Who Loves Eating Vegetarian?
I found this photo online when I typed in “vegetarian meals”, and the pictures that popped up were either veggie bowls like this with tofu chunks, or an even more obvious visual:
Pasta, Pasta And More Pasta!
Why am I bringing this up? Because it’s #FoodieFriday, and my friend Carol, who has the terrific blog “Piglet In Portugal”, started this #FoodieFriday conversation with a straightforward statement:
“Try as I may, I just can’t get excited about vegetarian meals.”
She makes some great points, especially when discussing the types of food that are used as a protein substitute:
Beans, for example. Or Tofu. Or this:
Pasta. Always Pasta!
While it’s the perfect vegetarian dish, it does come with Carbs – and what if you don’t want them?
It’s an interesting discussion to have – here are some statistics:
The number of vegetarians varies globally, with estimates suggesting around 22% worldwide, while in the U.S., roughly 4-6% of adults identify as vegetarian, with a larger portion (around 12-46%) eating vegetarian or vegan meals occasionally or regularly, with younger people and women more likely to adopt these diets.
Soups are also a great way to eat vegetarian as well…lots of vegetables, and usually pasta or potato as bulk – again, carbs!
Having shared this “giant meatball” recipe, you know that I eat everything, but I have pulled back on red meat – easy for me because I love fish!
In 2022, when my wife challenged me to make a different dish each week from a different cookbook we owned, I actually made a vegan dish as well:
These stuffed eggplants were fun to make, except I didn’t have my wife to videotape me, but still managed to get some shots of me botching a very easy cooking technique:
You can see how my vegan dish came out by clicking here:
Sharing more about Vegans in a moment, but first, thanks to Carole for her terrific blog that raised the very valid point about how to enjoy vegetarian dishes.
Here is her original post – check it out as she is linking to a number of other stories and recipes as well!
I do make a lot of soup, and a vegetarian version is easy, thanks to Patrica Wells! Here is a great winter Pistou recipe!
Now, back to vegans:
The number of vegans varies by region, but globally it’s a small percentage, with estimates around less than 1%, though growing, while in the U.S., polls show figures from 1% to 4% of adults identifying as vegan, with some studies suggesting a larger portion adopting plant-based meals. Numbers differ due to self-reporting and definitions, but generally, veganism is more common among younger demographics and women.
I discovered there is a culinary backlash her win the US to vegan restaurants:
This great photo is part of a terrific article about the decline of vegan restaurants!
You should check out the grub street article that discusses the decline in the vegan movement…very interesting!
https://www.grubstreet.com/article/veganism-movement-decline-vegan-diet-popularity.html
A thought-provoking article, just as Carole’s original comment about vegetarian dishes gave me a lot to think about!
For those who haven’t read me, I share and store food stories and recipes here!
It’s your site for all things food – if you like what you see, please click on my link and follow this blog as well!
If you like the story, share it with friends on social media!
Categories: Bite Eat Swallow, Bite! Eat! Repeat!, Books / Media, Food, Food Writing, Recipes, Wacky Food, World's Wildest Food
Bite! Eat! Repeat! 
Lucky for me, I eat little meat. Especially not the steaks and burgers that you seem to love. I also love seafood, plus eggs and avocados. And lots of beans! I could not go vegan. I’ll have to check out that blog!
I eat all kinds of food and my protein is usually fish, especially salmon. What made the vegan article interesting is how there is a blowback against restaurants – and Carole’s original story is great because she dives into why people eat vegetarian, but also the issues she has with the limitations in that diet…thanks for leaving the note, it’s fun to talk food!
Having a medical background and now having studied (and still studying) natural health and nutrition on a tertiary scale for some 30 years I may think and look at matters a little differently. A healthy plate of food is simple – half vegetables/salads, quarter healthy carbs, quarter proteins, meat or other – to me this comes automatically . . . each group has foods I like and others I dislike . . . obviously I prepare and eat the ones I love 🙂 ! I never think about it – simply do not keep stuff not good for one’s health and longevity at home 🙂 ! And don’t believe in extremes and cannot see the difficulties in probably the most enjoyable and fun thing we do!
I do like veg versions of things but still like some meat, chicken or fish with most meals,
Great post! I had to smile at your attempt to slice the eggplant 🙂 Here in Portugalour village is full of lettuce munchers and vegans who are vocal about meat eaters. they annoy me. Hha… they all look pale and pasty. We have a few vegan/veggie restuarnts in our area. Not sure how successful they are as we never freuquent.
the best option are the restuarnts who balance the menu and offer something for everyone.
thanks for participating in #foodiefriday
Your options is exactly the right one: offer something for all…our friends’daughter is vegetarian and we take her to dinner sometimes since she is in college here in NYC and her family doesn’t live here…we pick a place that has options for her and we all have a great time! Thanks for the note!
Hey, sorry about all the spelling bloopers in my comment LoL I think my fingers were inebriated by too much red wine at dinner 🙂
I also blame “drunk fingers” for may of my typos…but auto correct will auto correct things that I never ask to have auto corrected so I blame apple as well – cheers!
And my reply had a TYPO! HA!
I have tried different vegetarian options over the years, but the texture of Tofu feels just horrible in my mouth. The only veggie meal I can really tolerate is lasagna made with quorn instead of minced beef, or peppers or vine leaves stuffed with rice and herbs. Basically, I am a meat-eater, and sticking with that.
Best wishes, Pete.
There is a backlash here to the “judgmental” tone of veganism: you are a bad person by consuming meat, eggs, cheese etc. That has decimated the “fake meat” industry as articles began to show that they were sold as healthier but in fact have ingredients the same as protein…I eat everything, and having a vegan or vegetarian meal is fine – but cauliflower and tofu dont sit well so why try so hard to incorporate them? Thanks as always for your insight!
Hi John, I was a vegetarian for about 10 years before I got married. When I started living with TC, I introduced fish back into my diet. TC doesn’t eat beans or tofu. Over time I introduced chicken and after Greg was born, red meat. I wanted my family to be regular and for us to eat regular food. I was always a bit of an outsider at school because my thought process is so different so I wanted my sons to be regular Jo’s. Of course, they aren’t as Greg inherited my mind and Michael was always sick. At least they eat the same foods as their peers.
I am all for personal food choices, but i understand that having a different palate can be challenging in family and social situations…one thing that people here in the US don’t appreciate is being judged – as you probably sense in everything you read about us, we push back hard and usually inappropriately, and that seems to be happening in the case of the vegan backlash…thanks for sharing your story with me!
I understand your comment completely