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the vegan tax is REAL and alive in los angeles!
27February 12th, 2011vegan cheese, vegan eventsi’m not even going to say where this snap shot is from…but it’s a local restaurant, and it pretty much illustrates what i refer to as “the vegan tax.”
you can bet your ass that you will ALWAYS pay more for any kind of vegan cheese or vegan meat substitute…but you will NEVER pay less for leaving the cheese or meat off. that’s just the way it is.
being healthy and compassionate is a tough fucking job! :/
26 responses to “the vegan tax is REAL and alive in los angeles!” 
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I see Comic Sans is still alive, too. Man, don’t inform me of incoming wallet rape with such a whimsical font.
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Well, we know that extra scratch isn’t being used for graphic design, that’s for sure…
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Real meats and cheeses are heavily subsidized by the government’s agricultural policy. You are paying the vegan tax twice: once as a surcharge like this, and again as part of your taxes.
Fact is, something like bulk pepperoni from a distributor costs about 1/4 the price of a vegan substitute. Economies of scale and the aforementioned subsidies mean it will be expensive to be vegan for a very long time to come.
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I blame Starbucks. They started the trend by charging extra for soy milk even though cow’s milk costs far more.
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Niambi February 13th, 2011 at 09:19
it pisses me off–why am I getting penalized for NOT killing animals?!?
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Melissa February 13th, 2011 at 09:39
I know right?
I mean, I HATE comic sans with the power of 1000000 blazing suns (seriously, I will curse whenever I see anyone using – especially corporate “legitimate” designers) but when it’s used inappropriately it’s even worse.
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Quarryguy February 13th, 2011 at 11:12
The worst is when there are two products that are exactly the same (like a salad or something), except one is listed as vegan and costs more while the other one isn’t. Really, now you’re charging us for the word vegan? Fuck that noise
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BoomShakalaka February 13th, 2011 at 11:15
Calling it a tax is a little verbally excessive. Vegan substitutes are significantly more expensive than non vegan meats and cheeses, are not available from major restaurant suppliers and are very labor and product intensive to create in the first place. Plus, there aren’t that many people ordering them, so a lot of it goes to waste. Most restaurants actually lose money on their vegan products. This is just the way it is. I’m always just glad that a restaurant goes through the effort of stocking it in the first place.
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Gauri Radha गौरी राधा February 13th, 2011 at 13:22
It isn’t cool, but I’m glad for vegan options anywhere and willing to pay more for them I guess.
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Jennifer February 13th, 2011 at 18:53
@BoomShakalaka: If most restaurants lose money on their vegan products then why do you suppose Cruzer’s pizza decided to go totally vegan when they realized the profit potential? How are all of these vegan restaurants staying afloat if there’s no surplus value in selling vegan products?
Vegan/vegetarian food is a multi-million dollar industry – which is why it is rare indeed to actually buy products at the supermarket that aren’t owned by one of the major food manufacturers. Major conglomerates would never purchase these smaller companies if there wasn’t a substantial profit margin involved. For example:
Morningstar Farms – Owned by Kellogg’s
Boca – Owned by Kraft
Silk Soy Milk – Owned by Dean Foods (major dairy producer, ironically enough)
Yves, Westsoy, Soy/Rice Dream, Arrowhead Mills, and many others – Owned by Heinz
LightLife – Owned by ConAgraAnd on and on and on…
Let’s face it, they’re capitalizing on our need for specialized foods. There’s no reason it should cost such a significant amount more to produce vegan products.
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“Calling it a tax is verbally excessive”
That’s why I read this blog. It’s entertaining and gets a conversation going, even if you don’t agree.
Fuck the vegan tax.
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So true.
You’re expected to want the meat and cheese and to pay for it. It’s your own “loss” if you choose to leave it off your meal, you’re not paying any less.
In my experience, my fake meat options are really not that much more expensive at the grocery store than the “real” stuff.
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In reply to Jen’s comment:
“I blame Starbucks. They started the trend by charging extra for soy milk even though cow’s milk costs far more.”
As I recently discovered,
get a Starbucks card.
Register it online.
Buy 5 drinks at the normal price.
After that, ALL ADD-ONS ARE FREE,
Soy milk included.
You have to keep $ on your card and pay with your card.
I use the card for the free wireless, so no biggie.
You can opt out of any marketing email crapola, so save yourself the $.60 and get a card! -
Hannah February 15th, 2011 at 06:53
They should definitely NEVER charge more for leaving something off.
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BoomShakalaka February 16th, 2011 at 09:37
@ Jennifer. You need to research economies of scale and supply and demand. Those veg brands are owned by conglomerates because the profit margins and potential customers are too small to provide incentive for them as independent companies. In the LA area, you have critical mass necessary for a vegan pizza joint, this is not the case elsewhere. It’s actually not a good business move because you’re alienating a huge client base (potential customers). This is why so many vegan places open and close so quickly. To provide vegan options serves to enlarge your client base and that’s why some restaurants offer it. They may lose money on the entree itself, but their money is made on the beer/wine/cocktail you buy with it. For the record, I work in the industry at a nationwide level, so this is coming from a voice of professional experience, not anecdotal observation.
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Yep, definitely no critical mass for vegan/vegetarian restaurants in places like Fort Smith, Arkansas! This is where my mom lives, and when we go to visit her, we HAVE to compromise at restaurants, since we certainly aren’t just going to order salads, LOL. Good thing we’re not vegan purists! : )
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Gregalor February 16th, 2011 at 10:52
Compare the prices for a pizza at Cruzer’s to any other regular pizza joint. You pay an insane vegan tax at Cruzer’s. Most people don’t pay anywhere near $20-25 for a pizza. People eat pizza so often because it’s CHEAP in their world.
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Well it’s a given because something that isn’t mass produced is going to cost more. It’s like when someone pay 6 bucks for a pack of daiya cheese compared 3 dollars for the real stuff.
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Cruzer’s can stay in business because there aren’t many vegan pizza places; they have a lock on a small portion of eaters who travel from all over LA.
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Gregalor February 12th, 2011 at 21:15