The Decline of Veganism: Cultural Shifts in Plant-Based Eating

The Rise and Fall of Plant-Based Trends

• 📈 Veganism saw a boom in the 2010s, becoming an aspiration linked to health and celebrity endorsement, with plant-based meat alternatives like Beyond Meat experiencing significant financial success.
• 📉 By 2020, the U.S. plant-based protein retail market reached $1.54 billion in sales, but this peak was followed by a decline, with vegan restaurants closing and alternative meat brands losing money.
• ⚠️ Despite the market boom, the percentage of people identifying as vegan has remained consistently small, hovering between 1% and 3% for the last 30 years.

Shifting Motivations for Veganism

• 💡 Historically, veganism was often driven by ethical concerns, environmental impact, or animal welfare, seen as a principled act.
• 🌱 Over time, a new narrative emerged, framing veganism as beneficial for personal health, physical appearance, and a celebrity-endorsed lifestyle.
• 🔄 The shift in health trends, particularly towards protein-maxing and heavy lifting, has led some who adopted veganism for health reasons to move on to other dietary approaches.

Challenges and Perceptions

• 🎯 Mark Bittman suggests the perceived "boom and bust" is more about cultural noise than actual behavior change, noting that full-time veganism is challenging and often leads to backlash when people "fail."
• 💬 Veganism carries "baggage" of being perceived as pious, strict, or moralistic, which can create social friction, even if not reflective of individual vegans' behavior.
• 🌍 Eating less meat is highlighted as a rare action that is good for individual health, the planet, and animal welfare, reducing greenhouse emissions and environmental degradation.

Cultural Context and Optimism

• 🧠 The current cultural climate, characterized by a "nihilistic strain" and a "party at the end of the world vibe," is seen as less conducive to the optimism required for individual choices like veganism.
• ⚖️ Veganism is often "leftish-coded" in the U.S., while trends like protein mania and heavy meat consumption can be associated with right-coded cultural views.
• 🔮 The speaker hopes that the cultural moment will change, allowing for a return to the optimism needed for incremental, plant-based dietary shifts.