of free lifetime concert tickets just for signing up on the plant-based meal site The Greenprint Project. True to their word, there was a winner — Anjunelly, a full-time mother of two teens from Virginia.
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Other celebrities also joined in to bring awareness to veganism: “Sister, Sister” actress and real-life twin Tia Mowry posed in a lettuce dress and won a PETA award for promoting veganism. Although she is not a vegan anymore, and her “Quick Fix” YouTube channel is largely meat-based and beauty tips, there are plenty of other African-American vegan channels from the likes of Tabitha Brown and Koya Webb.
There were also celebrity pop-ups via PETA’s “We’d Rather Go Naked Than Wear Fur” and “Ink Not Mink,” featuring Angela Simmons, Chuck D, Common, Dennis Rodman, Mario and Waka Flocka.
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Vegan food trends hit the fast food industry
Walk into a Target retail store, and Impossible meat is readily available as vegan breakfast sausage, vegan burgers, and vegan loose meat for spaghetti and chili. But there was a time when it was hard to track down — long gone from Burger King Croissanwiches but still available as Impossible Whoppers. White Castle fast food restaurants also kept an Impossible Whopper, even after the BBQ Impossible Slider version came and went.
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And although Beyond Meat had a decent run on breakfast sandwiches at Dunkin’ Donuts — Snoop Dogg commercial included — it ran into some legal trouble and is no longer on the menu.
Pizza Hut also stopped selling Beyond Meat pizza after a short run, but restaurants like Starbucks and Sarpino’s still have the vegan meat option on their menus. (Sarpino’s Pizza also has a Field Roast plant-based pepperoni option.)
While some vegans argue about whether the food is prepared in the same grease and counters of meat items (including the fries) and if all the grease and cheese is worth eating, for startup vegans and vegetarians, it’s a helpful and familiar step toward eating more plant-based food. And for black folks who grew up eating well-seasoned soul food, having a solid alternative for scrumptious meaty meals around the holidays (mainly Thanksgiving) can make or break their vegan goals.
Still, for some consumers, it may seem peculiar for fast food spots and restaurants to bother with vegan and vegetarian meal options, especially when only 5% of the U.S. population is vegetarian and 2% are vegan. So why do it anyway? Because there’s a $1.5 billion meat substitute market and $3.1 billion for milk substitutes, reports Statista.
Even for African-Americans who shy away from vegan meals, the 75% with symptoms of lactose intolerance may be intrigued by non-dairy substitutes in vegan milk and vegan cheese. (Studies do report that African-Americans can drink one 8-ounce glass of dairy milk without lactose intolerant symptoms. Yogurt and/or hard cheese may aid in digestion.) Either way, social norms have made vegan and vegetarian eating far more appetizing and less people picturing a meal as a bland salad or boiled vegetables.
The health care industry may be making improvements, too. Previously, out of 121 medical schools, 71% did not require doctors to take nutrition courses, which left patients on their own — and ponying up the money for a dietician — to figure out a reasonable meal plan. With the popularity of vegetarianism and veganism, it has less of a cult following and has become more mainstream for diverse groups. Instead of doctors just writing out prescriptions and encouraging patients to “lose weight” solely from high-intensity workouts, fruits, vegetables and meat alternatives are steadily coming up as a potential “medicine.”
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Getting fit for a ‘Hot Girl Summer’
In addition to vegan and vegetarian meals, exercising has gotten cooler and far more comfortable for various body types. Beyonce has Ivy Park. Kelly Rowland was one of the brand ambassadors for Fabletics. Venus Williams has Eleven. Although Fenty x Puma came and went in 2018, new billionaire Rihanna just may start her own athletic brand, too.
With all of these new food and athletic options, along with celebrity consciousness, there are far more options to learn from regarding a healthy lifestyle. (When I made the transition to vegetarianism between 2003 to 2005, I had zero examples other than a handful of Chicago restaurants — only four of which had any amount of soul food. All but one have shut their restaurant doors pre-COVID though.) But with the increasing awareness, new (black) vegans and vegetarians have a wide(r) variety of options — both celebrity and for the everyday user.
* Writer’s note: This post has significantly been updated from its original writing and research for RETHINK Retail in the fall of 2019 entitled “Beyonce Said It’s Good.”
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