Vegan options are going mainstream

Only four percent of Americans follow a vegetarian diet, according to a Gallup poll. Even fewer follow a strict vegan lifestyle, avoiding all animal products in food and clothing.

But many people are starting to incorporate more plant-based foods into their diets, often for health reasons and out of a concern for the environment.

And more vegan and vegetarian options are going mainstream. Think about “meatless Mondays” or the Impossible burger. Don’t want cow milk? Your local grocery store dairy case probably carries milk made from oats, soybeans, rice, almonds, coconuts or cashews.  

MPR News host Angela Davis talks about what it means to be vegan or to follow a mostly plant-based diet. What makes people decide to do it? Are there health benefits or health hazards? Can you get the protein and nutrients your body needs without eating animal products?

Guests:

• Jacque Reid is the founder of the “Vegan Sexy Cool” brand, which includes a digital lifestyle magazine and a podcast. She is also an Emmy-award winning journalist. She co-hosts the “Reid This/Reid That” podcast with MSNBC’s Joy Reid. She previously hosted lifestyle TV shows on NBC affiliates in New York and Boston and was the lead news anchor for “CNN Headline News” and the “BET Nightly News.”   

• Megan Baumler is an assistant professor and director of the Nutrition and Dietetics Program at St. Catherine University in St. Paul. She is a licensed and registered dietitian nutritionist. 

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Use the audio player above to listen to the full conversation.