Veganism is creeping into the mainstream as multiple trends converge to create the perfect conditions for people to consider a lifestyle that avoids all meat and animal products. Global health authorities are warning against eating too much red and processed meats, environmentalists bemoan how much animal agriculture negatively contributes to climate change, and a consumer craze for different sources for protein have them considering more plant-based and cellular agriculture options.
It’s no surprise that Google searches for “vegan” have risen rapidly over the last two years, far surpassing “vegetarian.” (In the chart below, “100” represents peak popularity for the two terms shown.)
People interested in going vegan are in luck, thanks to a pioneering collective of resourceful vegans—all of them friends in the early-2000s—who have laid the groundwork to bring tons of interesting and new vegan products to market. That includes plant-based burgers that taste like the real thing, leather that never needed a cow, and meat grown from animal cells.