As you consider your role in
providing vegetarian/vegan
food options in your developing
career, keep in mind the types of
individuals most interested in it
and their reasons.
True Food Kitchen
Only a small group of Americans, 2 to 8 percent, consider themselves
vegetarians, according to
Baltimore-based The Vegetarian
Resource Group (VRG). But
there is a bigger picture to
examine. While a true vegetarian
doesn’t eat meat at all, and
a vegan goes a step further
and doesn’t consume animal
byproducts, such as dairy and
eggs, some are “flexitarians,” or
part-time vegetarians. In a spring
2011 survey, VRG found that
16 percent of respondents say
more than half their meals are
vegetarian, and 48 percent look
for vegetarian foods.
a global Certified Vegetarian
Cook (CVC) program for
culinary schools.
a growing
group of diners
It’s no wonder consumers are
looking at vegetarian cuisine,
at least on a part-time basis,
because it falls in the “healthy”
category, Pickarski says, adding
that about 40 percent of
Americans are struggling with
high cholesterol, while many
others are battling heart disease,
obesity and diabetes.
College students up to 30 years
old who eat out regularly are
more inclined to eat healthier,
including vegetarian/vegan,
says Michael Stebner, executive
chef with sustainability focused
True Food Kitchen, Scottsdale,
Ariz. Additionally, those 50-75
years old are seeing their friends
become ill and dying from
heart disease, cancer or other
degenerative diseases, and
that’s pushing them to eat
better. Finally, he notices that
women ages 30-50 raising kids
are also more interested in
vegetarian/vegan.
In some culinary curricula,
vegetarian cuisine is absent.
But there is no doubt about
it, vegetarian is a cuisine and
should be studied as such,
says Ron Pickarski, founder
and president of vegetarian
foodservice company
Eco-Cuisine Inc., Boulder, Colo.,
which is currently working
with the World Association
of Chefs Societies to develop
The Academy of Nutrition
and Dietetics (formerly the
American Dietetic Association),
which once discouraged
vegetarian diets, changed its
view a few years ago and now
says in its vegetarian position
paper, “Appropriately planned
vegetarian diets, including total
vegetarian or vegan diets, are
healthful, nutritionally adequate,
and may provide health benefits
in the prevention and treatment
of certain diseases.”
True Food Kitchen, with its
focus on organics and other
healthful globally inspired
cuisine, is gearing up to open
another 24 locations, “and we
need chefs,” Stebner says, hoping
that culinary students will
rise to the call to think about
more healthful food preparations
and someday come to work
for the chain.
rethink menu
planning
While there are many reasons
consumers shun meat, consider
the middle-of-the-road healthy
dining consumer and let that
guide you as you plan your
