Veganism and Sustainable shopping.

J

JooShiu

Member
Hi,

I'm interested in creating a business based around sustainable shopping and or vegan (non-cruelty) diets. I do have an academic background in law, public admin and connections with an experienced app/website developer who wants to help. I am looking to meet entrepreneurs interested in this space.

Yes, I'm one of those tree hugging hippie types. We are not going away and unfortunately, I think the coronavirus is here to remind us that a new way life is necessary for this planet. Call it a religion if you prefer, I dont really care. I call it positive social change. We need to learn to respect the environment and treat all life as sacred. If you got anything positive to share, please do so.
 
Dora Wi

Dora Wi

Member
Hi and welcome! I think this is a great idea, and definitely something that will surely have a future as more and more people are interested in the sustainability of their lifestyle, but there are not many convenient options yet to compete with the mainstream, so I think new solutions are always needed.
 
J

JooShiu

Member
I think the demand for "green" or sustainable products is increasing but still miniscule. I lived in communities in the San Francisco Bay Area where lots of people were interested in these types of things and there were business that made access to them convenient. So, I think its about raising awareness for a different kind of lifestyle that's more expensive but ultimately better for everyone.

See "New Study Reveals 9.6 Million Americans Are Vegan Now, A 300% Increase! A new study has revealed that the number of Americans following plant-based diets is up nearly 9.6 million over the last 15 years. This is a 300% increase and nearly 3 percent of the population in the United States.Mar 6, 2020."

(New Study Reveals 9.6 Million Americans Are Vegan Now, A 300% Increase! | Vegan News)
 
djbaxter

djbaxter

Administrator
JooShiu said:
I think the demand for "green" or sustainable products is increasing but still miniscule. I lived in communities in the San Francisco Bay Area where lots of people were interested in these types of things and there were business that made access to them convenient. So, I think its about raising awareness for a different kind of lifestyle that's more expensive but ultimately better for everyone.
Click to expand...
But how long ago was that? You mention 2009 in another post but things have changed considerably in the past decade in most Western countries. And that is a direct result of a combination of awareness and legislation. For example, apartment buildings now have recycling and green bins just like private residences which a decade ago didn't exist in my area. Some locations have also implemented policies that pretty much force green policies, like "bag tags": you have to purchase and attach a tag (at $2.50 -$3.00 each) for each bin or bag left for pickup whereas recycling and green bin pickup is free, a simple policy that automatically encourages greater use of recycling and green bin composting. (It's not even necessarily the cost of the tags for some people but more the inconvenience of having to run out to buy additional tags, especially in rural areas.)

JooShiu said:
See "New Study Reveals 9.6 Million Americans Are Vegan Now, A 300% Increase! A new study has revealed that the number of Americans following plant-based diets is up nearly 9.6 million over the last 15 years. This is a 300% increase and nearly 3 percent of the population in the United States.Mar 6, 2020."

(New Study Reveals 9.6 Million Americans Are Vegan Now, A 300% Increase! | Vegan News)
Click to expand...

Moving toward more green policies does not necessarily mean that people have to go full vegan or even vegetarian though. And those options are not entirely about green policies and climate change - for many people is about health and that's an area again where awareness has improved significanty in the past decade.
 
VirtualGlobalPhone

VirtualGlobalPhone

Moderator
Ohmm in a years where 200%+ increase in poverty, how one claim vegans 300% increase , non veg 400% growth.

I wonder who is eating both veg and nonveg .. aliens ? Just a thought!!!
 
J

JooShiu

Member
Well, I think demand will continue to increase for these products. How you define "green" or sustainable or environmental friendly is going to make huge difference. Right now, I have no access to pasture raised milk products where I live. I looked around online about the dairy industry and the only useful information I got was that Clover Farms treats their cows well. I can buy Clover farms milk at the local stores. What I want is glass of milk that's animal cruelty free, organic and environmental friendly. What do I do?

Just because a lot of big companies pretending they are sustainable or environmental doesn't mean they have to own up to anything. None or few of these definitions are nationally certified by a government agency. There still not enough information for consumers like myself to make an educated choice. Just because there is a green label on it, sometimes doesn't mean anything else except they decided to put a word on their logo.
For example, Amazon recently created a separate shopping section for sustainable products but that's also a mystery what that entails. They took two dozen different kinds of certification systems and just listed the products they sell that meet those brands.
See labeling info here Amazon.com and shopping sustainable products here https://www.amazon.com/sustainable-products/s?k=sustainable+products

There is no easy way to proceed with defining these things without some heavy handed government regulation. As we all know, politics is controlled by money, and the big agriculture industries control the money. That means buying environmentally friendly and cruelty free products is itself a form of political protest.
I think there is plenty left to do. In New Orleans area where I live right now, I cannot recycle glass. Moreover, most people dont take recycling seriously here compared to California. I used to live in Las Vegas and there was no residential recycling program there either. Moreover, most recycling just doesn't even work anywhere. As far as I know contamination is real issue with recycling. We need real change, real fast. See this Recycling in the U.S. Is Broken. How Do We Fix It?
 
djbaxter

djbaxter

Administrator
Agreed. There is still a lot of work to be done and still way too many willfully ignorant and uninformed people who want to believe climate change is just a hoax to inconvenience them and drive up prices. It's frustrating. There is a huge selfish anti-science movement out there who want to keep making money off oil and coal and keep driving their enormous "small penis compensating" pickup trucks, Hummers, RVs, and off-road vehicles.

It all makes me angry. They are every bit as bad as anti-vaxxers and anti-maskers and they clearly don't care about anyone except their own selfish immediate interests. The fact that their children and grandchildren will suffer for their selfishness evidently means nothing to them.

Anyway, sorry about the rant. There's just way too much of this BS lately. :-oo >:(
 
djbaxter

djbaxter

Administrator
Climate change is a global problem. And whether it is worse somewhere else is irrelevant. It's bad enough in Canada and we do have an active anti-science anti-climate-change faction here, right across the country.

As a country, we can only control policies within our own borders.

As individuals, we can only control our own behavior and to a lesser extent the behavior of those immediately around us.

But beyond policy making, raising awareness and combating anti-science misinformation via fact-checking is something we all can do anywhere in the world, as with the example of Greta Thunberg.
 
J

JooShiu

Member
Here is some "good" news. Looks like one cultured meat company is leading the pack.
See
Cultured meat - Wikipedia and this
vegnews.com

Food Truck Sells Out of 1,000 Servings of 3D-Printed Vegan Meat in Five Hours

Israeli company Redefine Meat attracted 600 customers to a small village in Israel with its innovative vegan Alt-Meat, which will soon be available at local butcher shops and restaurants thanks to a partnership with meat distributor Best Meister.
vegnews.com vegnews.com

According to Wikipedia, Redefine Meat which is featured in the second link above, is still pricing their meat at $35/kg but at least it tastes like real meat. The plant based stuff like Beyond Meat, I've tried, and does not taste like meat in my opinion.
 
Julia Sta Romana

Julia Sta Romana

Top Contributor
Welcome to the community JooShiu ! And tree hugging types are always welcome!

It'll be nice to have access to something like that. The only meat substitutes we have in our neighborhood stores are tofu and mushroom/soy meat. It's okay but it's not something you would develop a craving for.
 
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