The Veganizer: How To Get Meat Off The Menu!

On August 1, 2014 I convinced my omnivorous husband and business partner that his Paleo organic meat-mecca restaurant, GustOrganics, absolutely needed to go plant-based.

 

On March 2, 2015 GustOrganics ecame the first meat-heavy restaurant to go entirely vegan in NYC. In two sentences it sounds easy enough—but let me tell you that this was no simple task. We lost thousands of dollars, most of our clientele and some of the staff along the way. I learned that if we were going to get meat off of menus then there needed to be two things happening.

The first thing that needed to happen was someone needed to guide restaurants in this transition because there was no road map until GustOrganics took the first leap. Restaurants just want to make money. Period. Most do not care what type of food they are serving as long as it is delicious and it makes them cash. That being said, what is stopping other places from not taking part in what seems like an obvious food trend? The answer is fear and ignorance. They don’t know how to do it. The second part of that fear is, “Will I lose my clientele due to the change in menu?” All of these fears are totally logical and in retrospect I can say that we did lose our customers. But, the good news is that some stayed and thousands more began to come with way bigger appetites.

The second thing that needed to happen if we were going to get meat of menus was this: we needed to (believe it or not) go to omnivorous restaurants and speak to General Managers about what we wanted to see on their menu. If a GM hears, “There needs to be more vegan options” once a day for a week—I will bet you within two weeks he will add vegan options or at least begin researching veganism, which may lead him or her to go vegan themselves.

Us vegans tend to hang with our own—but if we want to make a change then we need to “mingle with the enemy” so to speak. Now, they aren’t literally our enemy but rather they are people who need guidance. A teacher doesn’t teach someone who already knows—but rather someone who hasn’t learned. As a vegan, I learned that playing it safe and eating at only vegan restaurants in NYC is great because I support these businesses, but if I want to be a component of change then I need to voice myself in the most unlikely of places. I know it’s a struggle as a vegan to eat in an omnivorous place. Is there fish oil in this? Was there cross-contamination? Is this really soymilk? Trust me, I get it. But I can promise you that without a struggle there can be no change. Do you think MLK felt like explaining why Separate But Equal was not working to his white counter parts? Do you think Gandi enjoyed his hunger strikes? The answer is “no” but they knew that these struggles were necessary for the bigger change. I’m not saying that you need to eat out at omnivorous places all the time—but do realize that only we can shift the paradigm of restaurant supply and demand. We just need to ask.

I promise to become the first professional “veganizer” of NYC. It’s started with GustOrganics but it certainly won’t end with GustOrganics, and I invite all of you to become “veganizers” in your own towns! Go mingle with the enemy and show them just how wonderful the vegan compassionate life can be!

 

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