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existential1 wrote

I think your question is very particular to culture. You didn't explicitly say it, so I'm going to. If you're talking about white "Western" people in your question:

do you think more people would be willing to do it?

then I would say maybe. I've been vegan for over a year and near vegan for quite some time before that.

To me, the people who are stuck on all the "alternative" type things are victims of western consumerism. They very well may not think they are, but they are. The vegan meats, cheeses, and all the rest are a way two keep two things consistent: the Western "eater's" habit of consumption based on goods that that corporations found easy to commoditize, package, and sell 50 - 100 years ago depending on the product, and secondly for those same corporations to continue making a profit on a new market with the same consumer they used to have.

People will give all sorts of reasons why they still go for "vegan alternatives" to non-vegan western foods, chiefly among those reasons is their own "choice" to continue eating what they're accustomed to. But really, it's a false choice. Or at the least a choice with a false pretense. Hardly any different than picking democrat or republican...either way, they still get paid and you still eat garbage. Because the truth is, most of the "vegan alternatives" are still loaded with preservatives, extra salt/sugar, and all the things that contribute to physiological dependency on consumption of certain types of food.

All that being said, not all vegans are vegans for health reasons. Not everyone considers their personal health a priority. That's just reality. So although eating foods that are traditionally vegan or going vegan without trying to "replace" non-vegan meals can be absolutely delicious, more healthy, cheaper, and pretty simple to prepare...a lot of westerners have a mindset that plain foods can't be tasty. But, having been addicted to a western diet, I feel like "it's the drugs talking, not them". The drug in this case being an addiction to typically sugar, oils, too much salt, and consumption.

So the popularity question isn't just a simple choice. It's also a matter of breaking free from a couple Western diseases as well. Can be difficult to do all at once.

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