I love a vegan restaurant, but I have a pet peeve about most of them: Their menus are filled with fake meats!
For example, many asian cuisine vegan restaurants will serve curries with a choice of "soy chicken" or "vegi-beef"' and so forth. I find them quite tasty, don't get me wrong.
But, the problem that I have is that these menu descriptions play into the typical omnivore's belief that a meal is not a meal unless there's meat in it. So, they would believe, as we don't eat meat, we have to eat "fake meat" to replace it.
I'm all for veggie burgers and Tofurky and fake meat options at the grocery store. I think they're great choices for people who are deciding to go vegetarian and don't quite know yet what to replace meat with.
However, in a vegetarian restaurant, can't we be a bit more creative? Perhaps broaden peoples' perspectives of what a healthy, plant-based diet is? How about descriptions of our protein choices as, say, textured soy protein? Or better yet, how about dishes that don't rely on fake meat at all?
Can a vegetarian or vegan eating establishment thrive without fake meat???
For example, many asian cuisine vegan restaurants will serve curries with a choice of "soy chicken" or "vegi-beef"' and so forth. I find them quite tasty, don't get me wrong.
But, the problem that I have is that these menu descriptions play into the typical omnivore's belief that a meal is not a meal unless there's meat in it. So, they would believe, as we don't eat meat, we have to eat "fake meat" to replace it.
I'm all for veggie burgers and Tofurky and fake meat options at the grocery store. I think they're great choices for people who are deciding to go vegetarian and don't quite know yet what to replace meat with.
However, in a vegetarian restaurant, can't we be a bit more creative? Perhaps broaden peoples' perspectives of what a healthy, plant-based diet is? How about descriptions of our protein choices as, say, textured soy protein? Or better yet, how about dishes that don't rely on fake meat at all?
Can a vegetarian or vegan eating establishment thrive without fake meat???