Vegetarians are emerging as a powerful economic force….
Vancouver cracks North America’s vegetarian-friendly top 10, and the food business reaps the rewards
July 23, 2010
Vegetarians are emerging as a powerful economic force, reshaping the city’s food business and cuisine.
Both Vancouver and Toronto were recently listed among the top 10 most vegetarian friendly cities in North America by the People for Ethical Treatment of Animals. Hardly surprising since one in 10 Canadians now self-identifies as a vegetarian for moral, philosophical or health-related reasons, according to an Ipsos Reid poll conducted for Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada.
An even more important finding in AgCanada’s 2005 report, Canadian Food Trends to 2020, is that up to 40 per cent of Canadians will seek a meatless meal at least some of the time, creating a critical mass of spending on vegetarian ingredients at retail and in the restaurant sector.
The shift in eating habits has grown the mock meat industry into a $1-billion-a-year business in little more than a decade, said PETA’s Amanda Fortino.
Although some of Vancouver’s venerable vegetarian restaurants have closed in recent years, some due to the age or ill health of the operators, the new wave of raw food restaurants is thriving, said Nancy Callan, chair of Earthsave Canada’s vegan dine-out program. Raw foods are prepared without the use of high heat to avoid altering or destroying the inherent enzymes in food.
“Raw food is an emerging cuisine and the restaurants that are doing that are doing really well,” she said. “[American chef] Charlie Trotter recently said if you can’t do raw you aren’t an accomplished chef.”
PETA cited the emergence of restaurants such as Organic Lives, Gorilla Food and Loving Hut as key to Vancouver securing sixth place out of 100 cities over 300,000 people.
Callan said she has observed in the past five years a huge rise in the number of so-called “flexitarians” who eat a mainly plant-based diet, but may occasionally include fish or meat. To support that growing market, Earthsave will distribute 30,000 copies of its Vegetarian Directory this year.
They will include lists of vegetarian friendly restaurants, businesses and organizations in Metro Vancouver.
Beef consumption has been in steady decline for 20 years, a trend that AgCanada attributes to the rise of vegetarianism and wide acceptance of the health benefits of fish-, vegetable- and grain-based diets and the growth of Asian-style cookery, which is less meat dependent.
“A lot more people are aware of the vegetarian lifestyle, whether it’s because athletes or musicians and actors are vegetarian, or because people want to live a more athletic or healthy life,” said chef Aaron Ash, owner of the Vancouver vegan raw food café and caterer Gorilla Food. “Around the world it’s a growing movement, now that people are aware that they can eat vegetarian food that is not just good for them but also appealing to the senses.
“Chefs are putting a lot of effort into making vegetarian food exciting,” said Ash, who started his catering and takeout business in a private home before moving into a storefront in Downtown Vancouver four years ago.
As his following and customer base grew he became convinced that a more commercial enterprise would be viable.
Even 10 years ago the vegetarian option at many restaurants consisted of a plate full of vegetable side dishes originally destined for the steak or chicken special.
That’s just not good enough any more, Ash said.
“It’s never a concern when you go to a restaurant now that there wouldn’t be a vegetarian option,” said Ash. “And most people think that having a vegan lunch is perfectly normal and those same people might go home and have meat for dinner.”
A growing number of conventional eaters are incorporating raw foods or vegetarian options into their lives, according to RawBC’s Clive Langton. His organization, which promotes consumption of raw or “live” foods, has grown from a core group of a few dozen seven years ago to 400 dues-paying members today.
“People know now that they don’t have to eat vegan or raw all the time, they just add a little more raw to their diet and feel better,” Langton said.
Read more: Calgary Herald story