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Walk down your grocery store aisle today and a host of new culinary choices confront the aspiring vegetarian or vegan. From plant-based meat loaf, sausages and roasts to the Beyond Meat burgers that have taken fast-food chains like A&W by storm.
Diets have changed 鈥� spurred on by growing concern for the environment, animal welfare and personal health 鈥� and with that has emerged a whole new generation of Canadians increasingly willing to consider a meatless future.
In a recent Angus Reid poll, four in 10 Canadians said they鈥檝e now tried plant-based meat alternatives. And while 45% say they feel it鈥檚 a fad that will eventually wane, that sentiment drops off among younger Canadians who appear to be embracing mock meat: 58% of 18- to 35-year-olds have tried plant-based protein, 48% say they plan to over the next three months and 70% say the mock meat movement is here to stay.
As a group, young Canadians between 18 and 35-years-old appear to embrace a move to a meatless future more than any other group. In another recent poll by Insights West, 38% said they would consider taking up a vegetarian diet and another 17% said they would ponder the switch to veganism.
And while B.C. residents are most likely to take up a more plant-based diet, that trend starts to fade as you move away from city centres, according one local food purveyor.
About a year ago, Dan Lovric and Stephanie Cowie opened up a Port Coquitlam caf茅 and meal preparation service to offer a variety of vegan, vegetarian and other healthy meals.
鈥淚 just wanted to surround myself with good food. And I wanted to bring it out in the community too because I saw a lack of it,鈥� said Lovric.
Where Cowie spent more than 15 years in fine dining and is a certified yoga instructor (the cafe is called Yoga Chef), her husband Lovric used to work as a contractor and spent his days driving around, smoking cigarettes and eating fast-food. Eventually, that lifestyle took a big toll on his health and caused inflammation and pain in his joints.
鈥淚 got to the point where I was completely immobilized. I mean, I couldn鈥檛 get out of bed to go to the washroom and the funny thing is, it was as simple as cutting certain things out of the my diet,鈥� Lovric said.
Lovric says health concerns also tend to be what keeps most of their customers coming back. But while he鈥檚 banking on a long-term trend in healthy eating, he sees a big difference between the caf茅鈥檚 success in Port Coquitlam and similar businesses in Vancouver, where healthy dining is more established.
鈥淭hey鈥檙e all doing a lot better. They鈥檙e a lot busier than we are out here,鈥� he said. 鈥淏ut it鈥檚 only a matter of time.鈥�
