2024 witnessed vegan food advance onto more plates

In 2024, vegan and vegetarian food continued its advance onto more plates, fueled by cultural changes that are integrating plant-based meals into the mainstream.

We’re seeing it this holiday season, which is stuffed with plant-based eats such as the new Mickey Mouse-shaped vegan whoopie pies Disney’s Magic Kingdom in Florida is serving for Christmas. Philadelphia has been hyping vegan options, too, including a booth selling vegan bratwurst at its annual Christmas Village. And in Somerville, Massachusetts, the Vegan Market held a packed holiday event.

Last month, the U.S. Department of Agriculture reported that turkeys confined in farms dropped 6% from 2023, a 12% decrease since 2019. With this in mind, I wasn’t surprised when trip planning website The Vacationer released survey results last month that found turkey is the least favorite traditional Thanksgiving food among its respondents. Home entertaining icon Martha Stewart herself told NBC’s Today show that her family would celebrate a vegetarian Thanksgiving this year.

Meanwhile, the annual Tofurky Trot in Portland, Oregon, attracted 1,313 runners, a 27% increase over 2023.

Next up on the vegan holiday calendar is Veganuary. Last year, when more than 1.8 million people participated, the month featured new vegan product announcements and promotional campaigns. For instance, Emirates airline introduced 300 new vegan in-flight meals, while Dunkin’ shops in the United Kingdom added vegan doughnuts in several flavors.

At the same time, here in the U.S., newspapers in January reported on the class action lawsuit filed against Massachusetts-based Dunkin’ under the Americans with Disabilities Act. The plaintiffs alleged that the chain discriminates against people who can’t tolerate dairy by charging more for plant milks. A similar lawsuit against Starbucks led the coffee chain to end its upcharge for vegan milks in October.

CULTURE CHECK

Ads and media delivered significant vegan messages to mainstream audiences this past year. During the Super Bowl, PETA aired an ad with Sopranos star Edie Falco. The ad juxtaposed the idea of American’s being “unable” to live without cheese with footage of a dairy cow frantically chasing after her newborn calf, which had been taken away so the mother’s milk could be sold to humans.

Canadian vegan cheese brand Daiya released an unusual ad campaign in late winter that paired its plant cheeses with animal-based burgers sizzling on the grill.  “…the brand stands virtually alone in the industry in touting Big Beef and a plant-based product in the same commercial,” Ad Week noted, “advancing a no-judgment, mix-and-match mentality.”

Similarly, in a TV ad aimed at meat-eating men, Impossible Foods featured a manly man at a backyard barbecue, a hot dog eating contest and a family kitchen proclaiming Impossible is “solving the meat problem with more meat.” Because, as he announces, “now, plants can be meat.”
 

In August, HBO’s MAX channel aired a cooking special, “Unbelievably Vegan with Chef Charity,” featuring cookbook author Charity Morgan. That same month, actor Lucas Bravo, who stars as a chef in Netflix’s “Emily in Paris,” told Sharp Magazine he would “love” his character’s business to become a vegan restaurant.

In October, when “Joker: Folie à Deux” staring Joaquin Phoenix opened in theaters across the county it included a video from PETA of Phoenix struggling for air underwater, intended to get audiences to think about the 1 trillion fish humans consume each year. Locally, the spot ran at the Nickelodeon Cinemas in Portland, Apple Cinemas in Westbrook and Smitty’s Cinema in Sanford.
 

POLICY WONKS 

Plant-based foods were both embraced and rejected by public policy makers across the country and around the globe in 2024. The World Bank released a report in May that called for a reduction in animal-based food production and a rise in plant-based, climate-friendly agriculture. In October, the European Court of Justice ruled that plant-based foods sold in the European Union may use names traditionally reserved for animal meat, such as steak, sausage and burger.

Los Angeles County voted to make all government food purchases plant-based by default, and 10 more cities signed onto the international Plant-Based Treaty.

In October, Massachusetts provided $2.1 million in funding to a research center at Tufts University focused on overcoming technical challenges in the development of cultivated laboratory meat. Florida and Alabama banned cultivated meat in 2024.

In July, the Paris Summer Olympics made history with the most plant-forward menu ever at the Games. One-third of the meals served in the athletes’ village were vegetarian, as was 60% of the food sold to spectators.

Last year’s COP28 was hailed for embracing plant-based food, but the menu at the COP29 climate summit this November in Azerbaijan was meat-forward. The lack of plant-based options prompted protests and an official U.N. response. Climate activists, who found that response underwhelming, handed out free vegan sandwiches.

Back in the U.S., the Environmental Working Group released a survey that showed the federal government is increasing the vegan and vegetarian options in its food service operations at federal prisons, parks, hospitals, museums and government buildings.

SHOW ME THE SCIENCE 

In April, a study published in the journal Nature Ecology & Evolution used isotopic analysis of the remains of Stone Age people who once lived in North Africa to find they ate a primarily plant-based diet. This is the latest study that calls into question the origin of the paleo diet.

On the health side, a large literature review published in May in PLOS ONE found vegan and vegetarian diets are linked with lower rates of cancer and heart disease. Two months later, research results that found that eating a vegan diet for as little as eight weeks could lower a person’s biological age were published in the BMC Medicine journal; the research was also showcased in the Netflix documentary You Are What You Eat.

In September, the New York Times reported on research from the Dutch nonprofit True Price that showed how corporate subsidies and hidden societal costs artificially deflate the price of animal-based meat. According to True Price, beef that sells for $5.34 per pound would retail for $27.36 per pound were its full costs included. However even with massive subsidies for animal farming, plant foods remain the better bargain. American research published in JAMA Network Open in November found that vegan food is 19% cheaper than standard American food.

Perhaps the lower price is among the reasons an analysis of 7 million consumers — conducted by Kroger, the Plant Based Foods Institute and consulting firm 84.51° —  found that shoppers who try plant-based products reduce their spending on animal-based foods over time.

LUNCH COUNTER unch Counter

Vegan meals were in the news this year, with more than 30 U.S. cities holding Vegan Chef Challenge events, where participating restaurants highlight special vegan dishes and diners vote for their favorites.

The buzz was bigger but less flattering during the summer and fall when the traveling Vegandale food and music festival events in Chicago and New York attracted thousands but were marred by reports of long lines, lack of water and stampedes.

Summer barbecue brand Oscar Mayer rolled out vegan hot dogs in 2024. And Nathan’s Famous Hot Dogs in New York, which now sells vegan dogs, too, caused a stir when it dropped Joey Chestnut, 16-time champion of its annual eating contest, after Chestnut partnered with rival brand Impossible Foods.

The friction between animal-based foods and new plant-based rivals was visible this year when Climax Foods’ vegan blue cheese was declared the winning blue cheese among a field of dairy-based entrants in the Good Food Awards competition. But the honor was yanked ahead of the ceremony. An investigation by Food & Wine magazine blamed a pressure campaign from cow-based brands.

Also this year, Oregon-based Next Level Burger bought California-based Veggie Grill, making it the nation’s largest vegan chain with 27 locations and a $80 million market value. Listing all these restaurants, and many more, is online vegan restaurant directory Happy Cow, which celebrated its 25th anniversary this year.

Finally, November’s election signaled a lot of things, among them a historic vegetarian milestone. When the new administration takes office on Jan. 20, the United States will gain its first-ever vegetarian second lady, Usha Vance.