Vegan Culture Evolving in Calgary

The vegan and vegetarian movement is widely accepted in cities like Vancouver and Toronto. However, the historically meat-based dining culture in Calgary is still evolving when it comes to offering more diverse menu choices, something advocates are hoping will change..

Meneka Repka is a vegan and a student at the U of C. As part of her PhD studies, she is researching how culture and education systems have helped to shape our attitudes toward diet.

“Historically, Alberta has a very colonial narrative about what food consumption should be,” said Repka.

Repka noted that Albertan ranchers really capitalize on the notion that Alberta beef is the best, and that the Alberta beef brand has been driven and supported by consumers for a long time.

Repka explained that for most of Alberta’s history, the very best cuts of meat were actually not eaten by Albertans but were shipped internationally instead.

“Foreigners would pay more for these exotic cuts of meat, beef was considered exotic to some people at that time,” said Repka.

When mad cow disease took hold in Alberta there was mass fear, and also fear from farmers who worried what would happen to the economy. Repka explains that beef producers created a campaign to really capitalize on beef as a traditional component of Albertan identity.

“They really put in a lot of money into advertising beef, and it did work. Albertans did continue to support Alberta beef. It switched over from an international market to a provincial one, because other countries closed their doors to it in fear of mad cow disease,” said Repka.

Repka believes that beef has become a very pervasive social narrative that people take up in terms of their own identity. So, there are consequences in a sense if people try to take up an alternative narrative.

Repka also said that there’s a general fear that people take on when it comes to nutritional inadequacy if they’re to eat vegan or vegetarian diets.

According to the American Dietetic Association and the Dietitians of Canada, an adequately planned vegan or vegetarian diet is suitable for people in all stages of life.

Repka believes, however, that lack of education about plant-based diets are a contributing factor as to why so many people in Alberta eat animal products.

“It’s not taught to us in our elementary school years, it’s not taught to us through the media, and it’s certainly not taught to us through cultural institutions like restaurants,” said Repka.

Marcus Wilson, a Toronto vegan currently living in Calgary also notes the pervasive difference between the culture here versus the culture from his home.

“I beca

me vegan about a year and a half ago, which was a while before I moved to Calgary to be near the mountains. I like Calgary a lot but what I do miss about Toronto are the amount of restaurants that cater solely to my vegan needs. I also wasn’t raised eating a lot of meat, my mom was always an excellent vegetarian cook so I grew up eating nourishing vegetarian food,” said Wilson.

Wilson believes that Calgary may still be evolving when it comes to the vegan movement because of the culture around cattle and farming that he’s noticed Alberta has.

“I definitely do think that because Toronto is a much larger city, and generally less conservative beyond just politics, that there has been more room for the vegan trend to really take off,” said Wilson.

He is hopeful that Calgary will catch onto this trend not only for his food preferences, but for ethical and environmental purposes as well.

Sehra Bindal is the owner of one of Calgary’s few vegetarian restaurants, and she is committed to serving up food that is both innovative and mostly vegan, however, she does offer some products with dairy.

It’s called Veg-In YYC, and Bindal’s passion is to help create a better narrative about vegan or vegetarian diets, showing that health and deliciousness can be synonymous.

“I realized that veganism in Calgary is more of requirement, because vegetarian options aren’t as hard to find. Vegan is something I’ve decided to focus on as I went along in my business,” said Bindal.

Bindal believes that there hasn’t been acceptance yet because when people think ‘vegan,’ they just think ‘salad.’

She suggests that aspiring restaurant owners need to have a full menu offering many options that will show people that veganism goes beyond just having a salad.

“It’s still in the infant stages, it will take five or six years or maybe even seven years. Calgary’s still not there, but I’m happy that people are supporting small businesses like mine and are going in that direction, it will take time, but it will happen” she said.