The Korean Vegan

A recent Gallup Poll revealed that only 1% of Americans identify as vegans. This is down from 3% just a few years ago. The majority of Americans identifying as vegan are Baby Boomers—not Gen Z or Millennials. Thus, despite the explosion of plant-based products on the grocery shelves, restaurant menus, and delivery apps, the truth is, far fewer people are opting for animal-free products than in recent memory, and those who do are getting older, while those who don’t…? Well, they stand to inherit this ailing planet of ours.
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Effective problem solving begins with understanding the source of the problem. WHY are so few people willing to adopt a vegan diet? Once we nail that down, we can get to work on developing a solution. But I often find that many of my fellow vegans get stuck arguing over the legitimacy of the “why”—“well, that’s a silly excuse,” or “if I can do it, you can too,” or “a can of beans is only $0.99!” Yes, a can of beans is less than a dollar and so yes, vegan food can be extremely cheap. Great! You win the argument! But guess what? You’ve done nothing to move the needle with the single mom whose kid will only eat mac n’ cheese and hates beans. I’m willing to accept that our choices aren’t always governed by logic and forethought (I ate cake for the breakfast the other day), and sometimes, you need to meet people where they are, if you want them to come over to your house for vegan egg rolls.
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This week on RUReady, I invited Jenny Stojkovic, founder of Vegan Women Summit and bestselling author of The Future of Food is Female and Pavle Stojkovic, Chief Strategy Officer of OMEAT (a cultivated meat startup), to discuss the disappointing stats in the recent poll, the future of the plant-based commercial landscape, and to help me answer the question:
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Is Veganism Doomed?

https://open.spotify.com/episode/3w5AKSMUFDpmVvgbxZyo8B?si=7KgLHSxrRcaWGitnpK-5Iw

Joanne Lee Molinaro is a Korean American trial lawyer, New York Times best-selling author, James Beard Award-winner, and host of the Are You Ready podcast. With nearly 5 million fans spread across her social media platforms, Joanne has appeared on The Food Network, CBS Saturday Morning, ABC's Live with Kelly and Ryan, The Today Show, PBS, and The Rich Roll Podcast. She's been featured in the Los Angeles Times, The Washington Post, The Atlantic, NPR, and CNN; and her debut cookbook was selected as one of “The Best Cookbooks of 2021” by The New York Times and The New Yorker among others. 

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Why do people stop being vegan?