Auckland’s lack of vegetarian community

Auckland’s lack of vegetarian community

by Regan Northwood
November 12, 2013

Auckland is home to over one million people- 96% of these people eat meat.

For the other four percent, eating out is made considerably harder by the lack of vegetarian options.

As a result of the multi cultural society in Auckland, we see a number of international restaurants where vegetarianism is a part of their culture.

K road is home to a meat-free Indian restaurant and a Hare Krishna vegan restaurant, but if you head out of Auckland’s most colourful street, the abundance of vegetarian options quickly disappears.

Local vegetarian, Mr. Thompson, told us “Eating out used to be a social event, but since being vegetarian, going out to eat is not much fun.”

Subsequently, the sub-culture of vegetarianism in a densely meat oriented culture is pushed aside, unrecognized.

This causes a lack of options for vegetarians and a further stigma is applied to not eating meat.

Apart from restaurants dedicated to vegetarian food, we see another issue at play- finding a vegetarian option on a restaurant or café menu can be very challenging.

If vegetarian food choices were more attainable, we may see an increase in people choosing vegetarian options, and working towards a more sustainable future.

ENDS

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