Celebrate Vegetarian Awareness Month

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​October is Vegetarian Awareness Month, a national celebration of a meatless diet and healthy lifestyle.  Some individuals become a vegetarian to adopt a healthier way to eat or to avoid hormones typically used in animal foods.  Others choose a vegetarian diet due to their personal beliefs -- religious, animal rights, or environmental.
 
“Plant-based food retail sales were worth $7 billion in 2020, posting a 27 percent growth rate overall for products that specifically replace animal-derived options, according to SPINS data released by the Good Food Institute and the Plant Based Foods Association (PBFA),” according to Food Dive.
 
Research also shows a plant-based diet has major health benefits such as reducing risk of cancer, lowering blood pressure, preventing type 2 diabetes and promotes bone health.   Allen Marketing Communications, Inc., a boutique food and beverage and lifestyle public relations raises awareness for a vegetarian diet in honor of Vegetarian Awareness Month. 
 
A vegetarian, by definition, is someone who does eat meat due to religious, animal rights, or environmental reasons.  Over the years, the definition of a vegetarian has expanded to include the following.

• Vegans adhere to a strict plant-based diet often incorporating fruits and vegetables.  A vegan diet does not include meat, poultry or fish.

 

• Ovo-lacto vegetarians consume eggs and dairy products only.
  
  

• Pescatarians eat fish only and these individuals do not eat meat or chicken.
  
  

• Pollo-vegetarians eat poultry and avoid meat and fish.
  
  

• Flexitarians, also known as semi-vegetarians, eat plant-based foods but occasionally eat meat, dairy, eggs, poultry, and fish in small amounts.

 
The Covid-19 pandemic has reinvigorated interest in a vegetarian diet as a natural way to boost one’s immunity.  During the last year, fast food establishments have expanded their menu offerings to include more vegetarian choices for customers.
 
Health conscious consumers can simply use the vegetarian options listed below to reap the benefits of a vegetarian diet.

• Savor vegetarian alternatives tofu, tempeh, seitan, lentils, textured vegetable protein, jackfruit and mushrooms as an option to meat, chicken or fish.  (Source:  Healthline) 

 

• Select soy, cashew, aquafaba-based cheese and nutritional yeast as an alternative to cheese. (Source:  Healthline)

 

• Use vegetable broth instead of beef or chicken broth in soups (Source:  Healthline)
  
  

• Drink soy milk, almond milk, coconut milk, hemp milk, rice milk, and flax milk as an alternative to milk from a cow. (Source:  Healthline)

 
In honor of Vegetarian Awareness Month, it is worth noting that Vegetarian Times magazine is a trusted source for information as it pertains to getting the necessary proteins and nutrients from a vegetarian diet.  In recent years, a vegetarian diet has become trendy as innovative food companies have introduced plant-based burgers, chicken, fish, pork and sausage on the food market.
 
Our food and beverage and lifestyle public relations professionals are here to help food and beverage marketers raise awareness for vegetarian products.  Give us a call.
 
By Athanasia Gouvatsos at Allen Marketing Communications, Inc.
 

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