{"id":1540,"date":"2019-01-09T15:51:45","date_gmt":"2019-01-09T15:51:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.manchester.ac.uk\/sci\/?p=1540"},"modified":"2022-05-20T11:43:39","modified_gmt":"2022-05-20T10:43:39","slug":"meat-free-alternatives-are-dull-we-need-exciting-vegan-christmas-dinner-ideas","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.manchester.ac.uk\/sci\/2019\/01\/09\/meat-free-alternatives-are-dull-we-need-exciting-vegan-christmas-dinner-ideas\/","title":{"rendered":"Meat-free alternatives are dull \u2013 we need exciting vegan Christmas dinner ideas"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Bangers and mash, toad in the hole, shepherd\u2019s pie, Lancashire hotpot \u2013 meat is tightly interwoven with British culture and dining. Particularly now at Christmas, it might seem self-evident that everyone will be having a roast dinner on the big day. But what if you\u2019re vegetarian or vegan? What are you going to eat at your family\u2019s house, and what are they going to eat at yours?<\/p>\n

Nowadays, there are probably\u00a0two<\/a>\u00a0to\u00a0four<\/a>\u00a0times as many vegetarians in the UK than\u00a0in the early 1990s<\/a>, when a market for vegetarian products was still in its infancy. In 1991, a survey of UK households found only\u00a015% of dinners prepared at home were vegetarian<\/a>. Today, that number has\u00a0almost doubled to 29%<\/a>, and Quorn has only just\u00a0started to sell cooking ingredients<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Interviewing vegetarians in the early 1990s,\u00a0researchers reported<\/a>\u00a0that some of their interviewees were given a plastic box of separate, vegetarian food at a wedding anniversary celebration. One had experienced their mother bringing \u201cher own chicken \u2026 ready cooked\u201d to their Christmas dinner invitation, rather than attempting to try a meat-free alternative. As a result, some meat-avoiders felt excluded from the ceremony of Christmas.<\/p>\n

Meat-eating without the meat<\/h2>\n

Over time, the situation has got a bit better. People in the UK are generally more accommodating of vegetarians now, with many opting for meat alternatives\u00a0at least once or twice a year<\/a>. For Christmas, there are plenty of special offerings that go well beyond the classic nut roast. And choosing meat alternatives is reportedly better for your\u00a0health<\/a>, the\u00a0environment<\/a>, and no animals are harmed in their making.<\/p>\n

In my research, I look closely at meat alternatives and\u00a0analyse how they are advertised<\/a>. In recent years, more than a third of adverts for meat alternatives around this time of year was about Christmas, and they tell us a lot about meat-free Christmas ideals. For example, some of the earlier adverts acknowledge the challenges meat-avoiders face this time year of year.<\/p>\n

The tofu-turkey roast is a typical vegan standby for Christmas dinner.\u00a0Jay Ondreicka\/Shutterstock<\/a><\/p>\n

In 2002, an advert in the winter issue of The Vegetarian magazine presented the Quorn roast as \u201cprovid[ing] a much-needed centrepiece to the turkey-less Christmas lunch in many households\u201d. This, as well as many other adverts, make it very clear that the \u201cmuch-needed centrepiece\u201d should look like meat.<\/p>\n

More recently, an advert by Fry\u2019s in the December 2016 issue of the same magazine informs readers that \u201cbeing meat-free shouldn\u2019t mean compromising on great festive food\u201d. The alternative they suggest is also a roast. And a Linda McCartney advert from 2015 reiterates that being meat-free for Christmas is a chore:<\/p>\n

If you\u2019re doing the cooking, it can be tricky to know what to serve in the place of meat. Are nut roasts pass\u00e9? Can cheesy tarts be served with gravy? Is a vegetable tart really substantive enough?<\/em><\/p>\n

They then present their solution, which is again, a roast.<\/p>\n

Opportunities for new Christmas traditions<\/h2>\n

What becomes clear from the adverts is that a meat-free Christmas is supposed to be much like a meaty Christmas. Adverts tell us that a meat-free diet should be just like a meat-based diet, but without the animals. They suggest that there is only one way to eat right, and that is a way that involves something that looks, smells, and tastes like meat, even if it is not.<\/p>\n

Meat alternatives try to fill an animal-free diet with exactly the same custom, and exactly the same meaning. Come Christmas or barbecue, spaghetti bolognese or Sunday dinner \u2013 meat alternatives leave us with something meaty as the central feature of a dish. Otherwise, the dish is\u00a0not considered a main meal<\/a>, never mind an appropriate festive dinner.<\/p>\n

Meat-free foods have adopted a meat-eating culture in order to become an accepted meal option. This role for meat alternatives keeps us the symbolic hostages of meat, and therefore intolerant of other options. The result stifles imagination for what vegetarian and vegan cuisine on Christmas could look like.<\/p>\n

Maybe in 2018, make it normal to have something other than meat-free meat. After all, Christmas dinner presents just as much of a food choice as at any other time of year. Maybe have a potluck where everyone can contribute some food. Have a buffet or cold platters. Or make everyone responsible for one course. Just do something different. Break out of the norms that keep the meat in animal-free eating.<\/p>\n

This blog was originally published by <\/em>The Conversation<\/em><\/a>.<\/p>\n

Malte R\u00f6dl<\/em> is a doctoral researcher at the Sustainable Consumption Institute. His PhD research explores the evolution of \u2018meat analogues\u2019 in relation to changing consumption and production practices.<\/em><\/p>\n

\"The<\/p>\n

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Related<\/h1>\n

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+44 (0) 161 306 6000<\/p>\n

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The University of Manchester
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