Just Because It's Vegan Doesn't Mean It's Healthy

Fact: vegans have never had it so good, but just as “gluten-free” doesn’t equal “healthy”, “plant-based” isn’t necessarily shorthand for “good for you”. As fried “chicken”, burger and doughnut joints spring up across the globe, we put the rise of vegan fast food under the microscope

- Laura Potter

As veganism becomes more mainstream (did you know that The Economist named 2019 the Year of the Vegan?), you’ll have noticed that plant-based restaurants are popping up across the country – think Lekker Vegan, Oh My Soul Café, The Fussy Vegan, Plant, The Kind Kitchen and Conscious 108, to name just a few. Even formerly non-plant-based restaurants are adding vegan options to their menus – in Cape Town, The Fat Cactus has a vegan cheese which you can swap out for dairy cheese on any of their dishes, Royale Eatery has a variety of vegan burgers to choose from and fine-dining establishments, like La Colombe, have started introducing fully vegan tasting menus. Across the country, restaurants like Hudsons The Burger Joint and Col’Cacchio are also ramping up their vegan offerings. And while there’s a host of healthconscious plant-based restaurants, there are also “fast-food” plantbased restaurants that will satisfy every vegan foodie’s junk-food cravings. Welcome to veganism 2.0, where meat-free no longer means missing out. But does making a burger plant-based magically make it healthier? Let’s find out (although we’re pretty sure you already know the answer!).

-The great pretender