istockphoto

by Reed Mangels, PhD, RD

Consider these two pieces of information – Australians are one of the highest consumers of meat in the world (1) and approximately 2% of Australians say that they are vegan (2). The United States is also one of the highest consumers of meat (1) and a poll conducted by The Vegetarian Resource Group in 2026 estimated that 3% of U.S. men are vegan. Although there are undoubtedly cultural differences between the United States and Australia, a recent study from Australia of vegan men (3) may provide some insights into the experiences of male vegans in the United States as well.

What is the study?

This study was conducted in Australia where interviews were conducted with 27 men who self-reported being vegan. They were from 18 to 58 years old and had been vegan for 2 to 36 years with an average of 8.8 years of being vegan. They were interviewed in-person or remotely for 40 minutes to an hour (3).

What did this study find?

Initially many men chose to be vegan for health benefits or because their partner was vegan. Over time, the men reported that their primary motivations for staying vegan were their ethical concerns about the environment and animal welfare. A small number of men had ethical reasons for their veganism from the beginning; some reported their motivation for staying vegan continued to be personal health benefits (3).

Most study subjects reported that at least one person, often a close friend/partner/family member, encouraged them when they were new to a vegan diet. In many cases this support came from someone who was already vegan although some interviewees reported being encouraged by non-vegan family members or close friends. Subjects said that it was difficult to be close friends with people who weren’t open and accommodating to veganism and that their becoming vegan helped them to see who their true friends were. Sadly, some reported being ridiculed or ostracized because of their vegan diet. Male-dominated workplaces, such as in the construction industry, were reported to be less supportive (3).

Men reported that, with time, they found that being vegan allowed them to express their values that had always been a part of their moral framework but which they had suppressed. They felt that their veganism created “a sense of living a more authentic and purpose-driven life (3).”

What do the study researchers recommend?

The researchers who conducted this study reflected on their findings and made several recommendations (3):

• In addition to recommending vegan diets to men for health promotion, veganism should also be framed as a way to embody personal values such as compassion and sustainability.
• Health care providers should be taught how to support clients who are transitioning to vegan diets and how to help clients identify social supports.
• Social marketing campaigns should normalize plant-based eating among men and use relatable role models.

References

1. Our World in Data. Per capita meat and fish consumption. https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/per-capita-meat-type?time=2023&country=CHN~USA~IND~ARG~PRT~ETH~JPN~BRA~OWID_WRL~ESP~DEU~AUS. 2023.

2. Clemons R. Plant-based eating. https://www.choice.com.au/food-and-drink/meat-fish-and-eggs/meat-substitutes/articles/plant-based-food. 2021.

3. Lee MF, Madsen J, Bayes J, et al. “I feel like I’m making a good difference to the world”: Interviews with Australian men on their motivations to become vegan. Health Promot J Austr. 2026;37:e70186.

For more information about vegan motivations see:

Comparing What Motivates Veganism/Vegetarianism Now vs. 20 years Ago

Do Vegans and Vegetarians Stay Vegetarian?

Vegan Teens: What are Their Motivations and Health Practices?

Motivations and Attitudes of Vegans

The contents of this website and our other publications, including Vegetarian Journal and Vegan Journal, are not intended to provide personal medical advice. Medical advice should be obtained from a qualified health professional. We often depend on product and ingredient information from company statements. It is impossible to be 100% sure about a statement, info can change, people have different views, and mistakes can be made. Please use your best judgment about whether a product is suitable for you. To be sure, do further research or confirmation on your own.

This new Girl Scout cookie will be available in 2027. Here are the ingredients:

Whole Grain Oats, Organic Brown Sugar, RSPO Palm Oil*, Water, Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chips (Cane Sugar, Unsweetened Chocolate, Cocoa Butter), Cassava Flour, Oat Flour, White Rice Flour, Rainbow Sprinkles (Cane Sugar, Tapioca Starch, Tapioca Maltodextrin, Palm Oil*, Palm Kernel Oil*, Natural Coloring [Vegetable Juices, Paprika, Spirulina, Turmeric], Carnauba Wax, Sunflower Lecithin), Tapioca Fiber Syrup, Raisin Juice Concentrate, Baking Soda, Sea Salt, Vanilla Extract, Oat Fiber, Ground Cinnamon, Rosemary Extract (Antioxidant).

The package states that it is a vegan product. See: https://partakefoods.com/products/girl-scouts-sparkables?utm_source=website&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=launch

The contents of this posting, our website and our other publications, including Vegan Journal, are not intended to provide personal medical advice. Medical advice should be obtained from a qualified health professional. We often depend on product and ingredient information from company statements. It is impossible to be 100% sure about a statement, info can change, people have different views, and mistakes can be made. Please use your best judgment about whether a product is suitable for you. To be sure, do further research or confirmation on your own.

The following is being added to our list of senior residences which offer vegan dishes.

Charlestown

By Erickson Senior Living

715 Maiden Choice Ln.

Catonsville, MD 21228

(410) 405-7683

Independent Living, Assisted living, memory care, long-term care, rehabilitation

Sample menus include tofu offered as an add-on to every meal; arugula salad; cauliflower tacos with garbanzo beans; Moroccan vegetable stew with garbanzo beans and lentils; vegan crispy Hawaiian garlic tofu; black bean chili; vegetable stew; vegetable farrato; Thai curried vegetables; vegetarian jambalaya; vegetarian cottage pie; gazpacho; curried lentil soup; Morningstar Farms vegan garden veggie patty (also served as a breakfast patty).

Come meet veggie dietitians from the Vegetarian Nutrition Dietetic Practice Group and Vegetarian Resource Group members. The public is invited. You must preregister now.

When: Sunday, October 25, 2026, 6 PM

Where: Casa Rio on the River Walk

Menu:

Linda’s Ensalada de Colores Appetizer: Mixed Greens with Grapefruit, Orange, Bell Pepper, Avocado, and Red Onion with Lime Vinaigrette.

Plus Buffet:

Guacamole

Refried beans

Mixed Grilled Veggies

Grilled Peppers and Onions

Corn Salsa

Pico de Gallo

Chalupa shells

Wheat Tortillas

Corn Tortillas

Mexican Rice

Lettuce, Tomato

Fruit

Water

Iced Tea

Please prepay $35 per person today at vrg.org/donate. In the Comments, write in names of attendees and that this is for the Vegan Networking dinner. Or call (410) 366-8343 with a credit card. Or mail payment to The Vegetarian Resource Group, PO Box 1463, Baltimore, MD 21203. We look forward to seeing you there. (Note: Restaurant is a seven-minute walk from the Convention Center.)

VRG intern Chaltu Watkins interviewed vegan advocate Crystal Forman, MPH, MHA, to get ideas on how vegans can prepare inexpensive meals. For example, shopping in ethnic food markets often leads to savings. Read the entire article here: https://www.vrg.org/journal/vj2026issue3/2026_issue3_eat-vegan-save-money.php

Please subscribe to Vegan Journal in the USA only here: www.vrg.org/member

photo from istockphoto

By Chef Nancy Berkoff, EdD, RD

Fresh pears have a fleeting season, so we might not get beyond eating them as a fresh, juicy snack. If you overbuy, or have an abundance on your tree, you might consider baking pears, using in a sauce, making pear butter… or roasting them!

Roasted pears are a delight and easy to prepare. They are warm, juicy, and caramel-ly. Halve and core just-ripe pears (softer pears will turn into “sauce” in the oven), brush or spray with oil, and roast at 400 degrees for about 25 minutes, or until they are soft (a fork slides in easily). If you would like to create a golden crust, begin roasting cut side down, and then turn about half way through roasting to finish cut-side up.

If you would like to add even more taste and texture, roast pears, cut side up, topping the halves with maple syrup, vanilla extract, and walnuts or with maple syrup, a splash of apple cider, and a sprinkle of cinnamon and ginger powder. If you would like a more savory taste, roast pears, cut side up, topping with balsamic vinegar and a sprinkle of nutritional yeast and cracked black pepper.

Jam-filled roasted pears make a wonderful cold-weather breakfast or a dinner dessert or even a salad topping. To serve two people, you’ll need two pears, jam or preserves of your choice, crumbled nuts of your choice (walnuts or pistachios work well; if you are avoiding nuts, roasted edamame work well, as does toasted coconut), and maple syrup. Cut and core your pears; core a large enough area for about 2 teaspoons of preserves. Place pears, cut side up, on a baking sheet and fill with preserves. Drizzle a small amount of maple syrup on the area of the pears not filled with preserves. Bake at 400 degrees until soft, about ten to fifteen minutes. Remove from oven and sprinkle with nuts or your choice of topping. Eat warm as a breakfast or dessert or serve on a bed of mixed greens.

For a “snazzy” dessert, core and quarter four almost-ripe pears; do not peel. Toss with organic granulated sweetener to coat and set aside. Melt 3 Tablespoons vegan margarine in a pan or in the microwave.  Toss pears with margarine and then place in a baking dish (with high sides, as we are going to add liquid), peel side up. Bake at 400 degrees, turning to allow all the pear pieces to brown (about ten minutes). Remove from oven, pour over 1 cup white wine or apple cider; add a cinnamon stick. Return to the oven and allow to roast until much of the liquid is evaporated. Place hot pears in a serving dish, scoop small amounts (like a Tablespoon) of sorbet or frozen vegan ice cream over and serve immediately.

Serve roasted pears, right out of the oven, warm, or chilled over hot cooked cereal, sliced corn bread, zucchini bread or cinnamon raisin toast or bagels, vegan yogurt, or silken tofu. Consider including roasted pears as an ingredient in green salads or in savory soups, such as a pumpkin, carrot, or butternut squash soup. If you have extra roasted pears, cut into small pieces and mix into vegan cream cheese or sour cream for a bagel or toast topping.

Each issue of Vegan Journal we review products that are worthy of purchase. In the latest magazine we feature inexpensive vegan foods such as Earth Grown Organic Firm Tofu. Read the column here: https://www.vrg.org/journal/vj2026issue3/2026_issue3_veggie_bits.php

Please subscribe to Vegan Journal in the USA only here: www.vrg.org/member

If you ever have the opportunity to visit beautiful Mykonos Island in Greece, you’ll want to make sure that you stop by Rhino Vegan Beat. A VRG member told us that they greatly enjoyed two dishes they ordered at this establishment: The Tofu Power Salad (consisting of Greek lettuce, tomato & grilled marinated tofu, with creamy Rhino sauce, chives, onion chips, and nut parmesan), as well as the Chick ‘n’ Fitty Souvlaki Wrap (consisting of Chicken style tofu nuggets, white rhino sauce, lettuce, tomato, potatoes, and homemade turmeric pita).

Rhino Vegan Beat also has a second location in Athens, Greece! For more info, see: https://rhinoveganbeat.com/

by Jeanne Yacoubou, MS

When The Vegetarian Resource Group (VRG) launched our guide titled Vegetarian and Vegan Options in Senior Independent Living, Assisted Living, Nursing Home, and Other Sernior Facilities (Senior Guide) in 2019, we quickly realized that most facilities in the United States offered no vegan dishes. In fact, many were unfamiliar with veganism. A few told us that they would gladly accommodate vegans if any moved in yet had not had the opportunity to do so, or may have encountered only one vegan in recent memory.

Surprisingly, we received a similar response about vegetarian diets in senior living facilities although we noticed a few vegetarian entrées on sample menus at locations scattered around the U.S. Those places are listed in this Senior Guide by state (search from the beginning).

Yet, as a response to the growing number of seniors looking for a living arrangement suitable to their vegan lifestyle, The VRG pursued the search, raising awareness to staff and culinary directors about the increasing popularity of vegan diets in a space not traditionally accustomed to it.

In those early years of our Senior Guide, we located a greater number of facilities offering vegetarian options even if they were served only upon request. By comparison, in the last few years, we began to notice more senior living facilities offering plenty of vegan menu options in rotation. Several places clearly identified them by a vegan icon on their print menus or on their websites. As we find them, we list them here as well as their sample vegan offerings. There is no doubt that the likelihood of finding a senior living facility serving vegan meals these days is greater than it was just seven years ago, and will probably increase even more in future years due to an aging population.

The reason for this trend toward veganism is one we’ve witnessed several times before. Whether it’s vegan food on college and university campuses or in healthcare facilities, greater consumer demand results in more vegan options.

In all respects, this Senior Guide should be thought of as a work in progress. Not only are we adding brand new entries as facilities introduce vegan dishes to their menus for the first time. We’re also updating those which had previously offered only vegetarian meals, but now serve vegan dishes as well. These places are proactively addressing the dietary preferences of a growing number of seniors looking to maintain their vegan lifestyle as they transition to a new type of living arrangement in their golden years.

If you know of a senior living location of any type that offers vegan menu items but is not listed here, please let us know at [email protected]! You will be helping others searching for vegan meals at a senior living facility, making their life transition much more comfortable as it is familiar.

The following is being added to our list of senior residences which offer vegan dishes.

The Fountains at La Cholla

By Watermark

2001 West Rudasill Road

Tucson, AZ 85704

(833) 534-9547

Independent living, assisted living, memory care, short-term stays

Sample menu includes Southwest salad with black beans; roasted vegetable wrap & hummus spread (order without feta); black bean burger; stir-fry with tofu (2x/month); garbanzo and kidney beans offered daily at salad bar; quinoa; almond milk