Paper short abstract:

Meat analogues have an established history in the Sinosphere due to vegetarian Buddhist practices. This paper discusses how this perception is being transformed by emerging advocacy networks advancing new plant-based meat substitutes as modern, animal-friendly, and climate-conscious alternatives.

Paper long abstract:

The Asian foodscape is going through significant changes. Rising incomes and a growing middle class have resulted in greater regional appetites and demand for meat. Conversely, the inception of the modern plant-based food movement is resulting in the gradual transformation of traditional perceptions of vegetarian and vegan diets. Abstinence from animal flesh and the employment of meat substitute products has an established culinary history in the region in connection to the practice of vegetarian Buddhism. Nevertheless, in spite of its prevalence within the Sino-cultural sphere, plant-based food did not enter mainstream food business considerations until recently. The meteoric rise of modern vegan dinning and plant-based food products in Asia is tightly connected to the advent of global discourses centered on climate-consciousness and animal ethics. However, rather than a simple expression of globalization, this region-specific flourishing of the plant-based food movement is the result of a complex network of advocacy actors engaged in the ideological and material translation of food. This paper will discuss the rise of the animal rights and ethical vegan food movements in the Sino-cultural sphere, primarily China, Taiwan, and Hong Kong. It will examine the role of these actors in reinterpreting vegan and vegetarian diets in the region. Thus, shedding light on the advocacy-business alliances that are currently driving sustainability food transformation in the Asian Anthropocene.