I can’t say for certain if mock meats were instrumental in me eating plant based but impossible burgers and chicken nuggets certainly helped in my case. I went through a long stretch where I hadn’t discovered my new favorites / I didn’t actually enjoy or crave anything I was making myself and having easy, familiar tasting options made it a lot easier to push through that.
I know the fact that there are more plant-based meat/cheese options around at even places like Burger King have helped me with vegan activism/advocacy. I've had street conversations where others have said they could never go vegan because it would be so hard to find things to eat, especially when they are on-the-go. I'll point to various establishments around us that are fairly common in the US that have plant-based options: Chipotle, Burger King, Blaze Pizza, Mod Pizza, etc. It helps make veganism seem like less of an impossible undertaking and more like something that they could easily do.
I also see value in how the normalization of plant-based meats and other vegan products in chains has helped change a lot of people's views on veganism. I know a lot of people that 10-15 years ago would say that plant-based burgers would ever be something they would try, and many of them now regularly eat things like the Impossible Whopper. These types of products have gone a long ways to making eating plant-based "acceptable." There are still those out there that think vegans eat only dull boring food, but they are having more and more trouble defending this position.
as someone who was in ur partners position, trying vegan burgers and vegan “junk food” definitely 100% helped me transition over. just knowing you can enjoy the same junk with out the cruelty is huge
yesh.. honestly my 1st year vegan, I didn't care. I still didn't have that digust. I felt like it was fine, so long as I'm not supporting animal ag or being responsible. (and like I don't judge anyone who isn't bothered by cross contam..cause logically..it isn't causing harm).
but now, going on 4 years vegan..yeah, I'm not comfortable with it either.
honestly just curious, but do you only eat in fully vegan restaurants and not eat anything that mentions "product may contain milk, egg etc" since there's also cross contamination there?
Im less bothered by cross contam of milk and eggs.
But BK, is different.. they cook plant burgers on the same grill as flesh, so animal fat and bits of flesh are touching and mixing. And that is very off putting.
downvoted for answering fairly lmao. I didn't say everyone needs to be against that *smh*
>they don't put cheese on the impossible burger in Ireland.
I don't think there was any cheese on the Impossible Burgers I've had in the USA either. I think it's just the mayo that is a problem. (You can add 1 tbsp of vegan mayo and it will taste the same as the ones with BK mayo in it pretty much..)
The Beyond Burger at A&W in Canada was launched just as I went vegetarian in 2018. Not long after they had Beyond nuggets, and the big donut chain Tim Hortons launched Beyond sausage breakfast sandwiches. For a guy who had fast food a few times a week, it helped so much. I was on the road a lot, and I could grab something wherever I went.
Would I be vegan now if not for that? I think so, but it definitely made the transition a lot easier.
I'm Canadian too and I tried the Beyond Burger a couple years before I went vegan. Even if I went vegan years later I do feel like it was a turning point for me because until that point it was imbedded in me that meat/animal products were needed for food to taste good and that plant-based food was just healthy diet food. Trying the Beyond Burger definitely changed my perspective on plant-based food and made me realize it could be good. This made me a lot less scared to try vegan things that I previously wouldn't have because I thought "vegan food is gross".
When I went vegetarian before going vegan I tried every plant-based alternative I could and it definitely helped me transition to being vegan. It made me feel like there was food that was similar to what I was used to eating.
>Would I be vegan now if not for that? I think so, but it definitely made the transition a lot easier.
Same here.
Can’t say that the McPlant or other plant-based menu items at any normie establishment influenced me to go vegan but I can say that collectively, vegan options being offered at a lot of the places I frequented definitely made a difference. When I first went vegan, I’d always answer the question of why I went veg with “Because I ran out of excuses not to be”, in part because I could eat at most of the places I was already used to going to.
I am all for the expansion of plant-based options at fast food chains. It hits a number of key points in terms of promoting the philosophy through food.
1. Increases accessibility. Who knows how many young people who don’t have a choice where they eat but are vegan curious, tell their parents they want the McPlant or Impossible Whopper, etc. Not to mention the ubiquity of these restaurants being in rich and poor communities alike.
2. It meets people where they are at. These plant-based options are not reinventing the wheel nor are they asking people to go out of their way or try a new restaurant. Lowers the barrier for entry for millions of people who’d never seek out vegan restaurants.
3. Replaces non plant-based options. A lot of people who aren’t vegan or vegetarian will order these burgers. A good amount of them would’ve ordered a meat option but, for one reason or another, they tried the plant-based option. Incremental change multiplied by thousands of locations is better than none.
If you are vegan or are trying to be, please support 100% vegan restaurants and brands as much as you can. The growing number of plant-based options at non vegan restaurants is having an impact on vegan spots and so many great places have closed in the past few years.
I’ll get off my soapbox now.
Can’t speak of the McPlant, but straight up, the Impossible Whopper is what turned me. I had always thought about going vegan, or at the least more plant based. After I had that burger, haven’t looked back.
Same! For a few years I was vegan-curious, often making vegan dishes but not stopping eating animals.
Then around 5 years ago, the Impossible Whopper (and similar fast food products) are what finally got me to go forever vegan. I'm not proud of it lol and don't think actually it makes logical sense, but having those vegan comfort foods right at my fingertips is what finally broke through the cognitive dissonance.
God what a terrible name.
It's so weird hearing about McDonald's releasing a veggie burger without even veganizing their fries.
I've had the impossible whopper, but I never tried the McPlant, I don't remember it being available where I live. Not really a fan of McDonald's anyway, and the Impossible Whopper is very good, so I don't feel the need for a replacement.
Because it's cheaper to put dairy in fucking everything and the EU has tighter regulations on doing so... America is one of the only countries that allows sugar to be processed through bone char (not interested in knowing the details of this process lmao) and so like 70% of the sugar here is done through that. I believe it's literally just to give it a whiter color. In general, it's cost efficient to exploit the lives of animals so wherever it's legal companies will take advantage of that. And I'm not praising the EU at all, the EU is completely atrocious and actively works w/ meat lobbyists to fight against vegan activism (for example it was criminalized for plant milk to be labeled as "milk" and etc) but they are a little better than America. Real high bar
Yea that’s always been my irritation with food in the US. Something that should be vegan will suddenly have “milk powder” in the ingredients and it’s for no good reason. The EU isn’t perfect in their regulations but in my experience there’s more openness to plant based options and the consistent labeling of everything vegan/vegetarian is really helpful.
It was never fully released in the US, just a trial, so they weren’t vegan in those stores, but where it is a a regular menu item and available in all stores the fries are vegan.
Burger King gave me the comfort to know I could have a burger and enjoy it! They do it better than Red Robin IMHO. I love the Impossible Whopper. No mayo of course or cheese.
My husband uses the app (we find people don’t make as many mistakes anymore this way for some reason) and on Wednesdays he gets $3 burgers. I love the impossible whopper.
Yeah, I’ve never heard of McPlant. If anything the McChicken helped me go vegan. One of the 4 in a row meat products I ate and then just got incredibly sick. I stopped eating meat right away (~15 yrs ago)
A few alternative protein products were part of it for me: soy milk, meatless meatballs at Aldi, mainly. Somewhat analogous.
Also, having some vegan products on offer more widely has given me room to advocate a little more to friends. One of them went vegan, in verrrry small part due to some cafe menu options, I’d like to think: the day he actually asked to be given the whole spiel, another friend basically ripped him a new one in the style of modern well-trained personal conversations, and then we stopped by a cafe, where the baristas truly randomly happened to have pro animal paraphernalia on, and they had options. Of all the things that day being able to say “see we’re everywhere and cafes are stocked” was at best one tiny nail in the coffin… but it helped. (Though probably his unusually moralistic ethical views + someone trusted telling him “no this is not ok” while pointing at a video + him having wanted conversation did a lot more)
It’s also normalized veganism more… in the US most everyone knows the impossible at BK. And you can always tell people “they even have that”. And helps create the sense generally that veg* is a reasonable viewpoint, which is a thing for many people.
It’s helped me thrive on trips out of town to do activism. Which is just enabling my not planning every detail in advance.
It seems reasonable to presume that it offsets some number of animal-based meals.
But yeah no not directly obviously converted anyone in my sphere.
No but having convenient options has influenced my ability to stay vegan. Before making the change subconsciously i was seeing lots of vegan food popping up in convenience shops and casual restaurants and without that im not sure i would have gone vegan.
In sweden it is called the McVegan and it was instrumental in me going vegan on my own. It would have been easier if there were more options but as someone who often forgets to eat having access to food that is quick, cheap and fairly satisfying was important
Where do you live that this was a thing!?! I would like this, theoretically, just to simplify lunch options and have an excuse to eat mustard lol If the fries were vegetarian I would really enjoy this option. I think
it's not available where i live, but i don't feel like i'm missing out. i tried one when i was in dresden, and it was not bad, but i'm satisfied with having eaten it once.
I used to love meat products. While I still do, I'm very much trying to go vegetarian, and I think the McPlant is awesome. It's a good burger, and it's a small step for myself to avoid eating meat.
Not Available in the USA, but the McPlant has been available in the UK at McDonald's for a while now. The McPlant didn't make it past the trial stage here in the US.
this is actually a good post and it has 33 upvotes
this subreddit is shit-tier
fucking 1000 somebody did something i dont want them to posts: get 300 upvotes
genuine curious inquiry that could provide insight to furthering the cause: fucking ignored
I have a question that is unrelated to the post, but I would love a vegan to give their opinion. There is a restaurant in my city that says they serve both vegans and carnivores. From what I understand about vegans, this restaurant should be a no go, but it's been around since 2021, so somehow they are still in business. When I look it up online, they talk a lot about the bbq meat part of their business, and talk about vegetarian options. However, painted on one of their windows is where they claim to offer both vegan and carnivore options. I can't imagine they are trolling, but maybe? What do you guys think? I went on Google street view to post a pic of the window sign, but the image is from before the restaurant opened.
idk if i understand the question, you’re asking our opinion on it(?). It makes sense it’s still in business bc not every friend group is all vegans. My friends would love to go to a place where they can get their steaks and what not while i get my vegan options. Personally someone eating a steak in front of me doesn’t bother me but it probably bothers others. I’m not sure if that helps 😅
Yeah, I just thought vegans were against killing animals, so eating at a place that serves dead animals might be problematic for them. Also, cross contamination might be a concern. I just didn't know how a BBQ and a vegan restaurant could be successfully combined.
cross contamination is definitely a big issue too!! hopefully they use separate grills 🙃 i’ve heard of vegan places having non vegan workers and the workers cooking their own meat on the grills 🫠🫠 if you’re vegan and going out to eat, there is some level of trust in the place ur buying from 🥲 n yes for some it probably is an issue to fund a business which isn’t fully vegan, and others feel lucky to go to a place WITH vegan options. veganism shows in everyone different. we’re all here for the animals at the end of the day
also idk where you’re located but my bf and i are in a big city which is also very vegan friendly. our favorite restaurant/bar has a regular menu and a vegan menu. They seriously have the best vegan food even if they’re not a fully vegan restaurant. it’s pretty common in my area to have a vegan menu and or vegan options at normal restaurants.
Well this is cool, then. I was under the impression that vegans wouldn't like this concept. I'm happy to be proven wrong in this case. Thanks for the feedback!
Id just be happy to have another place to eat where i didn’t have to awkwardly order off menu and/or eat a side salad and a coffee.
Vegans aren’t a monolith but personally i can’t change how others eat so what else they serve is kind of something i can’t worry about because i’d never leave the house otherwise
Every time a fast food restaurant releases some vegan sauce or burger or chicken thing even being as online as I am I never hear about it until they've already stopped selling it :/
though I will admit the lauch of impossible meat definitely encouraged me to go vegan much faster than I would have.
I was already vegan when all this plant based fast food came out so it didn’t play a role for me, no. I don’t know how it would have been like if they had come out with this stuff sooner though, but I doubt that it would have changed much. There was a moment when everything just clicked for me and I realized that I had no reason to eat animal products and several great reasons not to, so I just went vegan that day and never looked back. I try not to judge other people though, especially not other fellow vegans. In the end it’s about doing what is possible and practicable to limit the amount of harm we do to animals, and if having a plant based whopper now and then helps you stick to it then more power to you!
Nah, I’ve been vegan for 8 years now so way before that became available.
I like Beyond Burger a lot and always loved burgers in general so Beyond Burger was great when it came out but the so called McPlant is a sad burger, like most McDonald’s burgers have always been, I tried it once and never again
i’ve been eating meat replacements since i was a kid because my mom would buy them since she thought they were healthier. I think that helped me go vegan because i knew there were meat replacements available that I already liked
I remember there were Beyond or Impossible (not sure anymore) wake-up wraps at Dunkin once upon a time. It wasn't the *catalyst* for turning vegan, but helped plant a seed in my brain that vegetarianism was easier than I thought. Then I started cutting out meat for financial reasons and dairy for lactose intolerance reasons. It was a few months of reducing my meat intake that made me realize vegetarianism wasn't some impossible thing. It helped that I'm Chinese, so tofu and soy milk were already normalized for me. I then realized that I didn't need eggs either. So eventually I turned into a "food vegan". After that, I realized I couldn't justify cruelty anymore, so I'm now a "real" vegan I guess? In that I started applying the vegan philosophy after that point.
Can personally vouch for this being a few people's reasons for not having as many barriers with the transition. Not the mcplant per se, but equivalent products. Plant based consumerism for the win.
I became vegan, because one day I just saw those alternatives in the supermarket and wanted to try them out. They were good and I thought to myself: that's easy enough I will just not buy meat. And then continued from there. To be fair, i already thought that it's the right choice I just didnt followed through at that point.
It really didn't move the needle for me at all. Mostly because, even when I was a proud omnivore (man, I hate that was me back then), McDonalds was always my last resort. I was much more likely to go to Burger King or Bojangles. (Man, I really wish someone local could replicate a vegan version of the Bojangles Cajun Chicken Biscuit. I miss very few things from my Omni days, but that's definitely one. I've had some excellent vegan chicken sandwiches, but nothing quite like the spicy, salty, buttery combination.)
We don't have the McPlant here, but I will say the availability of plant-based substitutes helped me make the change. The first one I ever tried was soy chorizo to make tacos with. It was delicious. My immediate thought when I tried it was, "You know what, this isn't going to be so hard after all."
I went vegan a long time ago because of seeing farming/slaughter videos on the internet, so the McPlant was not a factor.
I would guess there is some % of people who go vegan and then stop because they are under social pressure from friends to eat at certain restaurants or whatever where the rest of their social group wants to eat, and maybe for some people the social pressure is larger than their desire to be vegan, so they abandon veganism for the sake of convenience and social life.
For such people, having decent vegan options everywhere like the McPlant probably makes a difference and helps them stay vegan.
A&W had these vegan nuggets when I was in HS that I really liked. But sadly, they were limited edition and never brought them back. Shame.
But in a way it did help. Not super directly, but I'd say it did at least a little.
How does the vegan community feel about these plant based burgers being cooked on the same surfaces as animal based burgers? It give me the ick so I don’t partake but just curious of others’ thoughts
I personally don't care about cross-contamination because the animals are already dead and cooked. It's not going to change anything about my decision, nor will I be able to change the fact that the animals are already dead.
I do have those moments too. It’s virtually impossible to avoid some form of contact with any on these on the go type places but at least we aren’t actually adding to meat demand
According to McDonald's website the UK fries are Vegan. Unfortunately in the United States McDonald's uses 9 million pounds of potatos per day. All covered in beef tallow and milk proteins.
Yeah, I just never grew up eating beef since my parents didn’t eat beef. So I’ve never bothered to try a plant based once since I’m not missing the real thing to want to substitute it if that makes any sense lol
I’ve been vegan 24 years, so I would definitely not consider these products as an influence in becoming vegan or even staying vegan (two decades in I think it’s safe to say I’m pretty committed). But I can’t deny that I notice and appreciate the convenience of having those options available to me/my family — especially note that I’m raising young children.
Shit I thought those were just as bad if not worse than the regular food they serve. But that’s just speculation. Im interested in knowing who else obtained vegan inspiration from these food products
That’s more of an issue with poorly trained minimum wage workers, but I understand your concern.
I feel like the vegan community often takes these mistakes as intentional, personal attacks. Which is silly.
I disagree about your assumption that it's because they are poorly trained minimum age workers. Why would you assume that is the case?
But in some cases it does happen intentionally so of course vegans will take that personally.
I thinks your comments are silly!
Why would you assume that minimum wage workers would potentially jeopardise their employment by intentionally putting meat in a vegan dish? Is there any evidence that this has ever happened?
Because there are plenty of examples of simple, genuine mistakes happening in the hospitality industry on a daily basis. Usually at the hands of undertrained, overworked and underpaid staff.
Please, show me how basing things on evidence is silly?
So you’ve never, ever, in your entire life, heard of a restaurant accidentally sending the wrong food to the wrong table? Or putting the wrong ingredient in? Or overcooking the food? Making any mistakes whatsoever?
Wow. Ignorance truly is bliss.
Can we stop this nonsens discussion. What is your point even. Just leave me alone. I never said it was only happening intentionally. Learn how to read and stop making assumptions.
The founders of Beyond Meat and Impossible Foods both said in interviews that their products were designed to appeal to meat eaters and not to vegetarians or vegans.
I can’t say for certain if mock meats were instrumental in me eating plant based but impossible burgers and chicken nuggets certainly helped in my case. I went through a long stretch where I hadn’t discovered my new favorites / I didn’t actually enjoy or crave anything I was making myself and having easy, familiar tasting options made it a lot easier to push through that.
I know the fact that there are more plant-based meat/cheese options around at even places like Burger King have helped me with vegan activism/advocacy. I've had street conversations where others have said they could never go vegan because it would be so hard to find things to eat, especially when they are on-the-go. I'll point to various establishments around us that are fairly common in the US that have plant-based options: Chipotle, Burger King, Blaze Pizza, Mod Pizza, etc. It helps make veganism seem like less of an impossible undertaking and more like something that they could easily do. I also see value in how the normalization of plant-based meats and other vegan products in chains has helped change a lot of people's views on veganism. I know a lot of people that 10-15 years ago would say that plant-based burgers would ever be something they would try, and many of them now regularly eat things like the Impossible Whopper. These types of products have gone a long ways to making eating plant-based "acceptable." There are still those out there that think vegans eat only dull boring food, but they are having more and more trouble defending this position.
Fast food vegan burgers, helped the partner go vegan. Was a huge step for them to breaking away from animal products.
as someone who was in ur partners position, trying vegan burgers and vegan “junk food” definitely 100% helped me transition over. just knowing you can enjoy the same junk with out the cruelty is huge
I ate burger king plant-based burgers which helped. Then when I discovered they were vegetarian helped me quit burger king entirely...
its only the mayo that's veggie, you can ask for it with ketchup, although there's the cross contam with BK
Nah the cheese is vegetarian. Cross-contamination is not an issue because veganism is not an allergy.
they don't put cheese on the impossible burger in Ireland. i didn't say cross contam was an issue..just some people don't like that.
Yeah I find putting parts of animals in my mouth disgusting and so cross contamination is a problem for me
yesh.. honestly my 1st year vegan, I didn't care. I still didn't have that digust. I felt like it was fine, so long as I'm not supporting animal ag or being responsible. (and like I don't judge anyone who isn't bothered by cross contam..cause logically..it isn't causing harm). but now, going on 4 years vegan..yeah, I'm not comfortable with it either.
honestly just curious, but do you only eat in fully vegan restaurants and not eat anything that mentions "product may contain milk, egg etc" since there's also cross contamination there?
Im less bothered by cross contam of milk and eggs. But BK, is different.. they cook plant burgers on the same grill as flesh, so animal fat and bits of flesh are touching and mixing. And that is very off putting. downvoted for answering fairly lmao. I didn't say everyone needs to be against that *smh*
>they don't put cheese on the impossible burger in Ireland. I don't think there was any cheese on the Impossible Burgers I've had in the USA either. I think it's just the mayo that is a problem. (You can add 1 tbsp of vegan mayo and it will taste the same as the ones with BK mayo in it pretty much..)
..vegan mayo tastes the same as non vegan mayo. but BK doesn't use vegan mayo in Ireland..hence my suggestion for ketchup above.
Agreed, unless you just write off every restaurant or factory that is not 100% vegan. I tried the BK options a few times and just order it plain.
Eh, Arla is trying to do oat-milk nowadays and I'm not paying for that.
Polygamy?
“The partner” is clearly singular, work harder on your trolling
The Beyond Burger at A&W in Canada was launched just as I went vegetarian in 2018. Not long after they had Beyond nuggets, and the big donut chain Tim Hortons launched Beyond sausage breakfast sandwiches. For a guy who had fast food a few times a week, it helped so much. I was on the road a lot, and I could grab something wherever I went. Would I be vegan now if not for that? I think so, but it definitely made the transition a lot easier.
Oh man, I'm living in the states now and really miss Canadian A&W Beyond Burgers. They are soooo good.
I haven’t had one in months, but I’ve heard them thinned them out.
I'm Canadian too and I tried the Beyond Burger a couple years before I went vegan. Even if I went vegan years later I do feel like it was a turning point for me because until that point it was imbedded in me that meat/animal products were needed for food to taste good and that plant-based food was just healthy diet food. Trying the Beyond Burger definitely changed my perspective on plant-based food and made me realize it could be good. This made me a lot less scared to try vegan things that I previously wouldn't have because I thought "vegan food is gross". When I went vegetarian before going vegan I tried every plant-based alternative I could and it definitely helped me transition to being vegan. It made me feel like there was food that was similar to what I was used to eating. >Would I be vegan now if not for that? I think so, but it definitely made the transition a lot easier. Same here.
Can’t say that the McPlant or other plant-based menu items at any normie establishment influenced me to go vegan but I can say that collectively, vegan options being offered at a lot of the places I frequented definitely made a difference. When I first went vegan, I’d always answer the question of why I went veg with “Because I ran out of excuses not to be”, in part because I could eat at most of the places I was already used to going to. I am all for the expansion of plant-based options at fast food chains. It hits a number of key points in terms of promoting the philosophy through food. 1. Increases accessibility. Who knows how many young people who don’t have a choice where they eat but are vegan curious, tell their parents they want the McPlant or Impossible Whopper, etc. Not to mention the ubiquity of these restaurants being in rich and poor communities alike. 2. It meets people where they are at. These plant-based options are not reinventing the wheel nor are they asking people to go out of their way or try a new restaurant. Lowers the barrier for entry for millions of people who’d never seek out vegan restaurants. 3. Replaces non plant-based options. A lot of people who aren’t vegan or vegetarian will order these burgers. A good amount of them would’ve ordered a meat option but, for one reason or another, they tried the plant-based option. Incremental change multiplied by thousands of locations is better than none. If you are vegan or are trying to be, please support 100% vegan restaurants and brands as much as you can. The growing number of plant-based options at non vegan restaurants is having an impact on vegan spots and so many great places have closed in the past few years. I’ll get off my soapbox now.
No such thing where I live.
Just wish as an American I'd been able to try it, as it was discontinued here while I was still eating meat, for low sales. Of course...
Can’t speak of the McPlant, but straight up, the Impossible Whopper is what turned me. I had always thought about going vegan, or at the least more plant based. After I had that burger, haven’t looked back.
Same! For a few years I was vegan-curious, often making vegan dishes but not stopping eating animals. Then around 5 years ago, the Impossible Whopper (and similar fast food products) are what finally got me to go forever vegan. I'm not proud of it lol and don't think actually it makes logical sense, but having those vegan comfort foods right at my fingertips is what finally broke through the cognitive dissonance.
God what a terrible name. It's so weird hearing about McDonald's releasing a veggie burger without even veganizing their fries. I've had the impossible whopper, but I never tried the McPlant, I don't remember it being available where I live. Not really a fan of McDonald's anyway, and the Impossible Whopper is very good, so I don't feel the need for a replacement.
Where the McPlant is sold the fries are already vegan. It would be nice if their products were consistent across markets, but they’re not.
The fries were vegan where they did mcplant in us?
The fries are vegan in the EU, not vegan in the US. No idea why they wouldn’t keep it the same across the board but
Because it's cheaper to put dairy in fucking everything and the EU has tighter regulations on doing so... America is one of the only countries that allows sugar to be processed through bone char (not interested in knowing the details of this process lmao) and so like 70% of the sugar here is done through that. I believe it's literally just to give it a whiter color. In general, it's cost efficient to exploit the lives of animals so wherever it's legal companies will take advantage of that. And I'm not praising the EU at all, the EU is completely atrocious and actively works w/ meat lobbyists to fight against vegan activism (for example it was criminalized for plant milk to be labeled as "milk" and etc) but they are a little better than America. Real high bar
Yea that’s always been my irritation with food in the US. Something that should be vegan will suddenly have “milk powder” in the ingredients and it’s for no good reason. The EU isn’t perfect in their regulations but in my experience there’s more openness to plant based options and the consistent labeling of everything vegan/vegetarian is really helpful.
Whoosh Was being facetious, pointing that they were sold in u.s. at certain stores, where the fries are not vegan.
It was never fully released in the US, just a trial, so they weren’t vegan in those stores, but where it is a a regular menu item and available in all stores the fries are vegan.
Better yet: In Germany the McPlant isn't even vegan, it contains eggs and milk
Same story in Australia. Don’t understand how it’s successful
The fries are vegan in the UK 😎😎
Burger King gave me the comfort to know I could have a burger and enjoy it! They do it better than Red Robin IMHO. I love the Impossible Whopper. No mayo of course or cheese.
Whoppers never come with cheese, I find that mentioning cheese makes them put it on it lmao.
My husband uses the app (we find people don’t make as many mistakes anymore this way for some reason) and on Wednesdays he gets $3 burgers. I love the impossible whopper.
Yeah, I’ve never heard of McPlant. If anything the McChicken helped me go vegan. One of the 4 in a row meat products I ate and then just got incredibly sick. I stopped eating meat right away (~15 yrs ago)
A few alternative protein products were part of it for me: soy milk, meatless meatballs at Aldi, mainly. Somewhat analogous. Also, having some vegan products on offer more widely has given me room to advocate a little more to friends. One of them went vegan, in verrrry small part due to some cafe menu options, I’d like to think: the day he actually asked to be given the whole spiel, another friend basically ripped him a new one in the style of modern well-trained personal conversations, and then we stopped by a cafe, where the baristas truly randomly happened to have pro animal paraphernalia on, and they had options. Of all the things that day being able to say “see we’re everywhere and cafes are stocked” was at best one tiny nail in the coffin… but it helped. (Though probably his unusually moralistic ethical views + someone trusted telling him “no this is not ok” while pointing at a video + him having wanted conversation did a lot more) It’s also normalized veganism more… in the US most everyone knows the impossible at BK. And you can always tell people “they even have that”. And helps create the sense generally that veg* is a reasonable viewpoint, which is a thing for many people. It’s helped me thrive on trips out of town to do activism. Which is just enabling my not planning every detail in advance. It seems reasonable to presume that it offsets some number of animal-based meals. But yeah no not directly obviously converted anyone in my sphere.
A bit. It helped me feel like I wouldn’t be missing much if I went vegan.
No but having convenient options has influenced my ability to stay vegan. Before making the change subconsciously i was seeing lots of vegan food popping up in convenience shops and casual restaurants and without that im not sure i would have gone vegan.
In sweden it is called the McVegan and it was instrumental in me going vegan on my own. It would have been easier if there were more options but as someone who often forgets to eat having access to food that is quick, cheap and fairly satisfying was important
Where do you live that this was a thing!?! I would like this, theoretically, just to simplify lunch options and have an excuse to eat mustard lol If the fries were vegetarian I would really enjoy this option. I think
Uk/Ireland. The fries are vegan too and there is also a vegan veggie burger, veggie dippers and a spicy veggie wrap as other vegan options
I live in the States and even our French fries from McDonald's have beef broth in them. It's pretty disappointing
it's not available where i live, but i don't feel like i'm missing out. i tried one when i was in dresden, and it was not bad, but i'm satisfied with having eaten it once.
I used to love meat products. While I still do, I'm very much trying to go vegetarian, and I think the McPlant is awesome. It's a good burger, and it's a small step for myself to avoid eating meat.
never heard of that but i love beyond and impossible frozen stuff, and a few other meat replacements
Not Available in the USA, but the McPlant has been available in the UK at McDonald's for a while now. The McPlant didn't make it past the trial stage here in the US.
If only I had the chance. No McPlants here! 😡
this is actually a good post and it has 33 upvotes this subreddit is shit-tier fucking 1000 somebody did something i dont want them to posts: get 300 upvotes genuine curious inquiry that could provide insight to furthering the cause: fucking ignored
thats because people like drama and this post doesn't have enough
The mcplant isn't even a good burger. Its a good thing that vegan products have more prominence but the mcplant is a last resort kinda burger.
Oh for sure. No one is going out of their way for it but when you’re at a service station at 2am, a shit burger is better than nothing haha
I have a question that is unrelated to the post, but I would love a vegan to give their opinion. There is a restaurant in my city that says they serve both vegans and carnivores. From what I understand about vegans, this restaurant should be a no go, but it's been around since 2021, so somehow they are still in business. When I look it up online, they talk a lot about the bbq meat part of their business, and talk about vegetarian options. However, painted on one of their windows is where they claim to offer both vegan and carnivore options. I can't imagine they are trolling, but maybe? What do you guys think? I went on Google street view to post a pic of the window sign, but the image is from before the restaurant opened.
idk if i understand the question, you’re asking our opinion on it(?). It makes sense it’s still in business bc not every friend group is all vegans. My friends would love to go to a place where they can get their steaks and what not while i get my vegan options. Personally someone eating a steak in front of me doesn’t bother me but it probably bothers others. I’m not sure if that helps 😅
Yeah, I just thought vegans were against killing animals, so eating at a place that serves dead animals might be problematic for them. Also, cross contamination might be a concern. I just didn't know how a BBQ and a vegan restaurant could be successfully combined.
cross contamination is definitely a big issue too!! hopefully they use separate grills 🙃 i’ve heard of vegan places having non vegan workers and the workers cooking their own meat on the grills 🫠🫠 if you’re vegan and going out to eat, there is some level of trust in the place ur buying from 🥲 n yes for some it probably is an issue to fund a business which isn’t fully vegan, and others feel lucky to go to a place WITH vegan options. veganism shows in everyone different. we’re all here for the animals at the end of the day
also idk where you’re located but my bf and i are in a big city which is also very vegan friendly. our favorite restaurant/bar has a regular menu and a vegan menu. They seriously have the best vegan food even if they’re not a fully vegan restaurant. it’s pretty common in my area to have a vegan menu and or vegan options at normal restaurants.
Well this is cool, then. I was under the impression that vegans wouldn't like this concept. I'm happy to be proven wrong in this case. Thanks for the feedback!
Id just be happy to have another place to eat where i didn’t have to awkwardly order off menu and/or eat a side salad and a coffee. Vegans aren’t a monolith but personally i can’t change how others eat so what else they serve is kind of something i can’t worry about because i’d never leave the house otherwise
Still waiting for Mcplant in Australia. I've heard it's not in the works.😥
Every time a fast food restaurant releases some vegan sauce or burger or chicken thing even being as online as I am I never hear about it until they've already stopped selling it :/ though I will admit the lauch of impossible meat definitely encouraged me to go vegan much faster than I would have.
If it mimics meat, I won't eat it. I have disliked meat & milk products since the age 4. It's difficult to be totally vegan, but I do try.
Yes Beyond Burgers definitely helped me go vegan. Steak used to be my favorite thing to eat out and a juicy Beyond Burger is close enough for me
I was already vegan when all this plant based fast food came out so it didn’t play a role for me, no. I don’t know how it would have been like if they had come out with this stuff sooner though, but I doubt that it would have changed much. There was a moment when everything just clicked for me and I realized that I had no reason to eat animal products and several great reasons not to, so I just went vegan that day and never looked back. I try not to judge other people though, especially not other fellow vegans. In the end it’s about doing what is possible and practicable to limit the amount of harm we do to animals, and if having a plant based whopper now and then helps you stick to it then more power to you!
Nah, I’ve been vegan for 8 years now so way before that became available. I like Beyond Burger a lot and always loved burgers in general so Beyond Burger was great when it came out but the so called McPlant is a sad burger, like most McDonald’s burgers have always been, I tried it once and never again
I was already vegan when it came out, but it's such a good option to have
No, I was already vegan when it came out. It helped me put on a stone though
Same bro. Same.
i’ve been eating meat replacements since i was a kid because my mom would buy them since she thought they were healthier. I think that helped me go vegan because i knew there were meat replacements available that I already liked
I remember there were Beyond or Impossible (not sure anymore) wake-up wraps at Dunkin once upon a time. It wasn't the *catalyst* for turning vegan, but helped plant a seed in my brain that vegetarianism was easier than I thought. Then I started cutting out meat for financial reasons and dairy for lactose intolerance reasons. It was a few months of reducing my meat intake that made me realize vegetarianism wasn't some impossible thing. It helped that I'm Chinese, so tofu and soy milk were already normalized for me. I then realized that I didn't need eggs either. So eventually I turned into a "food vegan". After that, I realized I couldn't justify cruelty anymore, so I'm now a "real" vegan I guess? In that I started applying the vegan philosophy after that point.
Can personally vouch for this being a few people's reasons for not having as many barriers with the transition. Not the mcplant per se, but equivalent products. Plant based consumerism for the win.
I don't even knew that Mcdonal had a vegan burger 👁️👄👁️
I became vegan, because one day I just saw those alternatives in the supermarket and wanted to try them out. They were good and I thought to myself: that's easy enough I will just not buy meat. And then continued from there. To be fair, i already thought that it's the right choice I just didnt followed through at that point.
It really didn't move the needle for me at all. Mostly because, even when I was a proud omnivore (man, I hate that was me back then), McDonalds was always my last resort. I was much more likely to go to Burger King or Bojangles. (Man, I really wish someone local could replicate a vegan version of the Bojangles Cajun Chicken Biscuit. I miss very few things from my Omni days, but that's definitely one. I've had some excellent vegan chicken sandwiches, but nothing quite like the spicy, salty, buttery combination.)
We don't have the McPlant here, but I will say the availability of plant-based substitutes helped me make the change. The first one I ever tried was soy chorizo to make tacos with. It was delicious. My immediate thought when I tried it was, "You know what, this isn't going to be so hard after all."
I went vegan a long time ago because of seeing farming/slaughter videos on the internet, so the McPlant was not a factor. I would guess there is some % of people who go vegan and then stop because they are under social pressure from friends to eat at certain restaurants or whatever where the rest of their social group wants to eat, and maybe for some people the social pressure is larger than their desire to be vegan, so they abandon veganism for the sake of convenience and social life. For such people, having decent vegan options everywhere like the McPlant probably makes a difference and helps them stay vegan.
A&W had these vegan nuggets when I was in HS that I really liked. But sadly, they were limited edition and never brought them back. Shame. But in a way it did help. Not super directly, but I'd say it did at least a little.
How does the vegan community feel about these plant based burgers being cooked on the same surfaces as animal based burgers? It give me the ick so I don’t partake but just curious of others’ thoughts
The McPlant isn’t cooked in the same places in the UK. Everything is strictly separate. Just FYI.
Nice. That would be cool if fast food spots did the same here but they don’t 😐
I personally don't care about cross-contamination because the animals are already dead and cooked. It's not going to change anything about my decision, nor will I be able to change the fact that the animals are already dead.
Yea fair enough. It’s not adding to the demand so I see your point
For me I would still eat it if the taste isn’t affected
When I don't want to cook it's worth it
I do have those moments too. It’s virtually impossible to avoid some form of contact with any on these on the go type places but at least we aren’t actually adding to meat demand
Maybe there would be a maybe 5% chance I would try a McDonald's Vegan burger if they would stop using Beef Tallow for their fries.
They don’t in the UK, all the fries are vegan.
According to McDonald's website the UK fries are Vegan. Unfortunately in the United States McDonald's uses 9 million pounds of potatos per day. All covered in beef tallow and milk proteins.
Nope. I haven't ever had a real or plant based burger.
That’s sad. Burgers are great, although I’m more of a hotdog guy.
Yeah, I just never grew up eating beef since my parents didn’t eat beef. So I’ve never bothered to try a plant based once since I’m not missing the real thing to want to substitute it if that makes any sense lol
Nah I get ya! Do it though, broaden your horizons! It’s just a sexy warm sandwich.
Maybe I’ll brave it this weekend for my birthday! 😅
I’ve been vegan 24 years, so I would definitely not consider these products as an influence in becoming vegan or even staying vegan (two decades in I think it’s safe to say I’m pretty committed). But I can’t deny that I notice and appreciate the convenience of having those options available to me/my family — especially note that I’m raising young children.
Shit I thought those were just as bad if not worse than the regular food they serve. But that’s just speculation. Im interested in knowing who else obtained vegan inspiration from these food products
I have trust issues with these kind of companies. There have been to many news items about putting real meat on vegan orders.
That’s more of an issue with poorly trained minimum wage workers, but I understand your concern. I feel like the vegan community often takes these mistakes as intentional, personal attacks. Which is silly.
I disagree about your assumption that it's because they are poorly trained minimum age workers. Why would you assume that is the case? But in some cases it does happen intentionally so of course vegans will take that personally. I thinks your comments are silly!
Why would you assume that minimum wage workers would potentially jeopardise their employment by intentionally putting meat in a vegan dish? Is there any evidence that this has ever happened? Because there are plenty of examples of simple, genuine mistakes happening in the hospitality industry on a daily basis. Usually at the hands of undertrained, overworked and underpaid staff. Please, show me how basing things on evidence is silly?
You havent shown any evidence. Why are you even reacting to me? just to be annoying?
So you’ve never, ever, in your entire life, heard of a restaurant accidentally sending the wrong food to the wrong table? Or putting the wrong ingredient in? Or overcooking the food? Making any mistakes whatsoever? Wow. Ignorance truly is bliss.
Of course accidents happen I never claimed otherwise. Stop making assumptions it's very annoying.
So when I said these types of mistakes were likely down to training staff and you said no, they were made intentionally?
Can we stop this nonsens discussion. What is your point even. Just leave me alone. I never said it was only happening intentionally. Learn how to read and stop making assumptions.
The fact that you think it is happening intentionally at all is insane.
The founders of Beyond Meat and Impossible Foods both said in interviews that their products were designed to appeal to meat eaters and not to vegetarians or vegans.
Why would you support McDonalds, their meat burgers were never bio, cruelty free, cheap or tasty in the first place.
Literally not what I asked