L.A. planning to mandate vegan menu options: Don’t get mad at vegans — get mad at climate change
It’s true that requiring businesses to offer a vegan menu doesn’t solve climate change, but it’s at least an improvement, and it gives us a way to work toward fundamental reform.
BRIAN KATEMAN: ‘Outrage was directed at LA city councilman Paul Koretz after he introduced a proposal in late 2018 that, if passed, would require food vendors in city-owned properties, large private venues, and movie theaters to offer at least one vegan protein dish. It would also require every terminal in LAX to feature at least one fully vegan restaurant, and for all LAX restaurants to provide a minimum of one vegan main dish…
According to critics, such as food writer Gustavo Arellano, Koretz’s plan is one of the dumbest US laws that was proposed in all of 2018… While Arellano did not dispute that animal products come at an environmental and social cost, he believes Los Angelenos are too concerned with local homelessness, traffic, and poverty to make a concerted effort to preserve the planet. But the numbers suggest otherwise…
It’s true that requiring businesses to offer a vegan menu doesn’t reform the entire food system, nor does it solve climate change. And, yes, it will cost some vendors more money, at least in the short-term. But it doesn’t inhibit people from making their own dietary choices, either. In fact, it increases the options. When it comes to reducing our carbon footprint, it’s at least an improvement, and it gives us a way to work toward fundamental reform.
Refusing to increase vegan options compounds a number of missed opportunities — environmental, ethical, and financial. Many people would certainly buy more food at venues like movie theaters if there were substantial vegan items on offer; that would increase profits, not diminish them… We should be far more uncomfortable with accelerating climate change, poor health, and animal suffering — all symptoms of meat, egg, and dairy industries — than we are with the increasing prominence of people who prefer to eat plant-based food’. SOURCE…
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