This afternoon I popped into the Camden branch of Sainsbury’s and what did I spot sitting in the chilled aisle? A brand new (for me!) vegan pizza from Meatless Farm.
Read more below.
Now, I know some people will shrug at this news. It’s just a pizza after all.
But to me this is one of those everyday victories that tell a much bigger story. Ten or fifteen years ago, the idea of being able to walk into a mainstream supermarket and grab a ready-to-go plant-based pizza would have been laughable. Back then we were making our own bases at home and sprinkling questionable amounts of nutritional yeast on top, pretending it was just like mozzarella. Now I can pick up a vegan pizza as easily as I can grab a tin of beans. That’s huge progress, even if it comes wrapped up in the simplicity of supermarket shopping.
And it matters. It matters that vegan food is no longer relegated to specialist shops or hidden away in obscure corners of the Internet. Seeing plant-based options lined up in places like Sainsbury’s makes this way of eating normal, accessible, and affordable. It takes veganism out of the niche and drops it right in front of everyday people who might never have thought to try it otherwise.
The newspapers love to bang on about how vegan options are shrinking, about how restaurants are giving up on plant-based menus, and how the so-called vegan trend is over. But as I stood there today in Camden surrounded by shelves packed with plant-based products, I felt the opposite. I felt like things are moving forward. Maybe not with the frenzied excitement of a viral news story, but with steady progress that shows up in the form of a pizza in your local supermarket.
So yes, I am celebrating this small win today. Because every time vegan food shows up in the most ordinary of places, it helps build a world where it’s not unusual, not a passing fad, but simply part of the everyday.
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Agree with all you say here. And whilst my heart sinks with every vegan loss – I am devastated about What The Pitta – there is also generally a gain just around the corner, in London at least. I once dreamt of finding vegan cheese in a regular supermarket and now it is a given, in most at least.
And the Meatless Farm pizza is decent, which is a bonus as they are are a proper vegan company, owned by VFC!