Oy Vey It's A Food Newsletter - Vol 2, Issue 1
We are halfway through Veganuary, what happens next?
Hello from 2023, the year in which we can quote Cardi B when discussing food systems and inflation!
What I’ve Read
Veganuary takes hold: Companies and consumers expected to embrace plant-based eating in 2023 - Every time I open my computer I see an article telling me plant-based eating is on the rise and then another one declaring it’s impending decline. This article says the global market value of meat substitutes is still growing, just not at the same rate as in previous years. It also highlights some of the specials certain companies have put out for Veganuary.
(If you wanna dig deeper into Veganuary - get excited for the Kvetch Sesh below)Noma, Rated the World’s Best Restaurant is Closing Its Doors - Noma is closing its regular service at the end of 2024 to transition into a food lab and e-commerce operation with the occasional pop-up. In this article, the discussion of sustainability doesn’t just refer to environmental sustainability, it also includes the sustainability of the (exploitative) fine-dining industry operations. Elitism is unsustainable, abusive, and toxic, who knew?!
Recentering Equity and Decentering Thinness in the Fight for Food Justice - An essay discussing how fatphobia is linked with food equity advocacy and public health initiatives. Author Mikey offers 3 questions to decenter thinness in the field of food advocacy; if you are a thin or straight-sized food or nutrition professional I highly recommend reflecting on your work with these questions (and the additional suggested reading material) in mind.
A Hard Seltzer Brand Creates A System For Drinking Alcohol And Not Drinking Alcohol - We are familiar with beverages sold in a multipack offering different flavors, newer to market are multipacks offering drinks with various alcohol by volume (ABV) amounts. I can definitely see this offering gaining popularity with consumers.
Small meatpackers get $9.6M from the Biden administration - The Biden administration has announced that $9.6 million will be issued through 25 new investments (grants and loans) across 15 states to small meat farmers, ranchers, processors, and rural businesses. The goal of the investment is to expand capacity in areas that need it and create additional market opportunities. This is said to be part of the administration’s efforts to address the market concentration of the animal meat industry…we’ll see if this is reflected in the Farm Bill.
Artificial intelligence could help work out the best diet for every individual - Interesting Q&A with the Program Director and Coordinator of the NIH’s Nutrition for Precision Health consortium about a precision nutrition research study. The data will be gathered via 3 modules and the claims that the study will build one of the most diverse health databases with most of the participants coming from demographics that have been previously underrepresented in biomedical sciences. AI will be used to analyze the data and translate it into algorithms. AI and ML are already being employed in our food system (I have personally helped design nutrition algorithms for the online grocery space) and I’m definitely curious to see how it will impact the nutrition field.
In partially related news, did you see the Biden Administration’s Blueprint for an AI Bill of Rights?
We Need A Harm Reductionist Approach to Eating Disorders - (CW: ED)
Social psychologist Dr. Devon Price shares his thoughts about the book Saving Our Own Lives* by Shira Hassan employing a harm reductionist approach to eating disorders. As Dr. Price says, “a harm reduction approach can be applied to nearly any health-related behavior that’s been pathologized…” and he offers a very personal reflection on his own eating disorder through this lens. Harm reduction does not preclude people from receiving care, it expands the definition and application of what care looks like on an individual basis.
* Affiliate link - I have not read this book yet but I added it to my wishlistSwitzerland: Zurich Administrative Court deems animal designations in labelling of meat alternatives not misleading - Animal-free food labeling and supposed consumer confusion is a global issue. An administrative court in Switzerland has ruled against a mandate that prohibited vegan and vegetarian meat alternatives from using any “animal designations” in their labeling. The Administrative Court of the Canton of Zurich rejected that strict interpretation and deemed labeling phrases such as: like chicken, like pork, vegan pork, chicken from plants, etc are not confusing to consumers. This article will take you through more of the specifics from the original mandate and the updates from this recent ruling.
5 Mistakes In Brand Sustainability Communications That Could Land You In Hot Water - The CMO of an animal-free dairy company walks us through 5 sustainability communication strategies and offers brief insights as to how companies can address their greenwashing. The fifth point was my favorite because it calls out the vague language and poorly defined terms companies often use in their marketing. I am one happy nutrition communication nerd!
They’re Vegetarian, But Only When They’re Home - Have you heard of social omnivores? While this term is new to me, the concept is not. Social omnivores are people who are generally vegetarian or plant-based at home but consume animals in social settings. The article claims it’s different from your average flexitarian or omnivore. As I mentioned, I am familiar with the concept of people following certain dietary protocols or lifestyles within their home but relaxing them in other situations. Growing up I had friends whose families did this with kosher observance, they would be more strict about keeping a kosher home but relaxed when going to restaurants, events, or for meals at other people’s homes.
P.S. The first paragraph of the article is one of the most hilariously (culturally) Jewish intros to a piece of writing that is not at all about Judaism.
P.P.S. If this socio-cultural discussion of animal consumption interests you I definitely suggest reading Meathooked*
*affiliate link
Q&Kay
Q: A little outside food (so understandable if you choose not to answer), but because it’s relevant to a measure on my local ballot: what are your thoughts on the ethics of zoos?
K: So it is well past time for this answer to be relevant for the ballot measure (sorry dear voter!) but I read a great article by Christopher Sebastian last month that speaks to your question.
An exploded aquarium and chimpanzees shot dead: Is it time to stop keeping animals in captivity?
While Christopher’s article leads with a reference to an episode of The Simpsons, the first Matt Groening show reference that comes to my mind was Futurama Season 7 Episode 17.
Back to reality.
Personally, I have no interest in zoos or aquariums or paying to see any animal in captivity; it doesn’t align with my vegan ethics. If you want to visit with animals, I suggest finding a local animal sanctuary that offers tours to the public or volunteering at an animal rescue operation or animal shelter.
Submit your own question —> here!
Kvetch Sesh
We are halfway through Veganuary.
If you think I just made a weird vegan Freudian typo, let me offer up some context. Veganuary is a movement that began in the UK in 2014 that has since grown into a global initiative. Veganuary asks people to pledge to try a “vegan diet” for the month of January. Veganuary’s mission is to, “inspire and support people to try vegan, drive corporate change, and create a global mass movement championing compassionate food choices with the aim of ending animal farming, protecting the planet and improving human health.”
Appealing to people on a global scale means employing a careful strategy. You have to be outspoken enough to prompt people to change but avoid coming off as too radical lest you become the militant vegan everyone loves to hate, likely limiting your movement’s potential to grow the number of people taking your pledge. I can’t argue that Veganuary hasn’t made people more aware of veganism, especially since in 2022 it reported statistics like, “620,000 people took our pledge to try a vegan diet, while more than 1,540 new vegan products and menu options were launched in our key campaign countries.” Within this increased awareness I have seen the perpetuation of a very specific conceptualization of veganism.
Veganuary is evocative of, what I believe to be, a schism within the vegan movement. This schism has created various vegan sects, two of the main ones I have identified are: veganism-as-a-diet and ethical veganism. I would classify Veganuary within the veganism-as-a-diet sect.
The Who We Are section on Veganuary’s About Us page explicitly states that, “Veganuary encourages and supports people and businesses alike to move to a plant-based diet…”. In its literature I notice the language flip flopping between vegan and plant-based without clear distinction. If I’m being generous in my analysis, I would say it is attempting to position a plant-based diet as part of a vegan lifestyle. Due to a lack of consistency, it is unclear whether or not that analysis is accurate. Walking myself back from my favorite hobby, getting too caught up in the details, I still think it’s fair to say that Veganuary is most focused on promoting veganism-as-a-diet. The pledge aims to shift people’s dietary consumption or a company’s product offerings in the short term with the hope that it will create long term change. For a few reasons, I do not find myself optimistic about the sustainability of Veganuary’s strategy.
Veganuary’s main metric of success is either self-limiting or contradictory to creating a vegan world, a goal stated within the movement’s materials. This is the 9th iteration of Veganuary and at this point, the initiative is succeeding; each year more and more people are taking the pledge. If Veganuary continues to measure its success in terms of people pledging to “try vegan” for 31 days, it will need to see bigger numbers each year. If it only sees positive growth, then at some point the movement is falling short of creating a vegan world.
Another aspect that makes me doubt the sustainability of Veganuary is the positioning of veganism-as-a-diet. Diets are not effective at creating long term change. This is becoming increasingly more salient knowledge in the nutrition field. It is also something that offers confirmation of my own personal biases as someone who “went vegan” with only diet in mind about 8.5 years ago. At the time, I did not know that veganism meant anything more than removing animals from your diet. As I sought out more vegan resources, I learned that veganism also extended to lifestyle choices like not buying clothing or lifestyle products made from animals and not buying products tested on animals. About 1-2 years after first cutting out animal dairy and eggs out of my vegetarian diet, I began to understand veganism as a set of ethical principles rather than the act of restricting my consumption. This shift away from the restrictive, veganism-as-a-diet mentality and my own embrace of the philosophical and ethical aspects are what made my commitment to veganism sustainable. I know my own journey is not generalizable to the entire vegan population; however, I have read about and talked to other vegans with similar experiences and offer them as additional anecdotal evidence. Our veganism became sustainable when we shifted from following a vegan diet to committing to veganism as an ethical practice.
I am not parsing through Veganuary’s materials in an attempt to find the moral high ground or police its interpretation of veganism. I think Veganuary makes an excellent philosophical case study. It offers an opportunity to study the socio-cultural development of the vegan movement in real time. It prompts a reflection of how our movement, or our sects within the movement, defines success. Veganuary has shown itself to be effective at introducing people to the idea of reducing their consumption of animals. Is it strong enough to create and sustain the vegan world it claims to be working towards? By this I mean, will Veganuary generate radical enough change to dismantle the systems that require the consumption, commodification, and exploitation of animals, people, and our planet?
Interesting perspective on Veganuary. I share your pessimism about the long-term sustainability of Veganuary, but for a different reason. Veganuary hasn't identified - or clarified - their overall objective. If their main focus were health/dietary, then they would spend more time on that message and discuss essential considerations in nutrition (at least, I wish this was the case). I don't see that happening.
From the other ethical perspectives (environment and animal rights), the message is limited, as far as I can tell. The idea of getting the message to the masses is important...but what message is getting out there? Right now, the entire movement feels like it is dependent on and sustained by corporate interests...it seems like it's turned into one big advertisement and marketing opportunity - sort of like the early days of promoting 'organic' food.
Like you, I began my vegan journey with a clear emphasis on diet. And over the years, my interest in animal rights and environmental awareness has greatly expanded. I have a much better understanding of what it means to lead a life that eliminates any connection to animal-based products - I even shop for vegan clothes and shoes these days. But I know I still have a long ways to go before I can say my life is entirely animal-free...and therein lies the problem - what does that life look like? What exactly is a 100% vegan life?
To me, beginning at any point is perfectly ok... I'm happy to meet people who take a stand from an ethical perspective and transition to understand more about how to lead a 'healthy' vegan diet/lifestyle. At the same time, I am perfectly ok if someone begins on the 'plant-based' side of things and evolves to include the ethical aspects of veganism.
Thanks for putting this piece together. I appreciate your perspective - these issues need to be discussed much more in public spaces.
I am cautious as to who I tell I am a vegan. It starts this whole - dirty hippy conversation I would rather not have with people I don't know.
I tell them I am plant based, and that opens up a whole 'nother conversation. They think that is cool.
Really enjoyed this article - thanks!