Plant-based diets: Will they stay for another year?

New trends roll in with the new year, but we welcome a not-so-new trend to yet another year. Plant-based diets were a big food trend last year, but made their way to 2020. This diet revolves around meatless options, but isn´t necessarily as strict as vegetarian or vegan diets, which refrain from meat and all animal products.

Plant-based diets focus on the idea to eat more plants than animals. While on this type of diet, people can still choose to eat meat, but in smaller portions. 

A plant-based diet is not only trendy, but healthy too. Increasing your vegetable intake, this diet can help lower blood pressure and your risk of getting heart disease.

In the spring of 2018 and 2019, fast food restaurants White Castle and Burger King, hopped on this food trend by adding meatless burgers to their menus through the company, Impossible Foods. According to impossiblefoods.com, these burgers, primarily made of soy and potato, are healthier and “free of animal hormones, antibiotics, and contaminants.”

Students also following this food trend can still buy lunch from the cafeteria. Tina Mehta, director of cafeteria services, said that the commons has its own options for students on plant-based diets. 

“Every Monday is meatless Monday,” Mehta said. 

In addition to this once a week special, there are vegetable burgers and a salad bar available throughout the whole week for students on plant-based diets, or those that are just looking for healthier options. 

Freshmen Brooklyn Garon, has been on a plant-based diet since the end of July. However, she didn’t start just to be part of the trend. 

Garon said, “I didn’t like the idea of eating animals and I knew that it’s not best for the environment.”

Whether people go on plant-based diets to be healthier, to follow trends, or for their own reasons, we can expect to see this food trend once again this year.