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Veganizing Standard Menus; and Normalizing and Publicizing the IDEA of all-Vegan Restaurants More and more diners either want meatless meals themselves (whether or not THEY are actually FT vegetarians) when they dine out, or diners want those meals for others - vegetarians or vegans who dine out with them (business colleagues, friends, family members, coworkers, et al.). Restaurants can save money by using fewer animal ingredients because plant-based items spoil less quickly. Less spoilage means less waste or 'shrinkage' of food supplies (and that saves money). Attracting vegetarian diners and selling meatless items (with the same profit margin calculated for their other food) to current and drop-in diners is a socially conscious way to make money while doing the right thing. Vegan dietitians, nutrition educators, nutritionists, culinary gurus, and others who are vegans who have dared to commit their scientific and educational careers to empowering the food side of veganism often are often Under-employed stay-at-home moms, and thus they are short of cash, but these under-employed vegan SAHMs can earn money while doing effective outreach to modify prevailing food habits at the 'supply chain' level. You will need or should have: * good working relationship with local vegetarian group(s) * basic business clothing * comfortable clothing for working with 'back of the house' (restaurant kitchen) * computer with Internet connection * stable Internet connection * commitment to veganism and its broad public desirability * good understanding of vegan food and vegan nutrition * broad vegan menu design skill and experience * web design skill or a partner wish with someone with wed design experience * good business sense * good selling and other persuasion skills * flexible daytime work hours without a need to haul a child around at the same time * restaurant or food service experience Veganizing Standard Restaurant Menus Under-employed dietitians, nutrition educators, nutritionists, culinary gurus, and others who are vegans who have dared to commit their scientific and educational careers to empowering the food side of veganism often are short of cash. Such vegan food professional go out to restaurants that are not vegetarian - and offer to VEGAN-ize the menus as follows (a modest fee – oh, perhaps $150 per restaurant - is charged): The vegan food professional understands food and looks at the pre-existing menu, comprehends the SORTS of things that could QUICKLY be 'veganized' by substituting one, two, or three vegan items for animal products, then types out that recipe. Ingredients chosen should be inexpensive, health-supporting, common (easy to find), versatile, and not distasteful. This process is repeated for each of the menu items which could be 'veganized', and the collection of all 'veganized' menu options is listed in a reasonable order, then the list is word-processed into a simple format (usually with the restaurant's contact information, logo, hours, and more. The electronic template is e-mailed to the management, and the vegan food professional keeps a copy and retains (unlimited non-exclusive) IP or intellectual property rights to the ideas, the menu, the menu (food) items, etc,. (so that s/he can use these identical ideas again (and the restaurant) is free to customize the items in their way. The vegan food professional’s (e-mail?) contact info is visible in small print on the menu. Then, when vegetarian or vegan diners (or diners with a vegan friend) arrive and ask about vegetarian options, the serving person brings out the 'very special menu' (the vegan menu), and the vegan diner is made to feel 'very special' with an all-vegan menu in a nonvegetarian restaurant. The vegan food professional also offers to coach the kitchen staff ('back of the house') on vegan food substitutions and to coach the serving personnel and host(s)/ess(es) and managers on how to attract, support, please, and retain veg(etari)an diners. The restaurant management is taught how more vegan items can be more profitable (less spoilage, thus less shrinkage or food loss). A possible synergy could be a two-fold advertising program. A website is maintained for the local vegetarian group(s), which feature these ‘veganized’ menu clients prominently but appropriately on the local vegetarian society’s website. The link opens NOT to the restaurant’s website, but to a CUSTOMIZED all-vegan-appropriate PAGE with (a) the restaurant’s all-vegan menu AND the restaurant’s appropriate contact information and hours, and a pop-up MAP (perhaps with travel directions from a typed in location). Also, the restaurant could offer a 10% discount on vegetarian (vegan) items ONLY to veg society members (when their show their vegetarian society or vegan association cards). © Maynard S. Clark - http:// Maynard.Clark.GooglePages.com - Maynard.Clark@GMail.com Second Idea: no additional charge. Exciting Vegan Advocates about Vegan Restaurants Normalizing and Publicizing the IDEA of all-Vegan Restaurants (1) Humorous vegan restaurant business plans are written out and posted widely around the Internet, including 'themed' vegan items: e.g. The Boston Bean (either a vegan legume-based restaurant in Greater Boston, or else a global chain, as in SBC - Seattle's Best Coffee - need not be in Seattle), etc. Vegan laugh at the concept. SOME concepts 'catch on' and some ideas 'germinate' in the vegetarian and vegan online communities, and ideas happen, and more clever vegetarian and vegan restaurants emerge as clever veg(etari)ans who can get funding start opening such clever veg(etari)an restaurants. (2) Writers include vegan restaurants in their short stories, novels and novellas, radio and TV scripts, jokes and anecdotes, etc. Vegan dining is culturally 'normalized' (3) Songs – fun, humorous singable songs – are composed that have lyrics about ‘going to the vegan diner’ or dining out in a veggie eatery, etc. (4) Local vegetarian societies are encouraged to develop dining guides that include (i) all-vegan, (ii) all-vegetarian), and (iii) vegan-friendly eateries. The local vegetarian (or vegan) dining guide is put online. What’s missing with MOST online vegetarian dining guides is a list of WHAT vegan diners can BUY (and eat) in these vegan-friendly eateries. © Maynard S. Clark http:// Maynard.Clark.GooglePages.com Maynard.Clark@GMail.com © Maynard S. Clark - http:// Maynard.Clark.GooglePages.com - Maynard.Clark@GMail.com http://Maynard.Clark.GooglePages.com "Making connections for plant-based diets" Vegetarian Resource Center (since 1993) P. O. Box 38-1068; Cambridge, MA 02238-1068 USA 617-571-4794 (cell) Maynard.Clark@GMail.com http://maynardclark.spaces.live.com - |
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Monday, October 05, 2009
Vegan Food Professionals Can Promote Veganism for Fun and Profit
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