Michael Khuwattanasenee says the fact more and more people are interested in eating less meat led him to open Khu Khu, a vegan Thai restaurant in Ponsonby, Auckland. “When you look overseas there are so many vegan places, but New Zealand is still lagging behind,” Khuwattanasenee said. Before starting Khu Khu, Khuwattanasenee said he wanted to do a 30-day vegan challenge as part of his market research to study what was available in Auckland. “I found it so hard to eat out. I went to an Asian place and I asked for a vegan dish, but it was tofu and vegetables in chicken stock and fish sauce,” Khuwattanasenee said.
RICKY WILSON/STUFF
Stuff reporter Josephine Franks tries a new take on a Kiwi classic. (Video first published on 14 November 2019)
Meatless meals are on the rise, as greater numbers of people adopt vegan, vegetarian and flexitarian diets and supermarket shelves reflect changing preferences. But one expert says the plant-foods good, meat bad, dichotomy isn’t quite so simple. So what’s the beef? The adoption of plant-based diets is being driven by ethical and environmental concerns. But diets that include meat such as carnivore, paleo and keto are also on the rise and a faithful league of proponents highlights the benefits of regeneratively raised meat for both planetary and human health, nutritionist and author Dr Cliff Harvey says.
Thursday, 21 January 2021, 3:53 pm
The Rainforest
Alliance reveals that 68% of Kiwis say the COVID-19
pandemic has made them more conscious about environmental
and social sustainability issues. Seventy two percent state
that they have been trying to make more sustainable
purchasing decisions, where possible, since the start of the
pandemic.
Melanie Mokken, Markets Transformation
Manager Australia/New Zealand for the Rainforest Alliance
said,
“As we face increasing environmental and
social challenges, we already know that New Zealanders are
demanding more from companies, with 83% saying they agree
that businesses aren’t doing enough to reduce
environmental impact. They want proof of how companies are