After the European elections it seems clear: the future is green. Questions like "How does my burger change the climate?" or "Who makes my clothes?" are becoming more and more important.
The city of Frankfurt thinks so, too, and is hosting the Sustainable Lifestyle Festival on June 16. The idea behind it? The environment can be learned in childhood and adolescence! (Between us: A little bit of tutoring doesn't hurt me either. In the sense of, new information and new ideas.)
For me, one of the new ideas is the current trend towards a vegan lifestyle.
First of all, what is vegan? If you eat a purely plant-based, vegan diet, you don't consume any animal products. Secondly, there is a strong trend towards vegan lifestyle in big cities. And this trend towards vegan lifestyle has also caught Germany, as Techology Review wrote.
Last week, I had the opportunity to try vegan delights in Paris for professional reasons - because I am a curious person, old professional disease as a journalist and blogger, I wanted to learn more about this way of eating.
In the French capital, the number of people eating vegan has gone up massively in the last two years. And in Germany? Here, more than a million people eat a plant-based diet. Frankfurt is a dynamic, cosmopolitan city - so what do we have to offer on the Main in terms of lifestyle?
Does Frankfurt need to offer something vegan? According to forecasts, the number of vegans and vegetarians will continue to rise in the coming years, and more and more people are becoming interested in a plant-based lifestyle and its benefits for animals, the environment and their own health.
Consequence: Sales of vegan products have well doubled between 2010 and 2015. The market is booming.
Since we Frankfurters are known to be good at math, it is an appealing idea from an economic perspective alone to expand the product portfolio to include vegan offerings.
So if, like me, you fancy trying something new or want to take out guests coming to Frankfurt on a vegan diet, here are my three favourite addresses and three findings from a three-day test.
Vegan Living: Three Addresses, Three Findings
Breakfast
When it comes to breakfast, I belong to team #sweet. So, jam should be on the table if possible. Coffee and juice are a must. At best, granola with lots of fruit makes me full and therefore happy.
But excitingly, vegan cuisine also reaches deep into the vegetable box for the first meal of the day: BBQ sauce, millet and cucumber can all be found on a toast. Or hummus or lentils on a roll like at Ginkgo on Berger Straße in Bornheim. Not for me. But surely for many others just the right thing.
Lunch
So that no soup coma threatens, I like to reach for the salad at lunchtime. As a lover of Japanese cuisine, the rice noodle salad at Vegan Paradise "Vevay" excites me - and cookie and cake lovers get their vegan money's worth, too.
Dinner
At the lens I can only say. Many recipes overlap with dishes from Indian cuisine, which I like anyway. Last night I decided to try the little snack bar "Taste of India" at the end of Berger Straße. In general, many small restaurants on Berger already have vegan alternatives on the menu.
So far, so plant-based.
Three insights from three days of vegan experience
· Vegan cuisine can still be as bland as a gray November.
But in fact, taste in particular has radically improved. Many chefs have tried new ideas that make dishes come across as spicy and delightful.
You're welcome to take my word for it, because I'm an open-minded but discerning eater: but I couldn't leave a millet salad that was slightly acidic with capers and black olives at the tasting, even though I was determined to do so J It was stupidly just too delicious!
· Vegan fashion has long shed the dungarees and ugly jute image. Vegan fashion is often street style, edgy and designed by small labels. Paris has shown me that vegan fashion can be terribly chic and affordable at the same time. Here I would like to see even more shops in Frankfurt in the future.
· It is now much easier to find vegan products and cosmetics in supermarkets or common drugstores. If you want to try your hand at cooking like I do, for example, because I'm curious and always like to diversify my menu: at Rewe in the magazine rack on Berger Straße yesterday I discovered "Healthy Vegan - your guide to vegan everyday life".
ADDRESS
· Ginkgo
Berger Straße 81,
60316 Frankfurt (Nordend)
· Vevay
At Vevay almost all dishes are vegan. As mentioned, you'll find falafel burgers on the menu here as well as rice noodle salad. Be sure to try the dessert like panna coco and cake.
Neue Mainzer Straße 20, 60311 Frankfurt
Mon - Sat: 10am to 11pm
Sun: 10 am to 4 pm
· Taste of India'
Berger Straße 14
60316 Frankfurt
Of course, in a text about vegan and vegetarian Frankfurt, the reference to the ever-popular and well-known "Aroma" in the Nordend must not be missing.
Oeder Weg 80
Mon - Fri: 11 am to 10 pm
Saturday: Closed
Sunday: 3 to 10 p.m.
Oeder Weg 39
Mon - Fri: 12 to 10 pm
Sat and Sun: 2:30 to 10 pm