A very popular and quickly growing subculture within the United States, is the vegan community. In 2009, about 1% of the population stated they were vegans, but as of 2013 this percentage has raised to 2.5% (toprntobsn.com). Many celebrities are also beginning to endorse the vegan lifestyle.
Vegans abstain from eating and using any type of animal products. This included meat, milk, eggs, cheese, leather, wool, and many other products. Vegans chose to take on this lifestyle mainly because of the health and environmental benefits, and concerns for the welfare of animals. There are many health benefits to a vegan diet, for example, lower cholesterol levels, reduced sodium intake, and increased amounts of vegetable and fruit intake. The animal industry also negatively effects the environment. For example, “to produce one pound of meat versus one pound of soy it takes 12 times as much land, 13 times as much fossil fuel, and 15 times as much water” (peta.org). The biggest reason why many chose to become vegan is for the animals. Most vegans believe it is inhumane to torture and kill animals for consumption.
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To conform to more conventional dietary values, vegans have developed many different meat substitutes, such as tofu, tempeh, seitan, and many more. Using these meat substitutes, vegans can emulate popular American dishes. Vegan restaurants such as Native Foods, and Watercourse Foods have dishes such as wings, burgers, and BLTs on their menu even though no meat is included in these meals. A very important non-material cultural aspects of the vegan subculture is the vegan symbol used to denote that a product is vegan. This symbol is extremely importants, because vegans rely on it when shopping, to ensure that they are maintaining their beliefs. Without this symbol, it would be much more difficult for vegans to determine what is and is not okay to