November 1 was World Vegan Day and as is the custom on these ‘world days’ media outlets had their customary articles on veganism – why go vegan?, 10 vegan options and more. And why not?  According to Google search trends interest in Veganism reached an all-time high this year than at any other time in the past. The analysis further revealed not only an interest or curiosity on part of the ‘surfers’ but actually an “intent to eat” as there were many more searches about vegan recipes and restaurants. 

Veganism as a food choice has been increasing in popularity over the last couple of decades.  Some people have been opting for vegan diets for reasons ranging from animal rights to health to saving the environment and slowing climate change. Though a vegetarian myself I am not a big proponent. I am a believer in eat and let eat.  But the move is interesting and to be welcomed as it brings many more dishes to the menu, particularly for us vegetarians, for whom the menus at many restaurants were reduced to only two sections – salads and desserts. And god forbid if you didn’t eat eggs even those would shrink!

But as I flip through the vegan friendly offerings I find them a bit perplexing. Animal Free Butcher; Vegan Charcuterie; fried plant-based chicken; vegan bacon;  vegan chorizo…. the list is long. Last I checked the dictionary a butcher is a person whose trade it is to cut and sell meat, and ‘to butcher’ means to slaughter, cut up or carve-up. A Charcuterie is a shop selling cold and preserved meats. And vegan diet comprises of only plant-based foods and a vegan is a person who does not eat any food derived from animals. And if it is bacon, it is not vegan!

One of the best-selling brands in this upcoming space of vegan foods calls itself Beyond Meat, but its imagination too does not go beyond preparing food products that look, feel and sound like meat!! “Beyond meatballs” – plant-based meatballs and they also tell us that it can be found in the meat aisle. “Beyond Burger” – a burger so rich and textured that you won’t believe it is made from plants; “Beyond Beef” – turn any recipe into a meaty plant-based masterpiece…. you get the point. 

I am baffled. If I don’t want to eat meat why would I want a meaty masterpiece?! 

It seems that I am not the only one objecting to this usage.  Just last month European farmers lost their attempt to ban term such as ‘veggie burgers’ from being used. Interestingly, it was a proposal backed by the meat industry and the largest farmers association in Europe had supported it saying – “vegetarian substitutes with designations bringing meat to mind is misleading for consumers”.  

So neither the plant producer nor the meat supplier were happy with these hybrid names. But the 12 consumer and activist organizations backing this nomenclature won the day. They had earlier lost their battle for terms like “almond milk” and “soy yogurt” which are banned for products in Europe. 

So maybe there is something to it. After all a company listed on the NASDAQ should be operating on some logic. Notice how Beyond Meat tells you each time that the product can be found in the “meat aisle”. It has got to do with tapping into people’s die-hard habits – which aisle do people instinctively walk to pick their favourite foods, what familiar sounding things do they pick up. 

The organisations which won the case in Europe claim that losing terms like ‘burgers’, ‘steaks’ and ‘sausages’ makes them “obscure” for the consumers while retaining these helps them know how to “integrate” these products into their meal, even when the products are not made of meat. They clearly think that people will only make the shift if they can find things that look and sound familiar.

The other argument is about texture. We are told our palate needs familiarity with both taste as well as texture. Some vegetarians I know don’t touch soya chunks or granules as to them it feels like eating meat. I think a lot of these habits depend on our minds and less so on our palate. I have an interesting story to elaborate this. In my early working days a colleague and I decided to treat ourselves to lunch at a nice Chinese restaurant. She, a meat lover, ordered some Ginger Pork and I some Vegetable Manchurian (a very Indian Chinese dish) to go with our noodles. She was almost done with her meal and I was halfway through when I asked her to taste some of mine saying it tasted and felt odd. One bite and her face fell. She had stuffed herself with the vegetable manchurian while I was struggling with her “delicious ginger pork” ! She polished off the wrong dish as the waiter made a mistake in announcing the dishes as he put them on the table. So mind over palate or palate over mind?

This world and us humans are not short on ideas. Why be beholden to old names when the ingredients on the plate have changed ? Or does the brain need to hear word meat, sausage or bacon before we can put it in our shopping carts, plates, mouths and stomachs ? Food can be tempting, sumptuous and fulfilling even without the familiar names. 

If we can make this gargantuan effort to change our food preferences, why not put some effort into finding new and innovative words that do justice to this new vegan spread that is on offer. I found vegelicious, now you go look for some. I hope this article has provided enough meat to set you thinking.