Subsidies for the animal agriculture industry are still lopsided against veganism, and the Far Right escalation in social media awarded by algorithms favors carnism over veganism.
I like to think that veganism is more of a grass roots (pun intended) movement focused on whole foods in favor of processed foods.
All these things may contribute to veganism’s seeming decline in the last few years, although I may be wrong (and that decline may just be a lack of reporting)
I feel like it’s a difficult thing to measure, because like you said, the OG vegans are just eating a plant-based diet of whole foods. Veggies/greens, rice, beans lentils, nuts, grains, tofu etc… which health-conscious meat eaters will also eat. Must be hard to get the signal from the noise there. I would imagine that meat replacement type products would be more faddish and less stable because they’re often popular with those trying to transition to a plant-based diet.
Plus, these foods are just kind of weird IMO, and way more expensive than just eating a regular diet of plants. They’re not going to do well when consumer sentiment is shaky at best.
Disclaimer: I’m not vegan myself, just spent some time in the food industry (organic/natural foods in particular).
Subsidies for the animal agriculture industry are still lopsided against veganism, and the Far Right escalation in social media awarded by algorithms favors carnism over veganism.
I like to think that veganism is more of a grass roots (pun intended) movement focused on whole foods in favor of processed foods.
All these things may contribute to veganism’s seeming decline in the last few years, although I may be wrong (and that decline may just be a lack of reporting)
I feel like it’s a difficult thing to measure, because like you said, the OG vegans are just eating a plant-based diet of whole foods. Veggies/greens, rice, beans lentils, nuts, grains, tofu etc… which health-conscious meat eaters will also eat. Must be hard to get the signal from the noise there. I would imagine that meat replacement type products would be more faddish and less stable because they’re often popular with those trying to transition to a plant-based diet.
Plus, these foods are just kind of weird IMO, and way more expensive than just eating a regular diet of plants. They’re not going to do well when consumer sentiment is shaky at best.
Disclaimer: I’m not vegan myself, just spent some time in the food industry (organic/natural foods in particular).